Decisions, decisions...

[Fisher, Scott]

Well, here we go.  Another crackpot Fisher plan begins to boil up...

I just completed a really lovely road trip in the '83 CGT, including not
only some 1500 miles of highway driving between Portland, Oregon and the San
Francisco Bay Area (with a one-day jaunt down to San Luis Obispo), but also
a northbound run up California's justly famed Highway 1 on Sunday afternoon,
from Morro Bay up to Monterey.  That was an awe-inspiring drive, one of the
best days I've ever spent in a car, and I kept thinking about the old saying
that it's more fun to drive a slow car fast than to drive a fast car slow.
:-)

But I face the prospect of doing many more similar drives (at least the
PDX-SFO part), and that brings me to the verge of a decision.

The CGT was remarkable, for an 18-year-old car with 100 bhp and who knows
how many miles (do I need to explain about the odometer? I didn't think so).
There's a vibration under braking that I need to fix, the A/C drain dampened
the passenger's footwell quite a bit, the sunroof gasket whistles when it's
"closed," and when it got to 102 degrees outside and I climbed a 6% grade
for half an hour at 80 mph, the temperature gauge climbed near the top of
the normal zone but the car didn't overheat.  As I keep saying: the best
reason I can think of for buying a new Audi is what a great car the old one
is.

But.

On the way home, I kept thinking about what I'd like to fix about the CGT if
I was going to undertake the drive regularly -- some things to fix outright,
other things to replace/upgrade in advance to make it more durable or
enjoyable, everything from new suspension bushings to a modest CD player.
I'm sure most people here with older 5-cylinder 4000-series cars can imagine
what I need to do, but also why I'm even considering putting a couple
thousand dollars worth of parts and labor into a car that might sell for
$1200 if I were luckier than lucky.  (Which, of course, is paradoxically why
I don't think about selling it -- no resale value! Might as well fix it up
and keep enjoying it, right? :-)

So... Here's the catch.  I am on the brink, and I wanted to open the
conversation on the following topic.

I will be making regular 1200-1400 mile round trips to the Bay Area over the
next year.  The weapon of choice, at the moment, is the '83 CGT.  My options
are:

1 - Restore and/or upgrade the CGT to better-than-new specs, from things
like bushings and shocks to an orthopedic driver's seat and a 5KT engine
transplant (to help get over those mountain passes safely, of course :-).
Lots of work, moderate expense, but completely unrecoverable in the event of
future sale.

2 - Put the money into getting what I have always wished the CGT was -- an
ur-Quattro.  I am interested in this, but reluctant to do so for a car that
I'm going to use regularly for long-distance trips.  On the other hand, I've
wanted an urQ since they were introduced.  Lots of work AND lots of money,
partially recoverable in the event of future sale, but most likely a crazy
idea given the complexity of the ur-Q and the list of things that can, and
do, need replacement and attention.

3 - Buy a '90-'91 CQ.  Newer, smoother, more comfortable, certainly faster
than my '83 Coupe but not as fast as an urQ.  Not quite as good looking
(imnsfho) as either an urQ or a CGT, but handsome, sleek, and eight years
advanced from the CGT.  

4 - Decide "oh, the hell with it," put the cash down on a TTq, make payments
for the next 48 months, and think of the Audi warranty instead of worrying
about whether my cell phone can connect from the side of I-5 somewhere
between Dunsmuir and Castle Crag when a hose explodes on my 18-year-old car
or a CV joint decides that zero is *also* a constant velocity.  I mean... it
*really* is nuts to do anything BUT this, right?  

So in the best of all possible worlds, I'd find four listers within a couple
hours of my house, one with a turbo CGT, one with an ur-Q, one with a CQ,
and one with a TT, and we'd all get together and kick tires and drive each
others' cars and have a great day.  I'm 15 miles south of Portland... any
takers? :-)

The next best thing would be to hear from listers who have one, some, or all
of the above cars, and hear your experiences with them.  (Feel free to point
me to a searchable string in the archives if you don't want to revisit the
whole subject again.)  In particular, from the TTq perspective, I'd be
interested in hearing about the Haldex... does it really work?  I'm going to
be spending about 50% of my time in the dry, 30-40% in the wet, and 10-20%
in snow.  

(And finally... I'm not terribly interested in off-topic cars -- see my
comment above about how my old Audi is the best argument I have for buying a
new one -- but if you've got a recommendation for something that you think
is in the same league as an urQ, CQ, or TT, please let me know.  Remember
that I'm in the U.S. or this wouldn't even be an issue as I'd have already
purchased my S3.)

Thanks,

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon