Re: Audis at altitude (WAS: A6 Car of the Year)

[Don Hoefer <hoefer@eng.pko.dec.com>]

Bryan,

>         Can you or someone else comment on the performance differential of
> Audi's (or other) cars at altitude?  I am curious.  So if I move to the
> mountains, which I plan to do in 5 years or so, would this effect be
> lessened with a turbo?  Let's say you live at 7,000 ft. and spend most of
> your time between 5,000 and 9,000 ft.  Both are robbed of power, but one
> more so than the other?

At 9,000 ft. vs. sea level you have 1/3 less oxygen in the air therefore
1/3 less horsepower.  A turbo will compensate at the price of more lag.
(It takes longer to build up the air charge).  I would think that an
engine driven supercharger would suffer a power loss similar to a
normally aspirated engine.

All of the tour busses up there in ski country are turbo diesels.

Don Hoefer
'82 Coupe