RE: 100LS (Long)

[steveb@falcon.kla-tencor.com (Steven Buchholz)]

 # My recolection was that the 100LS and to a lesser degree the Fox (sorry Steve)
 # were generaly laughing stocks in the world of European cars in the mid 70's.
 # This was not exclusive to Audi by any means. Almost ALL mid-70's cars were

Hey, watch it!  I'll try not to take this TOO personally ... :)
<SNIP>
 # 
 # Bottom line is this, don't judge any car maker for the products produced for
 # the US market in the 70's. In fact it is now inapropriate to even judge new
 # Audi's based on problems which they had in the early to mid 80's since many
 # were indeed discovered and sorted out by the late 80's and early 90's. While I
 # would much prefer most early 70's wmbs to Audis of the same vintage, with some
 # exceptions I would say just the opposite today. Times change...along with
 # perceptions.
 # 
... actually I beg to differ with you a bit there ... let's take the 
example that you cite in fact, the '78 Fox.  Here in the US in 1978 I 
could buy a 2 door sedan that had enough back seat room for me to sit 
in the back when the front seat was adjusted for me (I'm 6' 4" tall) 
with a big trunk, fuel injection and a wonderful little 1.6 liter motor 
that would handily beat my buddy's 320i that cost almost twice as much.  
When everything else I looked at looked like a chemical plant under the 
hood (Honda Accord, Chevy Monza, AMC <something>, ...) I found a car 
that had an amazingly accessible longitudinally mounted engine ... the 
only vacuum emissions equipment was for the EGR valve.  To this day I 
still believe that the lowly Audi Fox stands out relative to its contem-
poraries.  Hey, it even out-slalomed the Vette of the same vintage ...
probably on only three wheels! ... :)

I've heard horror stories about the Fox prior to EFI, but I can't speak 
to that either way ... I've known a few older Fox owners that were as 
jazzed about their cars as I still am about mine.  Perhaps they should 
have transitioned to the 4000 designation a couple years earlier ...

Let's see ... the car still has the original steering rack (I did have 
to replace the steering damper some years ago), heater system (I didn't 
get A/C) including blower, exhaust manifold, window actuators (manual),
door locks, and the trunk lid still stays up.  If there was any "charac-
teristic" problem it was with aging of plastic parts like the radiator 
end caps and heater valve (which is still problemmatic on newer cars).  
I have similar impressions for my '83 QTC ... another car that seems to 
suffer with a reputation for poor service, but I'll tell you this ... 
I'm starting to get less and less satisfaction from my later '80s 
5kCSQ(s) ...

I guess I should stop thinking about the old Fox and get back to work 
on the Avant ... ;-)

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)
Proud Audi Fox and QTC owner (if you couldn't tell ...)

... sorry about the Monza comment Dave, I know you've had a good 
experience with yours ... I just wasn't that impressed with the 
handling and the under hood view scared me away ... :)