[200q20v] Potential new guy- what should I know?

[Joseph Vanzeipel]

I love them.  If you can, try to get a 1991 200 qauttro avant (audi
speak for wagon).  It came with the more powerful 20v turbo that has
215hp at the wheels, not the crank.  It out runs my step-brother's 91
Talon Tsi AWD, which is modded a little bit.  I purchased my 200q20v
sedan for $9k just over a month ago, and I love it to death.

Here is my response to your questions:

- There is a lot of room in the sedan, as well as the wagon.  They are
fairly long and are well engineered space-wise.
- The 200q20v outperforms almost everything stock on the roads, save
high-power sports cars (3000GT, Corvette, RX-7, ect.).  I believe the
wagon is the fastest production wagon every built for the US (until the
S4 Avant comes here).
- You're in luck, as far a maintainence goes.  Although they can be a
pain some times, they are generally good to work on.  However, you must
buy the Bentley Repair manual (a 2000+ page, 3 volume set on everything
there is in the car).  Every once in a while, one pops up on Ebay,
that's where I got mine.

Audi parts are pretty pricey, but if you are doing the maintainence
yourself, you will save big dough not paying for labor.  Once the car is
on par (engine/tranny wise) you probably won't have to work on the car
very often, they are very well engineered engines and trannys, the
quattro drive is bulletproof, it is rather rare to have one break.

While shopping, on the 1991 200q, watch out for warped rotors, the
special brakes are expensive to replace (about $300 per rotor,
refinished, $550 new rotors).  They use a UFO brake system up front,
disc's in the back.  The UFO is named as such because the brake rotor is
curved to allow more surface area.  They can warp easily if pushed way
too hard.
Also, make sure you are getting enought turbo boost, you should see 1.7
or 1.8 on the stock gage in 3rd, 4th, or 5th gear with WOT.  If you are
higher up (over a mile, like me) then 1.6 or 1.7 is what you would expect.

My step-brother drove the 200q20v and thought is was really cool, but he
wondered why his car was starting to fall apart when mine was almost
brand new (102k miles).  I explained the difference to my step-brother
like this:  The Eagle talon, a $25,000 (when new) car, and was built
with $25,000 parts.  The 200q20v, a $45,000 car, was built with $45,000
parts.  My opinion is that the Talon/Eclipse was built on a budget, and
the 200q20v was built as a top-of-the-line sports sedan/wagon, price
wasn't a concern.

When I purchased mine, I loved it.  I cannot think of any other car that
has so much luxury/performance for the same price.  If you like the
Talon (which is a pretty cool car), then the 200q20v will blow you away.

Joseph Vanzeipel
1991 200q20v (102k miles)

Rob Deis wrote:
> 
> Hey, all.  I currently own a 94 Turdo AWD Eagle Talon, which I love.
> 
> However, my increasing family has need of a larger car, so I'm in the
> wagon market.  Thus far, to 200TQ and Subaru wagons seem to be the only
> AWD wagons I can locate in the under 15k price range.
> 
> What should I know if I'm considering buying on of these?
> Specificly, I'm interested in these:
> * How big is the wagon?
> * How does it drive/perform?
> * How hard/expensive/often is maintainance required.
> 
> I'd most likely do all the maintainance myself, but a guess at frequency
> and parts cost would be great.  What good points and gotchas should I be
> aware of while shopping?
> 
> How do you like them in general? (Silly question to the quattro list..)
> 
> Thanks a bunch, folks.
> 
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