5000CS/200 SEAT HTRS, LIGHTS, UFO BRAKES

[crossley <crossley@northwest.com>]

I have been a QD reader for about a month or so and would like to get involved in some of the discussions.
Short Audi history: 1972 100CS (good driver but forced me to be the mechanic I am today), 1986 5000CS Turbo (right stuff but it should be against the law to sell 2.2 turbo engines combined with 3 speed automatics), 1991 200 Quattro (Ned's latest chip, Euro lights, S4 wheels, 130k, great car).
Topics: HEATED SEAT REPAIRS.  Must have repaired my '86 Barkoloungers 6 or 8 times.  Failures almost always occurred in the out board seat bottom bolsters.(the one you plant your butt on when you get in the car).  Although I never had a chance to try this, if I had to repair another one, I think I would take that part of the heating element out of the circuit and experience some asymmetric ass warming.  The sport seats in my 200Q do not have bolster heaters and I don't miss them.  And they are also still working with 130k on the car.  Also, I found that the little crimp connectors that Radio Shack sells for connecting phone lines together works well in these repairs but don't crimp them!  Just slide the stripped wire ends into the connector and then solder.  This makes a neat smooth repair which is important as you don't want the repair to hang up in the foam cushion.  Adding some tape or material to assist the repair in its freedom to move relative to the cushion is beneficial for survival.  5000CS/200 HEADLIGHTS.  I will never forget how disgusted I was upon discovering just how poor the DOT Euro-phony lights were on my '86 Turbo.  If ever there was a justified reason to drag an auto manufacturer through a hell such as that experienced by Audi in their "unintended acceleration" B.S., those lights are it.  After going through several sets of Hella road lights due to my wife's encounters with parking curbs and steep driveways, I bit the bullet and popped for a set of the real things.  My recollection is that I paid around $700 for the set which I immediately rebulbed to 100/90W H4s and 100W H1s.  Of course, I used relays up the kazoo to protect those expensive Audi switches.  It was worth it!!  Even my wife, who often questions my sanity when it comes to buying car stuff, had to agree.  She still does not understand why one must spend that kind of money on that kind of car just to see as well at night as one can with an Accord with stock lights!  (that sentiment was voiced before rebulbing).   I soon realized  that while these lights were great when aimed correctly, they could be real offensive if the car's attitude were changed slightly due to trunk loading or if the car was operated on terrain that presented hills where, in cresting a hill, the on coming traffic line of sight would be below the low beam horizontal cut off.  You encounter some pretty POed people and rightfully so.  My fix at the time was to install some levers to the head light adjusters and extend them underneath the car so they could be adjusted without opening the hood.  This being done because I was using a bra to protect the paint from rock chips on our skiing outings.  That sort of worked.  Then, on a trip to Germany, I was treated to real fast trip down the autobahn in the dead of night in a big Benz and found out about electric headlight aimers!  Audi also makes them and they are the answer.  I spent another $300 or so on the necessary parts and now have the system that should have been provided in the original car. Thank you very much you Washington d**k heads.  For those of you interested, I have the Audi part numbers and electrical schematic for the aiming system.  UFO BRAKES.  I have them and I like them.  I looked quite a while in my acquisition of my 200Q and was cognizant of the problems associated with these brakes.  The car looked like new on the inside and out, had 90k miles, was about 2 1/2 years old and shook like heck with any kind of braking activity.  A quick check with Ned Ritchy revealed that the drive train should be good for many more miles and for the most part, what you saw is what you got.  I discussed the brake issue with the independent broker who specialized in Quattros.  He was very informed on the matter and offered to reduce the asking price by $500 to cover replacing the rotors.  I gulped and took the bait!  A quick check with AOA revealed "no help" which didn't surprise me.  I prepared to take the dreaded trip to the local dealer's parts counter for a heart stopping experience.  But, being a procrastinator when it comes to buying Audi OEM parts, I decided to drive the beast a while.  I did a two day Quattro Club Safety Seminar at PIR and in learning how to be safe (and fast) I solved my brake problem.  My fist couple of track sessions were real "shaky events", but by the end of the second day the brakes were very smooth.  I had thermally stress relieved them!  I add that my idea of braking is threshold type at or near ABS levels from about 120 mph (end of the PIR front straight).  On the cool down lap of the last session my brake pad light popped on (not surprising as the pads were original).  A call to the local Audi dealer parts counter resulted in a quote of about $150 for new pads and if you wanted new wear sensors add another $100.  I think not!  The broker I bought the car from was able to get me a set of Ferodos for about $140 complete with sensors.  I did have to solder on the sensor electrical connectors that I removed from the OEM pads.  I am now on my second set of replacement pads and the original rotors.  Every once in a while they get a little shaky at which point I go out and abuse them and everything is fine.  I do believe that these brakes out perform the standard externally calipered units, this based on comparison with retro-fitted cars (200Qs & V8s) at the Quattro track events.  I apologize for the length of this email and promise that it will not happen again, which is easy for me to say given my non existent key boarding skills .

Kent Crossley
crossley@northwest.com
91 200Q
Audi Quattro Club USA # 793
NW Region Audi Quattro Club

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