v8 developments

[Eliot Lim <eliot@lanmola.engr.washington.EDU>]

I took me car in for a routine 22.5K oil change.  Lots of news on the
Audi flagship to report:

- they found a small leak in the waterpump and replaced it.  the service
  advisor said that almost all v8s have had water pump replacements.

- the valve cover gasket had a small leak too.  they applied some silicone
  to the nuts, apparently.

in both these cases, the leaks were so small as to be undetectable by
frequent under the hood checks.  (i found such leaks in my other cars)

and the best one:

audi (the american branch, at least) is abandoning those revolutionary
inboard caliper brakes.  apparently the design did not allow
sufficient cooling and the front discs would warp after 20K miles to
the tune of $800.  if a customer complained two times about pedal
vibrations, the entire front suspension would be replaced, together
with the brakes and all.  in its place would be conventional vented
discs from the current 100, which are supposed to be even stronger
than the previous generation turbo 5000s.  however, due to the
conventional design, the disc swept area is less.  the chief mechanic
added that larger pads would be used than the lesser models.  the
entire kit would cost $900 excluding labor.  and it would be covered
by warrantee of course.

the reasoning for doing this was to prevent out-of-warrantee owners to
find out that they will need $800 disc replacements every 20K miles.
(and thus defect to Lexus et al)  

this was sad news for me.  I thought that the inboard caliper design
was neat.  i'm still on my original discs though and have not had any
problems with them yet, though there is a very faint vibration that is
detectable under heavy braking.  the service people have been real
good.  they told me to hang on to these if they still worked and then
complain towards the end of my warrantee so that they would stick the
regular discs into it, together with a brand new suspension, shocks
and all.  :-)

any reports of this at all in the fatherland?


eliot