97A4q Maintenance

[LRGreger at aol.com]

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I recently purchased a 97A4q 2.8 to replace my tired 88 80q.  In purusing the
maintenance manual, I ran across a puzzling entry concerning the timing belt
replacement.  It states that the timing belt should be replaced every 90,000
miles, but appears to indicate that this maintenance is only required for "V6
2.8L 5 valve engine, A8 3.7 &4.2L engines".  Does this actually mean that the
2 valve 2.8L does not need to have its timing belt replaced?  Was the valve
clearance problem fixed?

Also, I noticed in the owners manual that chains can not be used with the 97
A4.  Since I live in California and ski, this is bad news, because even
though one has an all wheel drive vehicle, there are times when chains are
required by CHP.  Has anyone had experience with chains on the A4s?

TIA
Rob