[V8] Fw: What was I thinking!!! (was: the end of the Type 44?)

[Ed Dekker]

Hey, Roger Thoreau of Walden Pond,
    I enjoy your discourses on V8 Philosophy, especially the grad level 
courses.  Sometimes i even learn stuff.  They all open new avenues.
Ed Dekker
90 V8 stock
97 A6 Avant

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Roger M. Woodbury" <rmwoodbury at adelphia.net>
To: "'V8 Audi Fans'" <v8 at audifans.com>
Sent: Friday, February 17, 2006 7:39 AM
Subject: [V8] What was I thinking!!! (was: the end of the Type 44?)


>I just did a little survey for my own thought process.  If I were to 
>replace
> my desire for another V8 with a more modern replacement, I have found that
> the only choices that I find really interesting are either a 2002/03 S6
> Avant, or an S8.  I really like the utility of a wagon body style.  More
> often than not, there is a good, real reason to be able to open up the 
> rear
> an shove something in that simply won't fit in the trunk of a V8.
>
> Yesterday my wife and I had meetings in Augusta and from there, we drove 
> to
> South Portland for a few things, returning home before seven in the 
> evening.
> It was about a thirteen hour day and we put around 350 miles on her 100 CS
> Quattro Avant.  It's a nice car for that sort of trip, although it needs
> about thirty horsepower more than the V6 was designed to produce:  it 
> really
> needs a 3.6 litre V8 out of an early V8 that was crunched in the rear, is
> what it really needs.
>
> But the trip was smooth and quiet and overall, a perfect use for that car
> which now has around 106,000 on it from new.  During the ride, I mused 
> about
> what a replacement for the Black Mariah, the 200 20valve Avant (due back
> from surgery today), OR a '93 V8, if I end up not having another one.
>
> I have been watching the eBay auctions for both the S6 and the S8 
> recently.
> It is very hard to buy any S6 for much less than $25,000, and most are 
> still
> above $30,000.  So also the S8.  Unless either car has more than 100,000
> miles, either one is still beyond what I would pay for any vehicle that
> couldn't be depreciated.
>
> Out of curiosity though, I decided to do a little simple research this
> morning, and looked at tire prices for all three vehicles which I covet.
>
> To my surprise, the S8 require 18 inch wheels at a minimum, and Tire Rack
> offers very few choices.  Since I run all season tires all year round with
> the Quattros, I was shocked to see that tire prices run pretty much in the
> $160-$275 range.  Ouch.
>
> The S6 wasn't nearly so bad.  And assuming that the car has 17" wheels, 
> tire
> prices are more reasonable, and it would be possible to buy four new tires
> right now, mount and balance them for less than a grand.
>
> Compare that with a V8.  Well, MY next V8 would possibly have big front
> brakes, and 16" wheels.  Still an all, four tires, mounted and balanced,
> will not blow out$600.
>
> And since I found the brakes on my '93 V8 to be adequate (not great, but
> adequate to my driving needs), I could stay with the 15" size, and do even
> better.  I need to point out here that really low aspect ratio tires in a
> daily driver here in rural Maine will wear much faster and ride much more
> harshly than larger aspect ratios since the roads are rough and get 
> rougher
> the further north and east in the state that you travel...which is where 
> the
> majority of my travel is.  MAYBE I could live with 16" wheels and 50 
> series
> tires on the V8, but that would be it.  Forty series tires?  I doubt it.
> Very quickly with really low aspect ratio tires the car begins to suffer
> from road damage, requiring tie rods, wheel replacement and more frequent
> rebalancing.
>
> The V8 is looking better and better, and the idea of buying another 200
> 20valve for parts alone, is looking better and better, too.
>
> Roger
>
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