AudiWatch Update (Tm) #8

[powell@interlan.interlan.com (Glen D. Powell)]

AudiWatch Update (Tm) #8 1-4-93

Autoweek, Dec. 14, 1992, WORLD NEWS

SUPER GOLF

   Volkswagen AG is likely to release a Lancia Delta Integrale/Ford
Escort RS Cosworth competitor in late '93. Based on the forthcoming
four-wheel-drive Golf Syncro, the car will have a 220-hp, 1.8-liter
16-valve four that is both super- and turbocharged.
   With massive wheel arches and huge air vents, the car will provide
the basis of a future VW attack on the World Rally Championship.
   VW Motorsports aims to build 2500 homolagation cars by the end of
1994 for the '95 season. In fine VW tradition, those cars will be
offered for sale to the public on a limited basis, though not in the US.

AUDI V8

   Over at Audi, they're said to be readying a 100 STATION WAGON
stuffed full of the 275-hp 4.2-liter V8 from Audi's flagship
sedan.
   Meant to compete with BMW's 540i and Mercedes 400E, Audi's V8
will be called the Avant S4 4.2 and will be on sale, initially
only in Europe, by the end of this year.

Nice picture of the Avant that I can't possibly recreate here, 
got the V8 grill and the nice 10-spoke wheels, what a ski car!, Ed.

THIS WEEK

...Toyota is said to be working on a narrow-angle V6 similar to the VR6
VW's installed in the Corrado and Passat.....  2.5 liters and 4-valve
heads with SOHC, HP unavailable.

Geee, the Japs are copying another company's successfull idea!, Ed.

RACING NEWS

Meanwhile, over here....
Canadian brothers Frank and Dan Sprongle won the MAIN FOREST event,
final round of the SCCA's Subaru PRO Rally Championship. The
Sprogle's Audi Quattro got a boost when midway leader Paul Choiniere
clipped a rock and cut an oil line. Choiniere already had clinched
the season championship (in another Quattro, Ed.) and shut off his
engine to avoid major damage......

OFF THE LINE

TOTING UP HITS, HISSES AFTER BALLOTS ARE TALLIED
A little more than a month ago, I weighed in with my ballot for
_Automobile Year's_ top 20 cars from the last 40 years (AW, Nov 2).
(mentioned in AudiWatch Update (Tm) #7, Ed)
Some 41 auto journalists and editors, primarily from Europe
(including one from Slovenia), participated. In making our choices,
votes were weighted with a letter rating from A to D to assess the
significance of each selection. The weighting served to break ties.

(here are some of the top 15 of the final competition, Ed.)

1  Citroen DS19   (??? Ed.)
2  Porsche 911
3  Audi Quattro   (!!! Ed.)
4  BMC Mini
5  Jaguar E-Type
6  NSU Ro 80      (ne Audi ? Ed.)
7  Mercedes 300SL
8  Renault Espace
9  VW Golf Series 1
10 Corvette
11 Miura
12 Mustang        (!!! Ed)
13 Ferrari 250 GTO
14 F40
15 BMW 1600/2000/2002

...receiving recognition and finishing last at 154th on the list of the
most important and influential cars of all time, with one vote, was
the Fiat X1/9.

OUT TAKES

(on a lighter note, Ed.)

SAVE HER PLANET. WHEREVER IT IS.

A reader sends this passage from a N. Carolina newspaper, quoting a
young woman who sacrifices on behalf of the environment: "I have to
make a special effort because I can drive from my home to my office
in 20 minutes," she says. "It takes between 15 and 20 minutes to drive
to the park-and-ride lot, then it takes me a half-hour on the bus and
a five-minute walk to the building... I feel it's the right thing to
do, but it's not convenient." Our reader says this constitutes
"protecting the ozone by living in it." (gottah love that logic tho, Ed.)

-glen, Vorsprung durch Technik!