Re: The quattro experience (rather long)

["Daryl Roxburgh" <droxburgh@email.msn.com>]

Hi Tom,

Smoke odour: in the UK we have a product called Neutradol. Its a round
plastic air freshener shape BUT it does not smell, but neutralises odours.
It has worked for me in newly painted rooms, and smokey cars. I bought a '90
coupe quattro which stank despite deep foam shampoo. Two weeks after putting
the neutradol ball in the car it was fine. Same car holds our record from
Dusseldorf to Calais (270 miles) of three hours! Sorry, I'm sure we kept to
the national speed limits, but boarders are so hard to find in Europe these
days!!!


-----Original Message-----
From: Tom Nas <tnas@euronet.nl>
To: quattro@coimbra.ans.net <quattro@coimbra.ans.net>
Date: 17 May 1998 10:24
Subject: The quattro experience (rather long)


>Hi all,
>
>Yesterday I went to pick up my 'new' 1987 90q in Friesland, a 110-mile
>drive from my home. I traded my 1988 80 1.8S FWD (accident damaged) in on
>it, so I took that on the way up there.
>I'd removed my stereo and all personal belongings beforehand, so short of
>singing myself, I was in for a long, boring drive. When I got onto the
>highway, I was being followed by a cop on a motorbike, who then kept
>passing me, slowing down so I passed him, then passing me again for the
>next ten miles. When he took the first off-ramp I thought I'd lost him, but
>he took the next on-ramp and ended up in front of me. Next off-ramp- same
>game, but then I took an off-ramp and got rid of him.
>Fortunately, after only 40 miles I encountered a group of cars that were
>apparently forming some kind of high-speed convoy. While that section of
>road is 120 km/h tops, aforementioned group kept up a steady 160. It was
>lead by a BMW M5, old guy behind the wheel, his wife reading the paper-
>then four Ford Mondeo V6es, a Jaguar XJR (supercharged) and a Passat TDI
>110hp. I joined the group and drove in that convoy for about 50 miles.
>Fortunately, all the members of the group knew how to drive fast, so there
>was no emergency braking for people who suddenly came into the lefthand
>lane. It's been a long time since I've driven so fast here, and had so much
>fun. When the time came for me to take another road, I just kept this tempo
>up. There's not a lot of traffic on the roads in the North, especially on a
>Saturday morning, so I even managed to get it to top speed (190) for a bit.
>By then, I was beginning to wonder if I should sell this car after all- it
>was running great and felt superb.
>Leeuwarden came up in 75 minutes (I told you I drove quickly!) and when I
>saw my 'new' car waiting, I stopped doubting. What a great car.
>
>The way back was very enjoyable, too. After a few miles, I was thinking
>'This car is a lot noisier than my old one', looked at my speedo and saw I
>was doing 160. Ooops. Some 60 km/h faster than I thought... When I
>encountered a straight, totally empty stretch of road, I decided to floor
>it and see what it could do.
>Even at 180, there's noticeable acceleration. Its top speed according to
>Audi is 206, and sure enough, at 210 it ran out of steam. By that time the
>aftermarket suroof had started making very irritating noises, so I let go
>and cruised back to 130 (only to see a police car coming the other way.
>Phew!)
>This car is so fast and stable, that anything below 140 km/h seems
>irritatingly slow. Acceleration is not of the 'kick-in-the-back' type, but
>just a steady push without any drama. Wow! The I-5 makes a lovely noise,
>which becomes turbine-like at high speeds. By the time I'd reached the more
>densely-populated middle of the country again, I'd gotten used to 120. When
>I reached Zeist and took the off-ramp (which I've been doing in all kinds
>of weather and all kinds of cars for the last five years), I noticed that
>this quattro thing takes some getting used to- I overcooked it badly, and
>was very glad the car has ABS. This doesn't react anything like the FWD or
>RWD cars I've been driving...
>
>Anyway, I'm glad I took the plunge (at least for now!), and look forward to
>a lot of pleasurable drives in the future. Now I have a rare, quick and
>good-looking car.
>
>My car:
>1989 90 quattro 10v, B3 or 89-type body, build date 2-87, NG engine
>(2309cc, 136 hp), catalysed.
>Mileage: 163,000 km.
>Exterior: Tizianrot metallic, 15" Ronal R8s with the full centre cap and
>wider rim, 195/50 Pirelli P5000 Drago directionals (as new, and wonderful).
>Free-standing trunklid spoiler, single foglight rear, twin foglights (OE,
>useless) in the front bumper. H4/H1 headlights (superb!) with headlight
>washers (which work!). Aftermarket manual glass tilt-slide sunroof with
>wind cover, tow hitch (original Westfalia item, expensive and NLA), four
>'Audi' mudflaps. Aftermarket remote alarm, not working (batteries in remote
>are dead).
>Interior: coffee-coloured velour.
>Sports seats, height-adjustable driver's seat (goed much lower than in my
80)
>ABS, power steering, 'check computer' with German-language warnings
>('Bremslicht', seat heaters (not checked yet, way too hot here!), central
>locking, map-reading lights (great!) for all passengers, rear seat with
>armrest, 'humps' for headrests and ski bag, delayed interior light (when
>you have been driving with the lights on, the interior light stays on until
>you've locked the car). Audi speakers in th back (separate
>woofers/tweeters, headphone jacks with 'speakers off' switch on rear
>shelf). Electric/heated mirrors. Quattro on 3rd side windows and in rear
>window heater. Green-tinted glass, blue-tinted mirrors. Spare wheel turns
>out to be a 14" Ronal with new Goodyear Vector tyre.
>No cruise, A/C or electric windows.
>
>The Good:
>Car drives beautifully, very straight, and idles very quietly. No strange
>feeling in the chassis, not even at high speeds. Coolant temperature stays
>on 90-100 C, fan comes on nicely. ABS is superb, no more square tyres on
>this one!
>
>The Bad:
>It seems to have been part-resprayed many times, but only single panels
>have been painted. It really needs a partial respray to get the paint to
>match properly.
>One ding/scratch in passenger front door. Righthand electric mirror not
>working, glass cracked. Different keys for the driver's door and the rest
>of the car, none of them original Audi items. Cracked coolant reservoir (on
>top), repaired with some glue but leaking slightly again. Trunk light out
>of order, as is the engine compartment light and the glovebox light. Tow
>hitch's cover over electrics hookup has gone. Alloy wheels have been
>inexpertly painted recently, to (unsuccessfully) hide slight kerb damage.
>Most switch lights work, except those for seat heaters and electric
>mirrors. Recent German import, so license plate does not match build date.
>Deja vu: speedo intermittent.
>
>Upgrades planned:
>It's already licence-losing fast, and uses enough of our expensive fuel. I
>want to put an immobilizer in it and lose the crappy alarm, get a nice OE
>sports steering wheel to replace the hideous plastic item (at least my 80
>had leather!) and repair anything broken. I'll also budget for a partial
>respray and have that dent taken out. Electric windows would be nice, as
>would remote central locking.
>What can be done about cigarette smoke odour? I feel like I'm driving an
>ashtray...
>
>Wanna see it? I've taken pics with my digital camera, which I can send to
>you in JPG form.
>
>Well, I'd better emerge from behind this computer and get started on the
>car: a stereo would be nice, for instance.
>
>Bye,
>
>Tom
>
>PS No, it hasn't got a name. But what do you think of 'Helga'? ;-)
>
> _______________________________________________________________________
> Tom Nas                                          Zeist, The Netherlands
> tnas@euronet.nl
> 1988 Audi 80 1.8S, mostly Tizianrot metallic, 219,000km
> 1987 Audi 90q 2.3E, Tizianrot metallic, 163,000km
>
>    "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."
>                --Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.
>
>
>