Re: A question of lineage...

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

> Well, we just got a 1990 20V 90Q, and it had the Pearl White
> BBS alloys, in 6x14, with 195/60/14 (185?).
> 
> What gives? These are obviously the original wheels, since they
> are the Audi-badged BBS that match every other BBS, and they are
> in the Pearl White to match the car.
> 
> I can't see fitting 215/50/15 tires in those wheel wells at gunpoint.
> 
> Years ago, when I test-drove a left-over 20V 90Q, I remember it had
> some 175/70/14 Invictas on it, and the dealer claimed that was "stock".

the 80/90 series in that era had this (bogus IMO) option of all season
tires in place of performance tires.. not only was this cheap s*** as
you have noted, they were also narrower..

i remember very clearly one of my friends bought a 1990 80Q at around
the same time that i bought the V8.. (same dealer too).  at that time
i knew almost every little detail of the entire audi lineup, so it was
utter shock when we found that his car was delivered with 175/70 SR14
GY Invictas, as cheap as they come..  we felt for sure that somebody
was ripping him off and it wasn't till much later when we found out
about this "all-season tires option".  after enough bitching and
moaning, audi replaced the invictas with 195/60 HR14 dunlops.

for the 90 quattros, i'll bet that quite a number of them also were
delivered with these wimpy tires (and wimpier wheels, it seems).  i
guess the lesson that we can learn when shopping for a 90Q20V is to
find out what wheels they come with.. i certainly prefer the
speedlines to the nightmare-to-clean BBS lattice wheels.  they look
better too.

there was also this dweeb owner of an S4 who bitched that he didn't
get "all-season" tires on his AWD wundermobile..  after enough
bitching, audi replaced his 225/50ZR16 firestones and 8JX16 wheels
with 215/60 goodyear GAs on 7.5X15 wheels.. go figure...

i think that the all-season tire option was a fiasco.  my V8 came
with very harsh Z rated P600s which were also not a good match..
i'm much happier with the dunlop D80V4 touring tires that are
on right now.  

eliot