[V8] It's Home!

[Kent McLean]

I picked up the new-to-me '90 V8 with the 5-speed today and drove
it 150 miles from Burlington VT to Concord NH.  Although I did
test drive the car, it wasn't enough to really get to know it. After
150 miles, here are my initial impressions;

Unlike the I-5 turbo, it starts right up. Vrooom!
My chipped 20V seems to have a lot more get-up-and-go! The 3.6L V8 is
   more sedate as it makes its way to cruising speed. It's not slow, it's
   just not as spirited as the turbo in the way it gets there.
This one seems to have a really light flywheel. You let off the gas and
   it's like you turned off the ignition. Even on the highway the car
   abruptly looses pace. You let off the gas and the mileage meter
   instantly goes to all dashes ----. Get back on the gas and it starts
   at 200 MPG before dropping to the high 20s. The transition is abrupt.
That 3" exhaust is loud. More so from 0-30, but still noticeable at 75.
   I'll eventually do something about that, but right now don't fix what
   ain't broke.
There are an awful lot of warning lights on the dash, and most of them
are lit.
   The "Brake Light" light, (O) brake pad light, and "Brake" light
   are all on. All 3 of them. Ferrari: "I build my cars to go, not stop."
   The Antilock Brake light is on.
   The "Cat" light is flashing.

Also, there's some vibration coming from somewhere. The PO says it's
   the snow tires that are on it. I'm hoping so. The wheels are Moda
   after market, so I don't have to worry about replacing bad OEM BBSs.
The interior wood trim has been painted black, which I can live with.
There's a big chip in the windshield. I don't think it will grow, but I
   also don't think it will pass inspection. This might not be so bad.
   Except for the cost, there's nothing like a new windshield to make
   an old car seem like new.
There's an Air/Fuel ratio gauge set into the console to the left of the
   HVAC controls. I'll probably replace that with a voltmeter (see below).
The piece of the dash below the instrument cluster, which is a separate
   piece on the Type 44 200, is lifting and obscuring the bottom parts
   of the gauges. That'll need fixing.
There's a Panasonic radio that is ugly as sin and will need to be
   replaced. But for now it works, so it is staying.

On I89, up around Exit 14 or so, there was a nice long straight with
good sight lines and sparse traffic. I was already cruising at 80, so
I gave it some gas until I saw triple digits. :)  "The devil made me
do it."

About 10 miles from home, still on I89, I noticed the battery light
had joined the others. And the oil light had come on. Uh Oh! The other
gauges showed the oil pressure and temp to be OK, so I soldiered on.
Changing lanes, I noticed the PS was gone. I touched the brakes and
they, too, needed a real firm foot. So I held my breath and gingerly
made it home.  A peak under the engine bay showed the ribbed belt
was still there, but it was dragging on the ground.  The only other
Audi to throw a belt on me was Bad Puppy. Is this Bad Puppy II?  I
didn't check the oil level 'cuz after popping the release, I couldn't
find the under-hood release . Doh!

In spite of all that, all the right mods have been done, so it is just
a matter of fettling it, as the British say. I just need to do that
last bit of fine tuning to make it all work.

-- 
Kent McLean
1999 A4 Avant, V6 Tiptronic
1991 200 TQA #3, with mods
1990 V8 w/5-speed and other mods
gone: '91 200 TQA x2, '94 100 S Avant, '89 200 TQ "Bad Puppy"