[BiturboS4] Looking to Buy

[Ti Kan]

Step88 writes:
> - If one doesn't live in California, should one try to avoid a California c=
> ar?  It used to be (I may be dating myself now) that CA cars were so loaded=
>  with additional emissions stuff that it affected performance.  Is that a t=
> hing of the past, or still a consideration?  Are the performance figures an=
> y different between a CA car and a 49 state car?

AFAIK the all 50 US states got the same car, as far as the S4 is concerned.

> - Were there any significant issues with 2000 models that would make it adv=
> antageous to move up to a 2001 if possible?

Yes, however, the cut-off is not between 2000 and 2001 model years.
You have to go by the VIN number.  Earlier cars had trouble with
failures to the F-hose (which is eliminated in the later cars), the
later cars also got different turbos with larger oil lines.  The
divertor valve is known to also fail, but rumour has it that the
later units are improved.  Finally, the later cars have improved
clamping on the throttle body boot, but supposedly they still fail.
I don't think these changes all occurred at the same time, so
the moral is to get the newest car you can afford.

One other thing to consider is that ESP (electronic stability program)
is not equipped on 2000 cars, but is standard on 2001 models,

-Ti
2003 A4 1.8T multitronic
2001 S4 2.7T 6sp
1984 5000S turbo
1980 4000 2.0
--
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    ti at amb.org
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