Timmerman's Knob story (long)

["Doyt W. Echelberger" <Doyt@NWOhio.com>]

Open post to the Q-list.
>
>I took my 87 5kcstq (newly equipped with the Schrappnel Knobben) into my
independent Audi mechanic, and showed him the installation. The owner of
this midwest Ohio garage was working on a Jaguar and his mechanic had a
Mercedes on the lift, and they were finishing up their work on a Friday at
about 3:30pm. Both of them drive mid-80's 5000's for their work cars. They
like Audis.
>
>Anyhow, they came out of the garage and I popped the hood and showed them
The Knob and the gauge, and explained how it worked and how the resistor
affected the ECU. Then I invited them to test drive it if they had time.
>
>They closed the shop, and I sat in the back seat. Off we went. It was fun
watching these excellent mechanics play with the car and talk to each other
about it. First it put big smiles on their faces. Then they switched
drivers, and everybody did some more smiling and Wowing and
Isn't-that-somethinging.The younger mechanic , who races cars as a hobby,
liked it A LOT.
>
>Back at the shop they decided they had to call the previous owner and tell
him about what 'that new owner' did to his car.  (The PO sold me the car 2
months ago because he wanted a 95 A6Q 5spd, for some reason. Paid $23,000
for it and seemed happy.)
>
>Anyhow, I took it over to his house and he got in and drove it and just
couldn't get over what a different car it had become. For 30 minutes he
just ran it through the gears around the country roads and grinned as that
1.7 boost pulled us around like we were coming out of a slingshot. This
50-some year old man has been a gearhead all his life, and a Vietnam Marine
purple heart veteran, and he was having the time of his life with that
SK-equipped old 87 5000TQ. He kept winding it out longer and higher and
eventually went from 5mph to about 90 in just a very short time....no one
was interested in a stopwatch because it would have distracted us from
having a really good time.  Lots more grinning and Wowing. Totally new
experience.
>
>Eventually he had to go back home and take his wife out to dinner, but he
gave up the car with some reluctance, saying he never would have sold it if
he had any idea that it could be tuned to do all those things. He had just
spent about $500 on the $23,000 95 A6, putting in a larger throttle body
and a K&N cone air filter and wants to chip it because he thinks it is a
little wimpy. But he went home knowing that his next car is going to be a
turbo, and it is going to get some of the best chips and mods he can find.
>
>Thought you might enjoy hearing about my Friday. Keep inventing stuff,
Paul...you are making lots of people happy. 
>
>Doyt Echelberger
>86 4kcsq
>87 5kcstq        heh heh heh heh