Re: If it WASN'T a Quattro - would you buy one?

[jafo@tummy.com]

In article <1.5.4.32.19970101174835.00697144@nwohio.com> you write:
>At 09:17 AM 1/1/97 -0500, you wrote:
>an option on their cars, would you still by an Audi quattro?  Any takers on
>an M3 quattro?   Just dreaming...

Oh yeah, that'd be an INTERESTING car...  Like a 911C4 that you can actually
carry stuff in.  :-)

>On the other hand, if you consider VW to be "another fine German..." then we
>may have an actual history of a quattro-like drive offered outside the Audi
>logo.  The Quantum and the Passat are probably examples.  The Quantum had a

IMHO, the VW synchro system was inferior to the Audi system.  From what I
understand, it was a "part-time" AWD, which I had in my Subaru.  It was a
complete pain because there were times when you only needed it sometimes
and had to decide "Do I drive around with it on and cause more wear to
the parts, or drive with it out and worry about wrecking?"  The most notable
instance was in my Subaru.  The streets in Colorado are all "capped" so that
water runs off to the sides.  The one I was on was particularly capped, and
coming over a hill I hit a part of the road that was shaded by lots of trees,
and still was completely iced over.  I almost slid into the curb before I
could correct and get into AWD.

However, most makes have had AWD cars in their past and don't now:

	Toyota: All-Track Celica, Camry, and Tercel.
	Mitsubishi: Galant and Diamante' used to come in AWD Turbo versions.
		Still have the 3KGT and Eclipse.
	Honda: I've seen some of their older Civic wagons (mid '80s) with
		4WD badges on them.
	Ford: Tempo used to come in an AWD version.
	Mercedes: Their had their 4Matic system.
	BMW: 325ix
	Volvo: '97 has an AWD wagon I believe, but it's only Auto trans.

Apparently, people just aren't into AWD that much...  The re-sale value
of our '90 90q20v is $2K higher in Colorado than in the midwest.  New car
dealers are asking a premium for them in Colorado, where the midwest is
having a hard time selling them.

Apparently, people are more afraid of slighly lower gas mileage, problems
with the AWD system that cost lots of bucks, etc...  Why aren't people more
worried about their driving safety?  As far as costs go, other drivers and
the environment would be MUCH better off if the LCD drivers would realize
that they shouldn't expect to get a car with the hood welded shut.  I budget
at least $1K on car maintainance per year.

Sean
-- 
 "If all you have is a hammer, every problem tends to look like a nail."
Sean Reifschneider, Inimitably Superfluous <jafo@tummy.com>
URL: <http://www.tummy.com/xvscan> HP-UX/Linux/FreeBSD/BSDOS scanning software.