Audi Fox/VW Fox. Basically the same car?

[Ti Kan]

Brian Roth writes:
> 1. I was wondering if these two cars were sort of the same. I know there was
> a large gap between when the last Audi Fox and the first VW Fox were
> imported to the U.S. However, I think they are layed out the same
> (longitudinal engine, fwd) and both use the 4 cyl engines.

There are certainly lots of similarities, but aside from the engine
and transaxle, very few other components are actually interchangeable
between the two.

> 2. I want to know if I could use a quattro transaxle and use the halfshafts
> from a VW Fox to make a quattro VW Fox (or would that be synchro?). I think
> the 4000 halfshafts are longer because the track is wider.

No.  Neither the Audi nor the VW Fox unit bodies are quattro-compatible.
The floor pans of these cars do not have the tunnel required to accommodate
the driveshaft running to the rear axle, and the front tranny tunnel isn't
wide enough for a quattro (016 or 01A).  They also don't have the proper
mounting points for the rear independent suspension of the quattro.
In fact, the FWD Audi 4000/Coupe and the 4Kq doesn't have the same
floor pan either...  You'd have to do the same kind of surgery to turn
a FWD 4000 into a quattro.

> 3. I think I can handle installing the rear drive (I've done major vehicle
> Frankenstein type surgery before).

It's more than just installing rear drive...  You would have to cut away
the 4Kq's floor pan and graft it onto the FWD car.  In the case of the
Foxes, the wheelbases are shorter so there is more surgery to do...

> 4. The plan is to build a diesel quattro Fox. Why not just put a diesel in a
> 4000q? I might but now I am leaning toward the little 1.6 NA diesel and I
> think the Fox is a few hundred pounds lighter than a 4000 2wd.

"Just putting the diesel in a 4Kq" is a daunting task in and of itself.
If you're talking about using a 4-cyl diesel, note that it doesn't
mount the same as a 5-cyl engine.  Also, the radiator would have to
be swapped to that of the 4-cyl style which lives in front of the engine
rather than to the side of it...  and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I can think of many more interesting and fruitful car projects than this.

-Ti
01 S4 2.7 biturbo quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
--
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
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