RE: My '92 Quattro is a piece of #$$%^#@!!

[Aleksander Mierzwa <alex@matrix.com.pl>]

Eliot wrote:

	>just coincidentally, a good friend has a '92 100 FWD with
automatic
	>suffer the exact same fate.  yup. same estimate, non
repairable, $6000.
	>i spoke to the dealer who i know quite well and learned a
couple of
	>things..

	>this is not a ZF unit found on the v8 or a8, but rather VW's
unit that's
	>found in golfs and jettas.  the same unit is also used on the
vr6 powered
	>cars.  this is fact.  (there is a tiny possibility that the
100Q uses the
	>ZF while the 100 FWD uses the VW) 

I would say - it probably is a ZF unit. The main reason why threre was
no automatic quattros before 89 is that it was impossible to connect the
standard VW/Audi slushbox with the centre diff. The manual 016 gearbox
was heavily modified to do that, and apparently they couldn't do this
with the slushbox until they decided to use the ZF in the V8, which is -
mind you - used also on RWD (seems like different setup at all) BMWs. 

	>now MAYBE, just MAYBE, audi used a slushbox that was at the
limit of its
	>design strength?  this box in typical service handles just 115
bhp and
	>120+ lbft of torque in a car weighing well under 3000 pounds.
in the case
	>of the vr6 versions, you have 170+ lbft, but still in lighter
cars.

The old 3sp slushbox was successfully used on turbocharged 5Ks...
although indeed working at it's limits. 

Aleksander Mierzwa
Warsaw, Poland
mailto:alex@matrix.com.pl
87 Audi 5000CS turbo (mine)
88 Renault Medallion wagon (mom's)
91 mountain bike (just in case both cars broke at the same time :-)