'88 5KCSTQ, Worth the hassle? (long)

[Larry C Leung]

To the original poster (lost it already, erased),

On the safety front, the 100/200 series with the SeatBeltTensioners
(ProConTen) and even more so with the Airbag were deemed one of the
absolute safests cars on the road during their period of being built
'89-'91 and even beyond (considering crash test data). Nowadays, there
are a number of cars that are their equal, or better, but most of those
are just as large and heavy or more so. They do drive like German luxury
sedans (oh yeah, that's why I own one!) which means luxury without
novicane, with the ability to get up an boogey even in the twisties,
something most German cars can do as a matter of course, though I
wouldn't go out of my way to claim that they are sport sedans, they are a
bit too large to pull off that feat (5 series BMW's non-withstanding). Of
course it's easy to get to them quite close to the sport sedan (as far as
I'm concerned) ideal, lowering springs/matched shocks, + wheel sizing,
brake pads (if your not tracking, the brakes IMHO are fine, although I'd
have to admit I do have a separate track car), and easy chipping and WG
springs (10V only) can make them into quite sporty feeling cars with
great on road abilities while having all of that room and luxury. But
there is a price to pay if you pick up a bad or worn example. Shop around
carefully, don't jump at the first type 44 (5000/100(not CS)/200) you see
if it's not right, unless you have the time/ability or $$$ to fix it up
right, otherwise owning a type 44, particularly a turbo, can be an
exercise in expensive frustration. Also, a final word about safety, the
earlier pre ProConTen 5K series are not as safe in a crash as the heavier
100/200 series, but their lighter weight does make them feel a little
more sporty and nimble. The earlier turbo cars do suffer from more turbo
lag (though the lighter weight of them seems to negate some of that when
taking off from rest) from having a larger turbo, but then again, they
don't run out of breath quite as easily if you chip your car to fairly
big levels.

A less expensive, though less substantial alternative would be the 4KQ's
which are light nimble and sporty, though on a by the stopwatch basis
they aren't terribly fast. What they win you over with is incredibly
balanced performance, very good reliability and the simplicity to do a
lot or learning to wrench while driving an AWD German near luxury sedan.
Their biggest problem is that they are getting rather long in the tooth,
(last built in '86) and they don't have the full galvanized body of the
type 44. Other problems include the door handles and, uh, the door
handles.

A reasonable compromise would be the later 80/90 series (successor to the
4000), which combines properties of the 4K and the type 44. They are
newer, faster and more refined than the 4K series, but don't have all of
the complications of the type 44. They did get a little soft (feeling)
compared to the 4K series, but they do have the ablity, with a few mods
such as springs/shocks, to get right up there in the sport sedan
content/feel. Check the archives from the lister whom have done work on
these (also check out the Audi80 list by our own Alex V-G).

In summary, no, you aren't condemed to drive dull, boring (though
capable) cars like the Camrord, but select your used Audi carefully, and
do expect to do some care and feeding to get the car right. No, you
probably won't need to do as much care and feeding of say, a Camry, but
then again there usually is little passion to do so anyway. When such
cars become troublesome most tend to discard them, those cars tend to be
treated as appliances. Part of the reason we seem to have troubles with
our Audis is because we tend to keep them rather than toss them, it's a
passion as well as (or possibly rather than) need. In short it's a case
of emotion (Audi) over economics (Toyonda). It's all up to you...

LL - NY

On Sat, 12 Jan 2002 20:49:08 -0800 "Efraim Gavrilovich"
<egav at wireless2000.com> writes:
>Yes, Christopher is right. These cars do break and they could become a
>money
>pits. Hey, I just paid over CDN$200 for a piece of rubber hose with
>two
>fittings (high pressure pump-to-rack). But, these cars are an epitome
>of a
>driving pleasure. They are a marvel of automotive engineering (never
>mind
>that few engineers on the design team were either high on drugs or
>half
>asleep at the time). When you get behind the wheel and start rolling
>you
>just know you have a great car. You would forget all its
>idiosyncrasies and
>repair bills the moment you downshift into third and catch the
>surprise on
>the face of the guy in his souped up Honda in your rearview mirror.
>And
>don't forget, you will get your pleasure 365 days a year, whether
>it's
>sunny, rainy or snowy. The Quattro provides all-weather driving joy,
>you
>would drive to work at your normal pace after the snow storm and
>amuse
>yourself by counting these SUVs and front wheel drive cars in the
>ditches
>along the way. The last, but not the least, these cars are very safe.
>Many
>people on this list or their friends walked away with no more than a
>few
>scratches and bumps after being in serious accident and that without
>the
>benefit of an airbag. Twice Japanese cars rear ended my TQ and both
>had to
>be towed away with demolished front ends while my rear bumper had just
>a few
>scratches.
>Just something for you to chew on, decision is yours.
>Cheers,
>Efraim Gavrilovich
>1988 5KTQ 337,000km (209K mi), 1.8 Bar
>1990 90 114,000km (71K mi)
>Vancouver, Canada
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Christopher Ritchie" <critchie1 at hotmail.com>
>To: <SLBaker at cbre.com>
>Cc: <quattro at audifans.com>
>Sent: Saturday, January 12, 2002 5:16 PM
>Subject: '88 5KCSTQ, Worth the hassle?
>
>
>> I am
>> now curious if I am researching a money pit, this will not be my
>> primary
>> vehicle, but I would like a bit of reliability without
>> outrageous
>> maintenance costs. I also really happen to like this particular
>> vintage of
>> Audi. Should I just get a Toyota and never have any fun behind
>> the wheel? I
>> am sure a lot depends on the particular vehicle, I just hope
>> this era is not
>> particularly bad. I really appreciate the feedback.
>>
>>
>> I think I remember that the service record is spotty and they want
>more
>than
>> $3K for the car.  Run away from that car.  It's not worth half
>that.
>>
>> They are also money pits.  Engine, standard transmission, and
>differentials
>> are bulletproof.  Body won't rust because it's galvanized.  Styling
>still
>> passes for contemporary.  And it is a full sized German luxury
>sedan.  But
>> everything else breaks on the car.  You won't believe the things
>that
>break.
>>   Dealers can't or won't fix them.  But that's OK since they're
>terrible
>and
>> expensive.  Parts prices are outrageous unless you develop other
>sources.
>> Used parts are plentiful because the junkyards are full of nice
>examples
>of
>> these cars.  Gee, I wonder why?  Some of the engineering and repairs
>are
>> idiosyncratic, so you need to follow this list so you can do the
>work
>> yourself.  Or, find someone you can trust who knows these cars.  If
>you're
>> not willing to invest time and money, get something else.
>>
>>
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