Steve's new ride ... [LONG with a little Pikes Peak info]

["Buchholz, Steven" <Steven.Buchholz@kla-tencor.com>]

Well, it's incredible to believe, but I added a new q to the stable over the
weekend!  What is it? ... a 1991 V8q with 5-speed!  I decided that with all
the disdain for TORSEN diffs and UFO brakes I HAD to have them all ... oh
yeah, it's got the BOSE/Audi stereo too ... well, that should just about
make everyone's mailers automatically kill this message :-)  :-)  :-)

This crazy process started about a week ago when someone asked me if I was
interested in a '91 v8q/5, and when I asked for more info, told me that it
was a very nice rare pearl white car with 81K miles and was asking $20.5K!
I thought I can probably beat that price in 10 minutes with a quick web
search ... and indeed found that there were two cars available, both with
less mileage and both cheaper ... AAMOF one of them was low enough for me to
go into serious mode ... :)

The car was located in Denver, Colorado, and with the gracious help of Ben
Howell (all the while in last minute preparations for AF98) I found that the
car had been very well cared for, had right around 70k miles and was an
excellent example of the breed.  I really wanted to make it to CO for AF98,
but it really didn't look possible, and then here I am on Friday, hopping on
a plane for Denver!

Ben met me at the airport and we made it to the restaurant while there was
still a bit of sun, so I could see that the car was probably the same color
as our '88 5kCSQW ... a metallic burgundy with grey leather interior [but
with sport seats].  It took a little while to complete the deal [at least we
got an excellent free dinner at the seller's restaurant] so it was a little
late when we made it over to Steve Eiche's house, where most everyone was
meeting for the BBQ on the afternoon/evening before the Climb to the Clouds.
A few people had already left, and I don't remember all the names of the
people who were there, but there were still about a dozen folks milling
around Steve's "not so ur quattro" and getting rides from Ingo.  I got to
chat for a couple minutes with most of the folks there, but it always seems
like there's never enough time to talk with everyone about all of the things
I had been thinking about.  We did have a chance to take a couple of
carloads out for a spin in my new ride [not literally of course ;].  Steve
was kind enough to let me crash for a couple hours in the guest bedroom ...
next thing I know I'm getting dressed for the drive down to CO Springs.  The
convoy got a bit of a late start, but we made it down to the hillclimb race
museum where I got a chance to meet up with a few of the other folks ... but
everyone needed to get up the hill so we had to saddle up.  For reasons I'll
mention later, I decided to take off for home rather than to watch the race.
I didn't get a chance to talk to Bob Myers, but I did get to see his
beautiful new ride from my mirrors as we paraded out ... very nice ... as
were all the cars there of course.  [as most of you know, it seems as though
I've got at least one of all of the quattro models offered here in the
states, so you know I liked them all :]

I hate to make up a list of names because I'm sure there are more people
that I'm forgetting than remembering, but here goes: Steve Eiche, Ben
Howell, Mike Williams, John Karasaki, Scott Mockry, Scott Justusson, Dave
Head, Bruce Bell, Ingo Rautenberg, August Horch [AKA Mike Speirs (sp?)], Ed
Kellock, Jim Griffin ... aaargh, that's all I can rmember now.  I can use
the excuse that I've only had about 12 hours of sleep since last Thursday
... and now it's 11:30 (PDT) on Sunday!

I have to say that when I first took the car out my initial impression was
that it didn't seem to have as much power as I was expecting.  With that one
exception it was love at first sight.  I had picked up a copy of the '91 v8q
sales training manual, so I knew that the designers intended to allow the
occupants a chance to hear that wonderful little engine [at a tasteful level
of course], and I've gotta say that motor sounds pretty sweet when it is on
song.  I'd swear that you can probably hear it more inside the car than
outside!  I'll always love the sound of the turbo I-5, especially when
fitted in an ur-q.  Well, I'm starting to ramble ... let me say that when
brought back down to sea level I found I had everything I expected!  It
makes me wonder how anyone can drive anything but a turbo car up at that
altitude.  

I wanted to get home ASAP, as at the last minute my wife decided to stay
home with our 2 year old rather than to make the trip with me.  On the first
day, I made it from Colorado Springs to my parent's home in Sacramento in a
single straight shot.  I was just about to get off the freeway in Sacto when
the alarm on my watch went off ... meaning that I had been awake for 24
hours straight!  I was trying to evaluate my mental state as the hours
dragged on, planning to stop if I ever felt that I needed to.  Fortunately,
I was able to use the radio and traffic to keep my mind going.  For some
reason I was really concerned about deer while driving across Nevada and the
Sierra at night ... perhaps the deer that ran in front of me that morning on
I-25 in Co Sprgs had put me on edge.  I did really want to make it over all
the Sierra if possible, as I remember the fun that Arun and I had last year
coming back from AF97.  The car made the trip back without a hitch ...
perhaps the biggest annoyance was when I found that the cruise control
didn't work!  After a few hours of sleep and brunch with my parents I
finished the trip.  Traffic into the Bay Area is absolutely horrible on the
Sunday of the 4th of July weekend.  I got stuck on the outskirts of Stockton
(not too different from Lodi ;), but made up my own alternate route ;),
which added a nice test of the handling characteristics of the car (Tesla
Road for those in the area that have read this far :)

So, there are a few things I need to look into ... seems like I've got oil
dripping on an exhaust manifold somewhere (I think it's actually hydraulic
fluid), the cruise control problem and a bit of surging under power ... and
maybe a couple other minor details.  I hope that everyone had as great a 4th
of July weekend as I did, and that everyone who did make the trip to AF98
makes it home safe and sound!  

Steve Buchholz
San Jose, CA (USA)
trying to use Audis to help my daughter learn how to count ... :)