[urq] re-quattro-ing a quattro

[Jon Archibald]

So some of you know I have been trying to sell my car (rather
unsuccessfully) under the seductive influence of a pristine '80 911
'SC a good friend is selling.

The question that keeps coming up (including from my wife) is why am I
selling after all the hours and bloody knuckles over the years. The
"new metal" factor is undeniably part of it, especially bone-stock new
metal which I don't have to make parts for. The larger part (and
reason the car has more or less slept for over 4 years) are the
still-nagging issues of the eye-stinging exhaust fumes and suspension
weirdness associated with the H&R's, especially the bump steer and
horribly skittish behavior on rutted freeways and to a lesser extend
the lack of ground clearance. I think I have ID'ed the 3 main culprits
on the fumes, but the suspension has me pretty indecisive.

I've always enjoyed the jet-sled look and super-flat handling on
smooth pavement of the car lowered, but I think bringing the car back
to stock height, possibly with narrower tires, might make me happier
because it would almost certainly drive better in crappy pavement
conditions and allow me to use the car as a winter driver in our
often-slippery, occasionally snowy, no-salt state. I think it would be
great to set the Fuchs up with some narrower studless snow tires and
have the ground clearance to cruise around without wincing when we get
8" of snow every 5 years or so. Specific questions:

-Has anyone lowered their car, then gone back to stock, then really
missed the lowered handling, or with the Bilstein HD's I have can I
still expect it to be pretty satisfying?

-What is an ideal snow tire size to run with the Fuchs?

-Has anyone gone with larger-than-stock tire sidewalls to maximize
ground clearance on your winter tires (assuming stock ride height)?

-Are there decent kits or preferred materials for fabbing mudflaps?

-Has anyone experimented with any kind of skid plate for winter
driving? We get these charming 8-inch "ice donuts" around our manholes
during rare week-long cold snaps in addition to the high-center snow
pile. My passat wagon barely survived the last tough winter we had
between snapping cable chains and undercarriage smashing.

Thanks for any thoughts on what may be a whole new direction for me.

-Jon
'85 urq 20vt - long, low, stinky and squirrely