Re: FWD - Colorado Legislation (gnash)

[audidudi@mindspring.com (Jeffrey J. Goggin)]

>Perhaps these "super (yeah, right :-( ) vehicles" are the target of the
>proposed  Colorado legislation but, unless the fine print spells that out
>in detail, Audi owners with rather small variation between their ride and
>what Audi supplied with the car will be in violation and could be fined,
>etc., depending simply upon the whim of some REO.

If passed, this law will be virtually impossible to enforce except in
obvious, extreme cases ... for example, Chrysler once offered the SAME car
with THREE different ride height specs, depending upon the option package.
However, because the difference was fairly small -- approx. .25" -- most
dealers carried only one replacement shock instead of three and either used
shims under the spring to set the ride height or left them alone.  The SCCA
eventually had to write a +/- .25" allowance for spring perch height into
its Solo II rules because most of the aftermarket shock manufacturers
wouldn't produce multiple versions of the same shock, which had forced the
unfortunate owners of these cars to either invest in cu$tom $hock$ or live
with the OEM shocks and not be competitive against cars that didn't have
this problem. 

The same is also true for some Audis ... if you check the parts fiche,
you'll see there are several different versions of the rubber pads that are
used to isolate the springs from the chassis.  The fiche doesn't explain
which one is to be used in which application (presumably, you would order a
direct replacement for the one on your particular car, whichever one that
may be) and since they're all genuine factory parts, how could anyone ever
know what the correct ride height is supposed to be?  Consider further that
springs *will* sag over time and some cars come with torsion bars, which
generally allow easy ride height adjustments without changing any parts
whatsoever, and the issue becomes even more murky.   Now that I think about
it, how would the police be able to accurately measure ride height in the
field, anyway?  A tape measure to the fender lip isn't going to work, that's
for sure...

Of course, the fact that a law will be impossible to enforce doesn't
necessarily prevent it from being passed ... in Phoenix, Arizona, it's
technically illegal to spit on the sidewalk but it's unlikely you'll ever
get a ticket for doing so.  Watch your step...  ;^)
                       
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