Re: Racking up the miles

[MSV96@aol.com]

Regarding the life span of older (I5 motor q's and GT's...especialy
non-turbo) motors...my impression is that they must wear out someday-but I
gather that few people know when, 'cause they do last so long! A good case
was my ex-wife's 86 5k (non-q, 5spd)...bought with 120k miles (from first
owner-good maintenance), driven hard and poorly with poor maintenance for
another 100k miles (220k...) and would still be running today if not for the
oil pan being ruptured (did I say driven poorly???) and it being driven with
little or no oil for another 2-3 weeks!!! Then a rod knock started and the
car was bought by a VW mechanic (presumably to fix and drive). I have heard
of many NA I5's lasting beyond 300k miles. In fact, I think that the reasons
most I5 Audi's go off to pasture are related to other high repair cost areas
(or accidents) combined with low resale value and non-caring owners. In other
words, they gotta wear out someday, but much like a 3.0 911sc motor, with
proper maintenance-not many people know when they actualy "wear out"! My 4kq
is at 156k, no new clutch yet, and motor still gets "like new" compression
and runs great. My '86 GT was at almost 190k when I sold it-same story. Many
lister's cars are high mileage, yet engine rebuilding seems to be seldom
discussed here (unlike certain other German sports sedans that come to mind
;-)  ). I drive my 12 year/156k old 4kq just as hard as my first when it was
new 10 years ago with no fears of mechanical failure and would leave for a
cross country road trip today with the same confidence (perhaps false) as I
would in any brand new car built!

Mike Veglia
85 4ksq (for fun and travel)
85 ovlov DL wagon (for my girlfriend to haul around kids aplenty)
too many bicycles to list (for my daily commute-keeps the in-town miles off
the q too)