Ersatz S2, First Drive

["Lynette Hull" <lynette@cardinalventures.com>]

For those who've come to believe that the Ersatz saga is a Never Ending
Story, I can sympathize.  I've felt that way myself the last two months.
Although Cory and George have been driving it around for two weeks, I
finally got free long enough to spend 20 minutes behind the wheel to learn
what a year's worth of research and effort have wrought.  It wasn't enough
time or the right environment to really test the car.  The roads around
Bristol, PA are hard-bitten pre-war concrete, with lots of lights, heavy
traffic, and beat-up strip malls.   However, I can report that the car is
utterly transformed.  Since I've never ridden in, let alone driven, a stock
20vt audi, I can't make comparisons.  Also, we've done some minor
modifications:  lightened flywheel, RS2 manifold.  But the engine races to
the redline revving like a sewing machine, with lovely even throttle
response, and a gratifying surge as the boost comes up.  Just before my
drive, Cory installed a borrowed chipped ECU, which the car took a while to
adjust to.  Toward the end of the ride, however, we were seeing 14lbs on the
gauge (mounted where the voltmeter used to live).



The engine is way over muffled since it is using the stock CQ exhaust, so
the car is very quiet.  There was a fair amount of racket at 5K rpm which I
think is the stock system protesting.

Based on this most recent visit, I am pretty pleased with George's work.  In
appearance, the engine bay is virtually indistingushable from the S2 engine
photos I've collected.  Workmanship is very high (too high?) Cory's job on
the remote battery box alone is magnificent.  BTW, the factory battery box
under the L rear seat is a great upgrade.  One low pressure fuel line needed
to be replaced with aeroquip, but other fuel lines, brake lines and fuel
filter are undisturbed.

Anyway, more later when I get some more wheel time late next week,

Brandon Hull
Ersatz S2