Re: Big mistake

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

> purchase 1989 200  Turbo Quattro.......$16,000
> sell     1986 4000 S     Quattro.........5,000
>                                         ------
> cost of upgrade........................$11,000

> I've seen Turbo Quattro Coupes for less than that cost to upgrade.

sure, but a 89 200Q has a lot more to it than just extra hp over a 86
4000Q.  the equipment level is of a different order altogether.
there's abs, torsen and the watercooled turbo.  i made that comment
for 100/5000 owners.  a fwd 200 turbo is even cheaper if you are
willing to live with fwd.  the turbo quattro koops tend to be a little
more expensive because they are rarer.  

> I guess a fairer comparison for me would be trading for a '86-'88
> 5000TQ at $9000, minus $5000 for my 4000Q, for a cost of $4000.
> I'm not even convinced that the 5000TQ is much of a performance improvement
> over the 4000 Quattro.  I've read here on the Quattro mailing list that
> someone found the performance of the 5000TQ less than the 80/90 Quattro.

I've driven all of these cars; the turbo engined cars have been
noticeably more powerful in my experience, even in the bigger cars.
also, the turbos have far more potential for relatively risk free and
cheap hp increases in the form of wastegate control alterations.
european 10V 200q's were making 200 bhp just before the 20V turbo came
out, and if i'm not mistaken, even the catalyst equipped cars were
putting out that amount.  i suspect that it would be quite trivial to
get 200 bhp out of a 160 bhp u.s. spec 200q.  anyone know the exact
differences?

i still think that trading up to a turbo engined car is the best
upgrade for someone with a non turbo car.  


eliot