Buying 86 + turbo-Long

["Scott Mo." <scottmo@teleport.com>]

Back about 8 years ago, I decided to look at the Audi 5000 model cars
because I was familiar with most of the mechanical/electrical/fuel
systems being a former VW dealer technician but I wanted a larger 4 door
car. 

At the time I was looking at a '86 FWD 5000 Turbo 5 Speed (MC engine)
and the '86-88 5000 Quattro. Being new to Audis and knowing very little
about them,  I also 'thought' the Quattro's more complex drive train
would cause higher maintenance costs. Sooo... I bought the FWD 5000
Turbo 5 Speed because it was a little cheaper and I thought I would have
less problems with it than I would if I owned the Quattro. 

The FWD 5000 T was a fun car which did pretty darn well driving in the
occassional snow I would encounter in the Northwest. The only time I
would have traction problems was if I tried to get started up a hill
while standing still, as long as you kept the car moving it would go up
any of the hills,even some very steep inclines, much to the amazement of
my friends. I took the car on many a road trip and it provided good
reliability, although I did replace a lot of parts on it for
preventative maintenance. :-)

After a few years of owning the car I began to play with the ECU mods
and raised the boost up to 1.8 bar which made the car extremely quick,
it would easily keep up with the Stock S4's down the straight at our
local track (PIR) in the 'dry'....in the wet the car would easily spin
the right front tire in third gear while blasting down the straight
which made the car a handfull as it skewed sideways and headed for the
concrete wall. Cornering in the wet I was always way behind the
quattros, while in the dry I could easily stay up with them. 

Driving the car around town when it rained was a bit of a pain if I
stomped on the throttle too much. The car would zig and zag sideways
while attempting to accelerate away from a stop light. Any sort of
acceleration from a standstill while moving up hill would also get the
front wheel spinning. I owned the car for 5 years and I put about 95K
miles on it and sold it with 160K miles for a measly $2500. Only one
person came to look at it and they ended up buying it. Thank God!

Now that I have owned a '89 200 Turbo Quattro for the past 2+ years, and
most recently another Quattro, a '88 5000TQ, I can't imagine ever going
back to the FWD version. The difference in balance, handling, composure
in the wet and snow is nothing short of phenomenal. Freeway on ramps, or
tight turns in the wet can be driven at speeds with ease and no concern
that would have made my ass pucker up in the FWD 5000. Acceleration in
the quattro with a modified ECU running 1.8+ bar is a no brainer and
there is no need to worry about the car skewing sideways or heading for
the parked car on the side of the road.

Now when I spin the tires in the wet, the car just moves straight ahead
under complete control.

So there is my rant, yes the FWD 5000 T is a fine car, and yes it can be
a pretty quick car (in the dry) but once you have owned a quattro, you
will have a new appreciation for Audis when they are equipped with AWD.

Good luck with your search
-- 
Scott Mo.
1989 200TQ
1988 5000TQ
1966 VW Beetle
http://www.teleport.com/~scottmo