[V8] It's Home!

[Ron Wainwright]

--- On Sat, 4/11/09, Kent McLean <kentmclean at comcast.net> wrote:

> From: Kent McLean <kentmclean at comcast.net>
> Subject: [V8] It's Home!
> To: "V8-list" <v8 at audifans.com>, "quattro" <quattro at audifans.com>
> Date: Saturday, April 11, 2009, 5:44 PM
> 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.

 I'm going to have to dissagree a bit on that.... "normally" IME I have found the ABT chip to be compatble with a chipped 20vt. If you can't feel the power start to come on @ 2800RPM, then @ 3,600 all hell breakes loose... then there are problems!

> 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, I'd love to come up & get my hands dirty... let me know if you want me to take a look @ the car.

 Ron