Re:(long)looking at an '86 5KTQ - advice?

["Doyt W. Echelberger" <Doyt@nwonline.net>]

Danna.......Short answer: Nothing else drives as good, anywhere, any time.

I don't consider my Audis to be burdens. They do the transportation job
with such style and grace that I get a lot back from my investment. Fords
and Chevys just don't handle that way. It is in the real-time driving
characteristics of the car that I notice the differences. I like to change
gears and feel the road response, and the Ford/Chevy muffles it all down,
smooths it out, and does it for me whether I want it or not. Personal
taste, I guess.  With my quattro, I can elect a neutral balance in steering
thru corners just by deciding how hard to push on the accelerator and what
gear to be in. It is like being on railroad tracks.For me, that is fun.

Also,I like the Audi quattros because my family can (and does) go almost
anywhere in any weather with confidence that we will be able to adapt to
very extreme conditions and get to where we are going with reasonable
safety, and home again. This has encouraged a life style that includes
trips to stimulating and interesting places 2 or 3 hours from
home....places that in the past were excluded due to our nasty Ohio winter
weather. We live a fuller life every day.

My 5K is 12 years old, and it looks almost like a new car. I can't buy
another brand that handles like it (and I tried because it is so difficult
to find good mechanics to maintain my cars.) My 4K is 13 years old, and
nothing on the market goes around corners like it does. I can't buy a
better car for doing that.

You asked about merits/maintenance of the 2 cars I own.....The 4KQ is one
whole sophistication level simpler than the 5KTQ, if you consider that a
merit.....the turbo superimposed on the already advanced luxury features of
the 5KQ produces a whole basket of control/coordination/ maintenance
problems not found in the 4KQ model. The other side of the coin is that the
5K turbo allows an astonishing variety of performance improvements for
those who enjoy such things.

The 4KQ is lighter, tighter, and more responsive than the 5KQ in driving
situations around town and on entry ramps and corners, and for track and
rally events.  It isn't galvanized, and has some sheetmetal corrosion
issues that the 5K avoids with it's total body shell galvanizing. The 5KTQ
stars as a long-trip turnpike cruiser with lots of creature comforts and
amenities. It has a clearcoated pearl white paint job that grabbed me the
moment I saw it in a showroom. Never saw anything like it in my whole life.
Had to have one.

I Hope that illuminates my peculiar enthusiasm for these cars. The
maintenance issues seem insignificant compared to the advantages I can't
find anywhere else. 

Doyt Echelberger
86 4KQ
87 5KCSTQ
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
At 12:26 PM 1/25/1999 -0800, you wrote:
>Wow, thanks so much for your very complete reply!  Much of what you describe
>sounds like pretty normal deterioration, only perhaps accelerated with Audis,
>compared with, say, Fords or Chevys?  I notice you own 2 Audis; may I ask why
>you put up with them (sorry, an unfair question to an enthusiast)?  Any
>comments regarding the merits of the 4K vs. 5K, maintenance-wise?
>
>
>
Dana Reed <danareed@oro.net>