First trip in my Q

[Brendan <bman@swva.net>]

Hey listers :)

Well, I just got back from my week-long trip to Canada last night.  Holy
email, I had over 750 from the list alone waiting in my box!  =:O  Some
great reading, certainly, and deleting several posts with *Audi Hater* in
the title reduced it somewhat ;)

Before I spew details about the trip, I'd like to thank the folks who have
sent replies about my A/C questions.  Unfortunately I was so busy before
the trip that I didn't have time to follow up or do much checking, so the
trip was made w/o A/C, but the responses have been a help nonetheless and
given me some insight into my A/C situation.

Before the trip, I searched the archives for info on odometer problems, and
am I glad I did.  The odometer on my '87 5ksq was non-functional when I
bought the car in February "as is" from a dealer.  After being quoted $250
for a new spedo/odo at the Audi dealer, I did some looking around.  The
archives just saved me a bunch of cash!  I removed the defective part,
located the gear which was causing the problem and, at the cost of a couple
of drops of lock-tight, fixed it before my trip.  Quite a comfort to be
able to finally discover what kind of gas mileage I'm getting with the car. :)

I departed Va with my girlfriend early on Sunday, June 1.  I've made this
drive countless times over the years, as I have a number of relatives in
the Toronto area, but let me tell you, I've never enjoyed the trip as much
as I did in my Q.  We took route 460 into West Va and hopped on 77.  From
about 10 miles up 77 all the way to Buffalo it rained off and on (mostly
on) the whole trip.  This was actually rather fortunate, since the rain
meant cooler weather and I had no A/C.

About an hour after the rain began, something started to nag at me every
time I looked in my rear-view mirror.  Eventually I realized that it was my
rear window.  It was completely and utterly dry, and had not felt a single
drop of rain.  At first I attributed this to the fact that we were moving.
"Of course it doesn't rain on the rear window, we're moving too fast, the
aerodynamics of the car, blah blah..."  That didn't satisfy me for long,
however, as I began to wonder why water on the roof of the car didn't roll
back and eventually down the rear window.

Some of you may find this amusing, or even silly, but this is the only car
I've ever driven that displays this.  Apparently the aerodynamics of the
car, combined with the shape of the roof and pillars, keeps the rear window
absolutely 100% dry in rain, as long as you're moving at a reasonable
speed.  What a trivial thing to keep me amused for most of the trip while
my girlfriend snoozed away in the co-pilot's seat, eh? :)

The Q was an absolute joy to drive on this 11 1/2 hr trip.  The seats are
firm, and wide enough to allow enough freedom of movement to stay
comfortable for days on end.  With the windows up and the sunroof open, no
rain found its way into the car, and with the sunroof closed, noise
intruding from the "outside world" was so minimal that the sound of my own
thoughts were almost _too_ clear! ;)  (I'm also grateful that my girlfriend
doesn't snore!)

I felt more secure and stable driving in heavy rains than I've ever felt.
Cars were slowing down, one or two even pulling off the road to avoid the
rain while my Q quietly cruised along at 70-75, utterly indifferent to
weather conditions as the rains came and went, and came again.

Driving up 19 in West Va was equally enjoyable, even in the rain, twisting
through the mountains on alternating 2-lane and 4-lane stretches, working
our way up to I79.  All in all the trip went smoothly, with only minor
delays on I90 around Ft. Erie.  We crossed at the Peace Bridge rather than
stopping at Niagra, in light of the rain, headed up the QEW and arrived in
Toronto shortly after sunset.

I noticed a couple of things about my car while in Toronto.  First, the
slow leak of hydrolic fluid from the power brake/steering system was
dramatically increased in downtown driving, which leads me to believe the
leak is primarily in the braking system.  Before the trip, since February,
I'd used roughly a Liter of fluid driving to work, the store, etc.  In
Toronto, however, I went through 2 Liters in one week of city driving.  At
$20/Liter, I think it's about time I looked into that ;)

Second was engine temperature.  It was never irratic, nor did it ever reach
an unusually high level, but even when driving uncongested highways for
30-40 miles it seemed to cycle the fan more than I would have expected.  I
haven't owned the car through a summer yet, so it may be that I'm just not
accustomed to Audi engines yet, but I'm wondering if perhaps the engine
isn't running just a little hot, and how I might be able to diagnose and
correct this if necessary.  I haven't done any real checking yet, but my
first thought was perhaps running cooler plugs.  I haven't consulted the
book(s) on this yet, but I know my Q has Bosch Platinum WR7DP plugs in it
currently.

I've heard a lot of mention of Bentley manuals for Audis.  I don't have one
yet, or know where to look for one.  I have the Haynes manual and the
Verlag Bucheli - Paul Pietsch manuals.  I'm sure the Bentley would be
better than the Haynes, but how does it compare to the Bucheli?

Well, anyway.. ;)  So we had a wonderful week in Canada, and other than the
Hydrolic fluid, the Audi was trouble-free the entire trip.  I averaged
about 25 mpg highway, and as low as 16 mpg city, but considering rush hour
traffic on the Don Valley Parkway (or should I say Don Valley Parking Lot),
I can't really complain.  I arrived home last night after taking my
girlfriend home, and headed off to work again this morning, wishing I was
still in Toronto.. :)

Long live Quattro!
B