5-cyl, 20V vs 6-cyl in an Audi 90.

[Scott Fisher]

--- "Roa, Greg" <Greg.Roa at Cinergy.COM> wrote:
> Have to agree wit Ti here.  My fwd 93' 90 with a 12v
> motor (5-spd), is surprisingly quick.  It's not a
> drag strip car, but it can hold it's own pretty
> well.

In a lightweight car with lots of closely spaced
gears, I'd guess the 12V V6 would be a lot of fun.  My
wife's 100CSQ with the 4-speed autobox is pretty much
the opposite of these, however, but that just means
the fun is keyed to a particular speed range --
roughly 70-110 mph.

There's a particularly bad gearing hole in the '93
automatic right at about 35-45 mph -- too high for
first, too low for second, and sadly this is right
when you'd really like some extra oomph for getting on
the freeway.  As it is, stomping the gas at 40 mph
results in a kind of "hey, did the wheels just fall
off the trailer full of concrete blocks we're towing?"
sensation.

On the plus side, stomping the gas at 80 or so gets
you almost to a hundred miles an hour in about the
time it takes to say "Holy schmoly, we're going almost
a hundred miles an hour!"  (And, sad to say, if you
don't believe me, you can ask the Roseburg Circuit
Court to verify it.  Ouch.)  That car is definitely
geared for the autobahn.

So the engine itself is pretty neat, but it's VERY
dependent on gearing.  I'd love to have this engine in
a 2300-lb car with a six-speed gearbox, or the new CVT
if you could tell it "just stay right on 5800 RPM till
I tell you to move, please."

> It's especially fun over 4300ish rpm, when the
> second intake opens up.

I've said more than once that the engine feels almost
Italian in the way it likes high-RPM driving.  Given
the cars that share my garage and driveway with the
Audis, this is meant as a compliment. :-)

One of the usual suspects (think it's TAP) has a
modification for the throttle body that claims to help
this.  Anybody running it?

>  Kind of like a tiny turbo
> kicks in.  I really have no problems with the
> engine's performance.  I'd love to have one in my
> 4kq, in fact.

That, I think, is going to be the deciding factor.  If
you're okay with the engine's performance (my wife
rarely feels the need to outdrag the kid in the
slammed Honda in the next lane as she pulls into the
Fred Meyer parking lot), it's kind of a neat motor.
Upgrading the performance is a matter of traditional
stuff -- engine modifications, cams, exhaust, etc.
You can't just chip it, change a wastegate spring, and
suddenly get another 75 bhp out of it like you can
with the turbo cars.

However... the dark side.

One of the known weak spots in the 12V is its
propensity for developing coolant leaks in the head
gaskets -- just fast enough to give you the
low-coolant beep once a month.

When this happens, do NOT, repeat NOT, fill the car up
with plain water, especially if you live in an area
with very hard water.

If you do this for a few months, eventually the hard
water and absence of water-pump lubricant will turn
your coolant into a muddy red sludge which will cause
your water pump to seize, which will at least have the
beneficial effect of blowing the rest of your leaking
head gaskets right clean out of the car.

If you're as lucky as we were, you'll be able to reuse
your heads (just have the shop skim them for fitting
new gaskets), and you can replace the timing belt when
you replace the water pump and do a valve job.  If
you're not lucky, you'll lose the heads and maybe the
block as well.

I spent more (sez Quicken) on my wife's car last year
than I spent on all four of my cars put together, and
that includes buying one of the Alfas.  (And if the
phrase "one of the Alfas" doesn't say something about
having a maintenance-intensive bunch of cars... :-)

So -- if you DO get the 12V, watch your coolant
levels, and don't refill with tap water (apart from an
emergency gotta-get-home stop or something).  It's not
like quite as easily ignored as the I5, which may well
be the most durable engine ever put in an automobile.

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon




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