First drive (for me :-) -- A4 2.8 fwd

[Fisher, Scott]

Our '93 100CSQ is at the dealer's today for the fuel injector recall, and
they (Sunset Porsche-Audi in Beaverton, Oregon) have thoughtfully provided
us with a loaner car -- a shinky black-on-black A4, to be precise.  About
59k miles, 2.8L, automatic, FWD.  Lovely car -- looks great in the
driveway... :-)

So a few minutes ago, I took my first drive in an A4.  Popped Charlie into
the back seat, headed down Boone's Ferry Road toward Wilsonville with all
four windows down and the climate control turned off, and paid attention to
how the car felt.

First impressions: has Audi's steering really become progressively softer
since 1980, or is my weight-lifting program paying off? :-)  My 1980 4000
had delightfully light but solid and direct steering, particularly
impressive since it was NOT power-assisted; it was one of the day-to-day
niceties that I missed when I traded that car, in 1983, for a brand-new (to
the US, at least) VW GTI.  My next Audi, the '83 CGT I've owned for about
three years now, has power-assisted steering to deal with the 5-cylinder's
mass, presumably, but still feels about the way I remember the '80 feeling:
precise, light but not too light, with enough resistance and feedback that
you can sense what the front tires are doing at all times.  Our '93 is
almost exactly the same, with very direct steering (especially for such a
big car) that takes just enough effort to make you pay attention.  This A4
feels almost exactly like the steering in the Ford Taurus I borrowed last
week.  Andrew (Duane) -- aren't you the one who has posted about removing a
relay or a fuse to get rid of some power-assist in the steering of newer
Audis?  This is just a one-day loaner, but if I had a new Audi I'd want to
look through the archives and find out how to toss it.  But then I'm
admittedly a real snob about steering feel, weight, and responsiveness; it's
something I'm very fussy about, the way some people fuss over the brand of
ketchup in a restaurant.  

Second: I used to wonder why so many people immediately put
sport/aftermarket wheels and tires on brand-new Audis.  Now I know.
Pointing this A4 into a bend caused the front tires to go screeee-ee-ee, and
the whole car wobbled around its center of gravity rather a lot more than
I'm used to.  The shocks, springs, bars and tires are all too soft, and they
work in concert to reduce the car's cornering ability to about that of a
rental Ford.  And that's a real shame, because WOW, the 2.8L in this car
REALLY responds, even through the slushbox.  It's smooth, torquey, and --
especially in kickdowns at 50-70 mph -- a veritable jewel of an engine.
Drop the car an inch or so, install 50-series rubber and Bilsteins, add
maybe 25% more roll resistance through a good set of sway bars, make sure
(for me, anyway) that it had a 5-speed and quattro, and you'd have one hell
of a car.  It pulls harder in the bottom and midrange than our '93, though
that could be because it's in a smaller, lighter car, or it could be due to
the gearing, which is my only real complaint about the '93.

Don't get me wrong -- I really don't mean to diss the A4.  Especially
considering that it has probably had a fairly hard life as a loaner, this A4
is *very* nice for average driving; it was wonderful on the freeway part of
my short test loop, comfortable and quiet, but I had the option of taking my
favorite nearby back-country winding road or the freeway as the second half
of my jaunt, and I decided to avoid the winding-road portion of the drive
because the tires and shocks in this particular car would have made it a
chore.  No, I don't think they were faulty or tired or failing in any way;
it's just those of us who grew up on European cars that feel European will
know what I mean when I say that something is missing when I drive European
cars that feel American.  

Third: I seriously doubt that I will ever again buy a car for road use that
does not have quattro.  (I'm currently researching how I intend to get back
into SCCA road racing competition, and since AWD is illegal in pretty much
every class except Rally, I have to qualify my statement...)  There's
something about putting a quattro into a corner and standing on the gas and
having it just ROCKET forward with grip from all four wheels that is just a
sheer delight.  Even when the car that's doing this is a big white four-door
sedan with an automatic transmission.

Fourth: the best reason to buy a new Audi is paradoxically the best reason
NOT to: I'm not yet tired of our old Audis.  150k+ miles on both of them,
versus 59k on this one, and I wouldn't happily trade either of them --
nevermind that I couldn't sell the Coupe for enough to buy a good
aftermarket suspension for this A4.  But when a car is as good as these are
at the age and mileage that ours have reached, well, does that make it hard
to justify looking at a new one from the same marque, or easy?   

So... not to change the subject altogether, but how hard is it to bolt a
2.8L V6 up to the gearbox of an '83 CGT? :-)

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon