quattro what quattro

[quk@sievers.com (Phil Payne)]

In message <Marcel-1.08-1104235116-b49a*qQ@sparkg.wave.co.nz> Greg Spark writes:

> Phil, I think that your definition of quattro is a little "tight" especially
> considering the ready and inexpensive availabilty of this option on most
> current models - actually I can't think why anyone would buy non-quattro
> unless it never rains where they live - THAT rules out the UK!! 

It's not _my_ definition - it's accepted usage.  If I go into a VAG parts depot 
and ask for  "quattro wiper blades" they don't ask which model - they assume 
ur-quattro.  Indeed, the term "ur-quattro" is known to relatively few here.

As for rain - yeah, we get some of that.  But I wouldn't describe the ur-
quattro as an ideal vehicle in the rain.  Indeed, the driver's handbook is very 
explicit on the dangers of ur-qs in the rain - most notably from the very wide 
tyres tending to aquaplane, but also because of quattro mathematics: 4 x 0 is 
equal to 2 x 0.  If you unstick a quattro in the wet, you'll likely be going 
much faster than anyone else would at the unstick point.

> I agree the ultimate desirable quattro to own IS the ur-Quattro. Correct my
> semantics if I'm wrong but my understanding was that if we were referring
> to the ur we used upper case Q but in all other instances we used lower
> case. Maybe this is nit picking but I think that as dedicated quattro-listers
> we should get Audi-speak correct. 

No, we don't know the upper/lower case convention.  Audi originally used an
upper-case Q for the ur-quattro, but changed in a rebranding exercise in the 
early 1980s.

--
 Phil Payne
 phil@sievers.com
 Committee Member, UK Audi [ur-]quattro Owners Club