Re: Audi Quattro Automatic Transmission & Final Drive Ratio

[schulz@tif623.ed.ray.com (Peter Schulz)]

On Wed Dec 20 16:25:38 1995
Jeff Hall asked:
 
> My friend Charles gave me your email address.  
>...I would consider a wagon if it were available in 
> a non-turbo version (since I only hear bad things about turbos 
> in general).  

About Audi turbos???? I HIGHLY doubt it.  Audi turbo motors are so OVER-engineered
(approximately 160 hp stock), that with a modest investment of $800 for a re-
calibrated ECU, the hp can be bumped to over 220 hp.  Many members of the Quattro
e-mail list are running their Audi turbos at well over 220 hp (>300hp!!!) with
little degradation in reliability.  The most important things are to use a synthetic
motor oil, change it often, and let the turbo (run down) after high speed driving. 

>I have 2 questions about the Quattro, 
> 
> 	1)  Is the automatic transmission good?  
> 		I would want an auto but have not heard/read 
> 		anything about the unit in the Quattro.  >
 Don't know. I believe that the slushboxes were first offered in 91 or 92...

> 	2)  Can the final drive ratio be lowered to give 
> 		better low-end power?  
Yeah, but at the expensive of the gear spacing...depending on the tranny specs,
whether it is a hydraulic, or one of the newer electronic-controlled jobs, it 
could be very involved and expensive...

I recommend that you subscribe to the Quattro e-mail list, to improve your 
knowledge on the Audis, so that you can make informed decisions.  If you're
concerned about alot of e-mail (The messsage traffic can get very heavy) subscribe
to the Quattro digest, which is sent approximately three times daily.

send a meassage to majordomo@coimbra.ans.net, with either "subscribe quattro", or
"subscribe quattro-digest" in the body of the message.

I'm not really qualified to answer your wagon questions, but I do think that
some of the members have quattro wagons with auto transmissions.  I really don't
think that the turbo is an issue. Actually, I wish that my coupe q had one.

I will forward your questions to the list...

Peter Schulz
1990 Coupe Quattro
schulz@ed.ray.com