Visiting Rockville Audi and Audi Forum Herndon

While I was planning my visit to Washington, DC, I worked with, Jo McCoy, the Queen of #WantAnR8 and Andrew Elliott of Audi to plan a visit out to Audi Forum Herndon to check out some of the exclusive cars. In addition to a visit to Audi Forum Herndon, Jo and I also visited Rockville Audi to take some photos.

Back towards the early days of planning for the trip, I had considered schlepping my Nikon D800E and a couple of lenses (AF-S 16-35mm f/4, AF-S 50mm f/1.4 and AF-S 70-300mm VR); but, I quickly realized how much that would add to my already sizable laptop bag and other things that I wanted to bring. So, I slimmed down my camera selection to just my Sony RX100. While slim and light, it did end up biting me a bit with its rather noisy photos when ISO was cranked up to and past 3200. More on this later…

On Thursday, I took the Metro up to Grosvenor-Strathmore, where Jo picked me up in her Audi and we headed up to Rockville. When we got there, Rockville Audi had two Daytona Gray RS 7s sitting in the showroom, one was already sold to a customer. There was also a Suzuka Gray RS 5 coupe and a Scuba Blue A3 sedan keeping them company.

While waiting for a few of the Audis to be ready for photos, Jo and I went to grab some ramen for lunch. When we got back to Rockville Audi, a Volcano Red SQ5 and Suzuka Gray RS 5 Cabriolet were parked out front.

After Jo and I finished taking photos and saying goodbye to several of the guys and gals at Rockville Audi, we headed down to Herndon, VA to Audi HQ and Audi Forum Herndon. Due to other commitments, Andrew was not available to meet us, but he did put our names down so that we could sign in and get access to one of the garages. Once we got access to the garage to take photos, Jo and I found a white Lamborghini Aventador, a matte Sepang Blue R8 V10 plus, an matte Suzuka Gray R8 V10 plus with exclusive interior and a red Audi S3 sedan.

Due to the dim lighting of the garage and the harsh sunlight beaming in, it required pushing the RX100 into the nether regions of ISO 3200 and 6400. While it did take decent photos, it was not what I had hoped for. After our guided tour of the garage, we walked around the back of the building and spotted a new Audi A8. Back inside, there was an S4 Nogaro Blue special edition parked in the lobby.

In the Audi Forum, there was a new, facelifted Audi S8 with exclusive interior, an Audi R18, a Q7 jammed packed with Bang & Olufsen speakers, and a Q7 riding on 21-inch wheels.

The special Bang & Olufsen Audi Q7 packed with even more Bang & Olufsen than usual and was equipped with an MMI system that looked like it was transplanted from the new Audi A3. The interior was also draped in lovely black Alcantara seat and door inserts. Audi and Bang & Olufsen were setting up a spot which would feature various Bang & Olufsen speakers that would mimic the same acoustics and audio position that one would experience within that special Q7.

Time was starting to run out as I needed to be back in Washington, DC for a special Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! taping at the Warner Theatre; so, I had to bid goodbye to Audi Forum Herndon. It was extremely nice to see the gorgeous Nogaro Blue S4 in person and it really makes me wish Audi USA could bring over a few of the limited edition Nogaro Blue RS 4 Avants.

I really want to thank Rockville Audi, Audi Forum Herndon and Andrew Elliott for giving me a chance to check out the beautiful Audis and a peek at some really exclusive R8 V10 plus coupes. I want to give special thanks to Jo McCoy for the day together and to schlep around Rockville and Herndon.

You can view the full set of photos taken at Rockville Audi and Audi Forum Herndon on Flickr via the links below:

• 15 May 2014 Rockville Audi
• 15 May 2014 Audi Forum Herndon