British Mags, 30 Valves, and Silly Germans...

["Bertenyi, Tamas" <Tamas.Bertenyi@nrc.ca>]

I was reading that quality British mag, Performance Car, and they had 
a whizz-bang comparison of the new 30V A4 2.8 and the BMW 328i. 
Remember, this is the magazine that taught me such timeless phrases as 
"shagging your tires" and "pulling your whanker" and they also have a 
real respect for BMW products. Nonetheless, they selected the A4 as 
their first choice citing it as the better all-around car. (A tune we 
have heard from many car magazine comparisons where the A4 has won).

One interesting point that came up was an explanation for the modest 
power increase the five valve head gives. The new engine has "only" 
193 horses (and that is DIN, I think) which is a modest increase over 
the 172 considering the quantum leap the I5 motors experience going 
from 2 to just 4 valves per cyl. When I heard this I scratched my head 
and assumed that there must have been something in the beer in 
Ingolstadt but Performance Car gives another explanation. They note 
that certain GERMAN TAX LAWS make it quite favourable to limit power 
to 193 horses (which also explains the BMW I6's moderate power 
increase when it went from 2.5 to 2.8 litres). Silly Germans. Can 
anyone shed light on this? Furthermore, what are the ramifications of 
this with respect to potential engine tweaking? Huh huh?

Tamas Bertenyi - International Man of Mystery
'90 90q20v