Re: Audi 90

[John Greenstreet <jgreenst@motown.ge.com>]

> From quattro-owner@swiss.ans.net Tue Oct 25 12:18:49 1994
> From: Alex Chernushin <ACHERNU@ball.com>

> Well...I have a '90 Coupe Quattro, and the other night I went and drove a 
> '95 90 Sport, non-quattro just for fun.
> 
> 
> I still don't know why Audi doesn't massage the V6 slightly to get 200 hp, 
> then it would be a great car.
> 

Because then everybody would say Audi should tweak it to get 220 hp out of
it! :^)

But seriously, I find it comical that we Americans always want more, more,
more horsepower (when we really want torque, but that's another story),
while in Germany the most popular models are the reduced HP version.  Case
in point: the 2.8 V6 was acclaimed by the press as an ideal engine for
cars with luxury intentions, but it didn't sell better than the old I5.
However, the down-scaled 2.6 V6, which ditches the variable-length
intake runners (and with them, some DM), is an absolute hit.

In Germany, those wanting more hp than the 2.8 V6 can go to the
downsized 3.8 V8, derived from the original 4.2 V8.  And the current move
afoot is to Turbo-direct-injection (TDI) diesels, which have relatively
modest HP but good torque and economy unheard-of in this country, e.g. 
48 mpg in mixed driving (1/3 each of city, rural, and autobahn) for a 100S!

I find that engine performance varies widely from sample to sample and 
also depends on how the engine was broken in, how hard it's driven
(harder is better in my experience), etc.  Remember that these engines
are meant to be driven at full throttle a significant amount of the time,
and this does wonders for keeping things flowing.  Also, German car
engines, especially Mercedes ones, tend to gain power with age.  When C&D
tested a 325i, the 0-60 time improved by 0.5 sec by the end of its 
60K mile test.

Many dealers also put low-zoot gas in their cars which will kill
performance in knock-sensored engines, and some gas stations have <93
octane gas in the 93 octane tank.  I drove a BMW 530i that couldn't get
out of its own way because of the economy-grade gas that the cheapo dealer
puts in.

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John Greenstreet, Senior Engineer           (jgreenst@motown.ge.com)
Martin Marietta Government Electronic Systems    Moorestown NJ 08057
WPI Class of '75, Temple Class of '94

My new car history:
  1975    1978    1982       1986        1989      1992      1995
   VW ->  Audi -> Audi  -> Mercedes -> Mercedes -> Audi -> Mercedes
Scirocco Fox GTI  4000S    190E 2.3    190E 2.6    100CS     S320

POSSLQ's* new car history:
         1978       1981       1985      1988        1990     1993
       Triumph ->  Toyota ->  Toyota  ->  VW    ->   Audi  -> Audi
       Spitfire    Tercel     Corolla   Jetta GL      80      90S

*POSSLQ = Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters
Note: All Audis and Mercedes above were sold to friends or family.
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