Re: super Q.

["Jon" <jwilliam@ns1.water.net>]

> Date:          Tue, 08 Apr 1997 19:19:08 -0700
> From:          Aaron LaPointe <murder@fia.net>
> Organization:  none whatsoever
> To:            quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> Subject:       super Q.

> OK, thank all of you for your helpful suggestions on my future 
> "project" car.  I now realize just how ignorant I am about prices.  The 
> figure I proposed is a starter figure.  I am not Donald Trump by any 
> means, nor do I plan to be in the future but I am 22, not married and 
> have no kids, and I love quattro. 
> 	I have gotten differing opinions about the v6, some say there 
> isn't room for a piece of insulation.  But they say with money, all 
> things are possible.  The V6 sounds nice, but what are the problems 
> associated with a 300 hp I-4?  Someone mentioned driveability.  What 
> specifically?  So far the general consensus leans toward the V6.  I 
> initially was bent on the I-4, but I am looking for a fast, fast car 
> that I can drive every day.  Any further suggestions would be 
> appreciated.
> 	
> Aaron LaPointe
> 85 4ksq 300,000+mi
> 

Try a Camaro Z28.  I hear they're fast and cheap too.  

Seriously, I don't think most people buy Audi's for their stop light 
drag winning abilities.  In fact, in just about every comparo that is 
run, Audi's are outgunned by their competitors horsepower-wise.  And 
yet they often put in good showings against their rivals, many times 
taking top honours.  The combination of driveability (is that a 
word?), ergonomics and style seems to win them more points than brute 
strength.  

Take my case, my previous car was a GTi VR6 (just the Golf VR6 for 
those of you across the pond).  It was called a "GTi" in North 
America to boost sales.  That car had some serious power.  I could 
beat just about anything at the stoplight and what made it even 
better was that most of them thought I was driving a Geo Metro or a 
Sprint.  I loved watching their jaws drop.  "That idiot in the 
Hyundai is GAINING on me!"  The stealth factor was excellent.  I'll 
tell you something else:  the car was a pig to drive.  Its nose would 
dip and bob through turns.  Heaven help you if you wanted to goose it 
a little through a long bend.  Areas that I had been able to rocket 
through in my Jetta GLi I was suddenly finding myself easing up on.  
And the torque steer?  Yikes!  It was second gear before the front 
wheels finally decided to let me drive.  The interior was well laid 
out.  It also had more buzzes, whistles and pops than a bowl of Rice 
Krispies(tm).  It had not been news to me about the body buzzes, it 
was, after all, my fourth VW.  But somehow I had expected a better 
car when laying out around 20 grand.  

Now I have an 87 Coupe GT.  Do I win any stop light duels?  Sometimes, 
when the other guy doesn't realize he was in a race.  But the power 
and low end torque is more than adequate for the around town driving 
that the car is subjected to.  It lacks the interior snap, crackle 
and pops, at ten years and 70k's, that the VW had at 2 years and 15.  
I love the sound of the door closing.  It sounds so damn expensive.  
And the thing loooves corners.  I go home the same way every night 
and the long bend I used to ease up on in the GTi I take in third 
gear careening in the Coupe, big sh*t eating grin plastered on my 
face.

This wasn't a flame, by the way.  I just think there's more to these 
cars than speed.  I'll leave the stop light duels to the Mustangs and 
Camaros.  I don't begrudge them that.  It's why they bought their 
cars, I bought mine for different reasons.

Jon
___
jwilliam@water.net
87 Coupe GT