Cross country report

["g.scruggs" <g.scruggs@mciworld.com>]

 Dearest Audi Borg,

After poor fortune required me to move move the family
from Monterey CA to Annapolis MD during the Monterey Historics, I arranged
to fly back weeks later and drive my '87 5k CStq across country.

 Solo trip East was very enjoyable.  I started on Sept 18, didn't hurry and
took four and a half days to cover 3300 mi.  First day was the longest at
875 mi... from Monterey to Salt Lake City.  Tried to stay in Wendover, NV,
and in order to see part of the Bonneville flats in the daylight.  Wendover
is a
gambling town about half a mile long and it was booked up so had to drive
past the salt that night.

 The remote readout Valentine1 earned it's keep and kept me apprised of the
proximity of the helmeted tax collectors.  Cruised between 80-100
(indicated) at will for the entire trip.  With plenty of pedal remaining I,
but running out of room, saw an
indicated 130 in Nevada, believe it was closer to a true 120 given my
small tires (215/50-15) and our apparently optimistic speedometers.  Did a
couple of timed miles and found that a cruise control 82 calculated out to
be 76... fast about 8% or so.

Only scare was on second day coming out of Salt Lake.  Had developed a
part throttle miss the night before and it progressed into a complete
shutdown.  Coasted into a gas station and started troubleshooting.  Sunday
morning... in Salt Lake... with visions of waiting for days for parts.
Recalling that the miss was not accompanied by popping or backfire as
power came on again I decided the problem was fuel delivery related and
not ignition.  Having done a fuel pressure check a few months earlier,
with everything being right on spec, I decided that the fuel pump proper
was less likely a problem and I looked toward the fuel pump relay with
suspicion.  With no spare and no other relays appearing to be swappable I
just cleaned the contacts... let's hear it for ProGold and Stabilant 22...
and it idled fine for 15 min so I took off and had no more problems.  I
don't mind having problems and working them in the driveway but for me it
is a test of nerves to have problems on the road.  Glad that one was easy.


Picked up I-70 in southern Utah and followed it all the way to Baltimore.
Near the CO line I was amazed to see, in a half hour period, three
Mercedes Gullwings and three 300SLs.  They were in groups of two...
motoring along in excess of 100... definitely going somewhere... in the
opposite direction.  Caught up in the automotiveness of the moment I
raised my speed to 100 and kept on.

Stopped in Glenwood Springs, CO, to find Audi-tuner Sport Wheels.  Very
nice little town.  Found their shop within 10 min and to my great surprise
they were closed... Sunday afternoon and all... apparently these guys just
aren't serious about motorcars! (wink)  I-70 through CO is a real treat,
beautiful, curvy... and very crowded with Sunday night's return to the
city traffic.  Long uphill grades through the passes required being in
boost for minutes at a time.  Was a 90 mph zoo all the way from Vail to
Denver... 6 cyl Cherokee ran past me never to be seen again.  I intended to
stop on the West side of Denver and give DeWitt Harrison a call but
without anyone to keep an eye on the map I blew through there before I
realized it and came to a halt somewhere near Kansas.

Next day... surprise, real flat in Kansas and not much to do... I came to
the realization that the steering wheel in my car is not aligned along the
axis of the seat.  The wheel is about an inch to the right of the
centerline of the seat.  This explained why my right hip had been hurting
for two days... I'd been unconsciously been leaning toward the right
bolster to get 'on axis' with the wheel.  After I stopped laughing and sat
up straight the
pain went away.

 Remainder of trip was unspectacular but fun.  Enjoyed picking my speed and
listening to CDs and books.  Turned 100,000 miles at night in the far NW
corner of West Virginia with a quick burst to 100 mph to make it official.

For the entire trip I averaged about 25 mpg, with no attempt to maximize
that number, and used about half a quart of Amsoil 10W/30.

I'm using Evans coolant and wanted to see what the actual temps are as the
neither the accuracy, linearity nor the marks on the dash temp gauge are
known to me.  I installed a pair of Autometer temperature gauges in a pod
on the a-pillar to monitor water and oil temps.  The oil sensor is yet to
be installed in the pan... couldn't find ready made port and wanted to
save the 'drill/weld new boss' evolution for a new 20V alloy pan... so that
sensor just lingered near the block and registered engine
compartment ambience... 140-160 degF near rear of block, if you've ever
wondered.  Water temp sensor was installed in a 'hand crafted' copper
fitting in the upper radiator hose.  Found that a needle width to the left
of center mark on the dash gauge is 210 degF and one width to the right of
the center mark is 220 degF.  Highest temp I saw was 250 degF while going
up slow and steep hills in boost in Sierra Nevadas.  Lowest running temp
was 180 degF, closed throttle down long mountain grades, or right down on
the thermostat.  One can drive along at a stable temp and see an almost
immediate temp increase when boost is added for more than a few seconds.
Will be interesting to see these temps at Summit Point.

The Euro lights are great night time companions.  However comma... I found
that one must keep in mind how your car is loaded and use the little
two-position aiming levers appropriately.  Including self I was carrying
about 600-700 lbs in the car.  I tried to spread the load between
front/rear and trunk and was hoping that the entire car was lowered and
not mostly the rear.  With my Eibach springs and wide tires the normal
spacing between rear fender and tire is about half an inch and you can
crook a finger to touch the tread... loaded as I was there was half that
spacing and the tread could not be felt.  To my surprise on low beam I was
blinding the truckers as I passed them.  They were not amused even when I
showed them my high beams after passing them.  After switching the levers
on the back of the Euro to the 'low' position there were no further
blinding incidents.

Although I'm sure there are many satisfying cars to drive across country,
my modified Type 44 proved to be a very capable, comfortable and enjoyable
touring... I'll venture Grand Touring... vehicle.   A good trip.

Just found out that my wife has a business trip out of town on the _exact_
two days of the Summit Point event.  As there is no option available to me
for kid care I must now pass on this event.  No need for me to hurry and
install my new drilled front rotors, is there?  There must be something in
the wind that is preventing me from experiencing group Audi events.


Regards, Gross Scruggs
g.scruggs@mciworld.com
 '87 5kCStq, pearl white/blue leather, Fuchs/AVS Intermediate, Euro lights,
"Sarge's" air dam, Eibach/Koni, front strut brace, Ate "atom
rotors"/carbon kevlar street compound/SS flex lines, 2.5" exhaust and
Graydon's SS
muffler, Evans coolant, HKS EVC II boost controller/SJM spring, Magnecore,
Valentine1, Eclipse audio, tons of new OEM stuff... and _two_ aero
windscreen wipers.