[s-cars] WAS gas prices, now racist subaru's

[R. Mair]

The turbo issues on audis here of late are laregly due to Audi's initial thoughts of raising oil change intervals to rediculous levels. Who in their right minds would wait 10k miles to swap oil and filter on a turbo engine using conventional oil? Most non-enthusiast owners who liked to free service, that's who. So of course turbos are going to fail. Having said that, KKK did not build the most stoudt of turbos for the 1.8's and 2.7s. So here you have a dual issue. Bosch is my biggest problem for the last half-decade. Every car that uses Bosch components have suffered greatly... audi, vw, volvo MB etc. with check engine lights and poor driveability. The control arm failures weren't just on S4's, but most later passats, A6's and A4's. Again, this is a parts supplier to Audi, not a design flaw or workmanship problem from Audi. The brake rotor issue IS and audi problem however. The rotors themselves work well but were not designed for a heavy car like the AR in specific. Audi should have used a larger rotor or at least ventilated the current one better than it did. I do agree with you and everyone here. I'm not thrilled with the newer Audi's (except the TT we got in recently :-) But my UrS4 is going no where. To me it's still the best racket going for under $10k, but even these cars have their slew of problems.
Rolf

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: calvinlc at earthlink.net 
  To: R. Mair ; Taka Mizutani 
  Cc: S-CAR-List at audifans.com 
  Sent: Monday, September 05, 2005 12:35 AM
  Subject: RE: [s-cars] WAS gas prices, now racist subaru's


  >Simply chip a 2.7t and keep the dependability

  Really????  I seem to recall some turbo problems on the newer POS small
  turbo cars, especially chipped at altitude.

  I don't quite understand the parts supplier thing you are quoting.  Doesn't
  just about every car manufacturer get the majority of their parts from
  someone else?  The K03 turbo problems, the early control arm problems on the
  2000-2001 S4, the ignition coil problems on the A4 1.8T, the warping rotors
  on the A6, that now Audi won't even cover when the car is under factory
  warranty, are all these parts supplier issues?

  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-Audi, hell I own 4 of them, but I am
  objective about the whole deal.  I love my UrS, as a matter of fact after
  looking at all the new cars available I decided to go throw some money at
  her because it looks like I'm going to be keeping her for awhile given the
  lack of new car offerings out there from everyone including Audi.  The 2001
  A6 2.7T I own......I could take it or leave it.  Doesn't have the soul of
  the UrS nor the build quality....all you have to do is shut the
  door...sounds more like a Camry than my UrS.  In 1992 there was no
  Jap/domestic car that could come close to the UrS, but today....well Audi
  better be careful, there are definite footsteps behind them that get louder
  each year.  In order to justify a 50% increase in price one must be able to
  justify a car that is 50% better.

  --Calvin


  -----Original Message-----
  From: s-car-list-bounces+calvinlc=earthlink.net at audifans.com
  [mailto:s-car-list-bounces+calvinlc=earthlink.net at audifans.com]On Behalf
  Of R. Mair
  Sent: Sunday, September 04, 2005 7:57 PM
  To: Taka Mizutani
  Cc: S-CAR-List at audifans.com
  Subject: Re: [s-cars] WAS gas prices, now racist subaru's


  I most certainly can substantiate my claims Taka. As you may have missed in
  an earlier posting, I work on cars for a living, mainly German cars. I'm all
  too aware of the glitches Audi's have had in recent years. These glitches
  however are typically a result of the suppliers of parts to Audis, namely
  Bosch and Valeo, among a few others. But you cannot question the quality of
  workmanship of an Audi. I also work on about 1/2 dozen Subarus on a regular
  basis, 2 WRX's, one older legacy wagon, on newer lagacy wagon (2003 if i
  recall) and on occ. an 05 STI. I can see primer coming through on the 03
  WRX, the guy polishes his car too much. He also dented the hood quite nicely
  when he dropped a golf ball on it by accident... thin metal and paint. The
  other WRX has a series of engine issues early on, mostly head gasket
  failures. The older legacy was bought new by a friend who brought it down to
  show me  a week after he got it. I opened the door, peeked inside and closed
  the door with no
   rmal force. The door bounced back at me. The door hinge was already loose.
  Now Taka, have you realy seen a late audi that rattles? Please. I seriously
  doubt. As i also said in a previous post, all car manuf. have a few dud cars
  out there, a lemon if you will. Perhaps the head gasket issues or the loose
  door hinge was just that lemon. I work on 6 subbies and hundreds of Audi's.
  Half those subbies are problematic from a workmanship standpoint. The bulk
  of audi issues are from a parts supplier standpoint. I'll take the Audi any
  day. Oh, and by the way, you can chip your 2.5gt, put injectors in and all
  the silliness you wish. You'll then have a miniature time bomb under the
  hood. Simply chip a 2.7t and keep the dependability, but we're back to even
  on the strip. And the AR still weighs allot more. BTW, i'd like to see you
  drive your 2.5gt to the top of a ski area, 1000 verticle feet. I did it, i
  have pix to prove it. :-)

  Rolf

  PS. I'm not as biased against subaru as i lead on to be, I appreciate their
  cars for where they stand in the market place. But i do not ever intend to
  replace any of my Audi's with one, based largely on my hands-on experiences
  with them.
    ----- Original Message -----
    From: Taka Mizutani
    To: R. Mair
    Cc: S-CAR-List at audifans.com
    Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2005 8:16 PM
    Subject: Re: [s-cars] WAS gas prices, now racist subaru's


    Rolf-
    I guess you've seen a high-mileage '05 Legacy so you can substantiate your
  statement that the car
    is a rattletrap?

    I've seen so many VWs and Audis that rattle that your contention that the
  Audi is so much better
    just makes me wonder if you're so biased that you simply will not even
  evaluate one with an open
    mind.

    You can't really compare the Legacy to the allroad because the Legacy is a
  $32k car fully loaded
    versus a $48k car loaded for the allroad 2.7T. IMO, the 2.5GT is a better
  car- in terms of fun-to-drive
    factor, handling, value for your money, reliability- than the A4 2.0T, for
  about $4k less money.

    That extra $16k difference versus an allroad would allow me to put in a
  FMIC, FP Green, injectors,
    turboback exhaust, coilover suspension, STI Brembos, improve the
  soundproofing of the entire interior,
    nice set of wheels/tires, dyno tuning, etc. that would blow the allroad
  out of the water in every aspect
    of performance. Of course, you can be content in knowing that your allroad
  is "superior" just because
    it is made in Neckarsulm, Germany and has the 4 rings on the grille.

    Audi has been going downhill since they axed the C4 chassis S6. The D3
  chassis cars and the A5 chassis
    A3 quattro are the only cars that are really interesting to me (although
  the A3q is going to be way too
    expensive to sell well- 3.2 DSG as the only configuration really limits
  the appeal, as well as the 100/0
    Haldex system).

    If I had the money for the upkeep, I'm much rather have something like
  Phil Ackley's 20v UrQ. That car was
    f'ing sweet.

    Taka


    On 9/3/05, R. Mair <waves at comcast.net> wrote:
      "You can't compare a '05 Subaru to a '72 Firebird. :rolleyes:"
      Sure you can, they are both rattle-traps!  ;-) However, you can't
  compare
      an A6 to the 2.5GT. Two totally different cars. Further from the comparo
  would
      be my wifes Allroad against any legacy wagon. I've been in both, again,
  no comparison.

      Rolf
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