I hope to give useful information to those who own or think about owning the toy.
I DO WELCOME useful information, vice versa :)
Tips in deutsch s.u.
Here it is, finally: The pic I promised for so long, giving You the perspective You are most likely to see on the road. I will later show the car in regular configuration as well as with surf-board [wsb] and two boards [wtsb] on the roof, two boards inside. I will show the parts that caused the engine to explode.
You'd certainly like this one, too! What You get with an Audi Turbo Quattro 20 V is a car NOBODY suspects of being capable to outrun a Ferrari 328 GT (S or B) WHILE carrying all Your windsurfing gear, even with the mast on the roof :) [I can offer the 1991 US-brochure of the car with data file + comparison-data which is nice :) but takes a few secs to load (430k). 1991 Audi 200 (Avant) Quattro 20 V Turbo (brochure) ] You'll find there: 0-60mph Ferrari Testarossa 6.2 Audi 20 V 6.5 Ferrari 328 GT 6.7. 1/4m Testarossa 14.2 20V 14.9 328 15.0. We are not taking these numbers too serious :) And because it is a real permanent four-wheel-drive there is NO chance for ANY Ferrari when it's a bit slippery, apart from the fact that hardly anybody takes his Ferrari on snow: the real fun starts when You realize Your 20 V accelerates on snow better than most cars do on dry tarmac. 100+mph on snow with regular winter tires - =no spikes!- are no problem. Doing so will hurt Your exhaust-system + the underfloor-panels severely +: at least. (Be careful: Braking's a lot harder, then! Do NOT try! Do respect the limitations of Your driving skills.....and/or physics - whatever comes in first!)
What we have here is a 1989 5-seater wagon, which can even be converted into a 7-seater easily (hard to believe, isn't it?). So: If You pass the 328 GTs with Your six children pressing their noses to the rear windows showing the Ferrari-rider 6 tongues be prepared to see him spit blood - in ferrari-rosso, for sure :)))
The engine's the 5-cylinder many know from the 100-series where it develops about 138hp with the usual 2-valves/cylinder-arrangement, as my now gone (to Russia) previous 100 Avant Quattro did. Audi added 2 more valves per cylinder, thus making the 20 V(pic 412K), plus a turbo, resulting in still unsufficient 220 hp - at least this is what many owners feel. This certainly is the reason why they feel a strong urge to upgrade. There's quite some of these on the roads with up to about 500 hp, which leaves most Ferrari's and alikes way behind.
And: Apart from the fact that I blew mine the engine has a very good reputation in regard of standing-time, even after power-improvement. My neighbour told me his former 470hp - 20 V just clocked the 100.000 mls in the hands of the second owner without any problems. Hohenester strongly recommends to check and replace the crankshaft-bearings after 25.000 mls: that's all! I drove that car for a short test and liked it a lot. There was only one severe problem: not enough power.
This IS what YOU think, too. So, what can we do? One step forward might be the 4.2 ltr Avant V8, which we could have with twin turbos. Again: Ask Hohenester. The operation is DM 55.000,- (about $ 29.000, $ and price January 2000), if You already have the car. With this car You can enter the "autobahn" without checking the mirrors: There's NOTHING coming up from behind, NOTHING, no Porsche, or whatever. This is boring You soon. You wish to do something REALLY impressive, so You HAVE TO SERVE ENOUGH. Then You should place a phone-call to Weineck in Bad Gandersheim/Germany. They'll park a Cobra in front of Your door, serving street-legal (in Germany it's the so called "TUEV", i.e. "Technical Surveillance Society") 1000 hp to the rubber with NoX-injection, + they can deliver the stuff for another, then illegal 500 hp, which establishes You in the 1500 hp-society, where only the happy few can play. I can tell (not only!) the sound's good: the acceleration is, too. This bitch shoots You to 125 mph (=200 km/h) in 6.5 secs (data 1000 hp) - if You can hold her on the road, when she tries Your skills - and You can bet Your balls she WILL. Talking of Your balls: To stop the gearbox from first perforating these before ripping them apart completely, they made it explosion-proof, AFTER they found out that only a NASCAR-gearbox can stand the torque. This leaves my Yamaha (9 secs) way behind, SIGH, and definitely IS F1-level (5-6 secs!). So: Stick with the twin-turbo V8 to go to work, for everyday's use, and take the Cobra if You're in a hurry....or in the mood for the fun :) Another major advantage: There's NOTHING in this world that could make Your wife take the keys! She'd rather fuck the devil. Believe it. YOUR very own car.
Not enough? Try chewing TNT while inhaling NoX.
The 20V's tune-up-friendly. You get value (=power) for a reasonable amount of money. The first step's probably the ECU-setup. This gives You about 50 additional horsepower resulting in a 270hp total for just $ 600-700, in Germany the new chip is DM 1500-2000. Then You might remove the cat and open the exhaust-system. Your next choice could be a matching exhaust-manifold, polished and with larger diameter, feeding the turbo from the Audi RS2 in exchange for the existing one, or even better, a KKK-turbo that does not have the RS2's poor performance in low revs. In Germany Hohenester's (Tel. <+49> (0)8458 2319) certainly first choice (he knows a lot about the 20V) or Digi-Tec, especially for the chip. This chip promises +60 hp, and I do believe it. Performance is smooth, getting hot with increasing revs. This chip puts serious PUSH into Your car! Turbo-boost goes up to 2.0 bar with it. This ECU reduced fuel consumption by nearly 20%: 18 ltr/100 km before, 16 ltr/100 km after, increasing endurance from 360 km to over 400 km. The car accelerates and performs as good as a Porsche Carrera 4 TipTronic 300 hp does (checked, compared!). Price is DM 1529,10 in August 2000, the price for the Porsche DM 150.000,-. The Wetterauer-chip's not as good: +50 hp, perhaps more torque in low revs, but a strange feeling in the top-speed. Price DM 1590,- in March 2000. The Digi-Tec solution is better. Digi-Tec also offers 420hp for DM 20.000,-, or up to 580hp for DM 50.000,-: TEL. Digi-Tec <+49> (0)2363 5660-0, FAX <+49> (0)2363 5660-66. You might tell them I told You :) After what I saw I think I'd trust them, too, as I without doubt would trust Hohenester!
I do use and I do recommend the use of a K+N air filter as a replacement (!) of the original one! You do not change the air-intake with it, You still have outside-air: sucking the air directly from the engine-compartment means taking hot (!) air.
You may get the K+N for DM 114,- at D&W in Bochum/Germany, they also offer good track distance-rings for DM 200,-. D & W (prices August 2000).
Advantage:
Understatement. Nobody noticing the car will associate it's luxurious and pretty quick.
Drawbacks:
a) Nobody noticing the car will associate it's pretty quick. So: If You become visible in somebody's rear mirror You have to convince him You ARE pretty quick to make him pull to the right lane RAPIDLY by approaching him VERY FAST.
b) fuel capacity of 70 litres, consumption 18 ltrs/100 km (=60 mls), giving You an endurance of 360 km (=225 mls) only before running dry. (I'll never be able to compute this into mpg, sorry.) As a result all these Ferraris pass You while You're filling up - just the way they do in Formula 1! On the other hand: Leaving the gas station You might pass a drive-shaft on the tarmac before You'll see him again having pulled to the right, driver and Ferrari smoking and placing calls with his handy to find a qualified Ferrari-mechanic who can cause a tremendous bill -again like in F 1 -, while Your Audi's still good to round the earth. If You ride slower and wish to consume less: why don't You buy a Golf or sth?
c) NO engines available!!! There are NO new engines, there are NO factory - overhauled exchange engines! If You need an engine it has to be built from new single parts, which increases the bill a lot. So: if You plan to blow the engine (which really is fun, believe me!) be aware to have $ 15.000 in Your account (on the plus-side, or: the equivalent in credit!), and: at least! (price in Germany in May 1999, setup took 8 weeks and gave the dealer's employees a LOT of headaches!). Only choice: get a 20 V turbo sedan (there's more of these than there are Avants, and they come cheap (I should have bought a good one for $ 2700, hell knows why I did not!) and give You a lot more spare-parts, especially the ...
d) ... infamous so called "UFO"-brakes. Audi chose to engineer special
inside-outside ventilated front-brakes intended to increase the friction-area in the given 15"-wheel to the max plus to improve cooling them. This was definitely NOT a good idea which may easily be concluded by the fact that NEVER did anybody sth like this again, which shows they are willing to learn - on the other hand. These brakes warp, and they often do so quickly! They are - of course! - EXPENSIVE! Audi changed the complete front axle to that of the regular 165 hp-2-valve-turbo on a warranty-basis in long-gone times - this was their next SILLY move: They should have offered installation of the Porsche-brake instead! Would have come cheaper, plus the client would have got the optimum in brake performance, reliability and standing-time! You might try to talk them into completing such a conversion now, for nothing :) There are several kits available in America and Canada for about US-$ 2300 which last long, perform really well + they have that red "Porsche-racing-brakes" -look.
August 2000: I have the Porsche-Biturbo-brakes installed after I nearly shot myself into the end of a traffic-jam. New Ufo's gave me poor performance, car severely shaking at the front-axle soon after installing them (so did the old ones, too!). The red Porsche-brake's just great: Certainly one of the best, if not the best brake You can get! I am REALLY HAPPY with it!!! The set is from mov'it, and it IS FUN to drive: I feel safe, now! The kit for the front-axle is DM 5200,-, plus installation (easy!) plus TUEV-registration - mov'it says they make the Biturbo-kit for ANY car! (I could and perhaps will create a page describing the ridiculous procedures the german TUEV let me unwillingly witness repeatedly: Believe me: These "experts" are clowns, nothing else: none of them really had expertise, each of them had unrealistic fears and a big mouth. If I should make this page and tell what really happened, they'll feel naked and hate me.) The brakes require 17"-wheels, in my case from Intra, plus 225/45 ZR 17 tyres. The Audi-wheels have a circle of holes 112/5 (=112 mm/5 holes). This stays unchanged with the mov'it set. You can keep Your spare-wheel, or emergency-wheel, but You can only install it at the rear axle, since it is 15" with 215/60 ZR 15, which does not fit any longer at the front axle - if You believe You need it. In this case You install it at the rear in case of tyre-damage at the front axle and take the 17"-wheel from the rear to the front. I have a circumference of 196.5 cm in both cases. ( I only carry the emergency-wheel, or none at all).
I have H+R distance-rings installed, widening the track by 40 mm. My Audi-dealer provided these for DM 500,-. You still torque the wheels with 110 nm with these. D&W Bochum Germany offers such rings for DM 200,- (or more, several kits).
220 DIN hp (=162 kw) at 5700 rpm, 2226 ccm (2.2 ltr)
1560 kg empty, 2110 kg max weight. (When I did 200 km/h ((=125 mph) with half a ton in it my first front-wheel-driven Audi 100 had wheel-spin on dry surface! This problem vanishes, too, if You get a Quattro.)
top-speed 138 kts/ 156 mph/ 250 km/h (230 km/h wsb [200 km/h wtsb] did NOT wipe out the roof-railing + sb's. [There is enough power for more!] Do NOT try!) After ECU-Setup: I reduce throttle reaching 275 km/h indicated, at about 6500 rpm (August 2000).
In the meantime the engine break in/run in-phase (600mls/1000km) is finished. I clocked 174 mph/ 154kts/ 280 km/h several times (indicated,speedometer), in -I have to admit: friendly conditions (hilldown, long acceleration-run)- just about the same as with my Yamaha, which by chance is a 20 V, too (4 cylinder*5 valves, 145 hp), but not in need of friendly conditions for the showdown. The engine's now more than 5000 km old. I know from experience that the engine's really performing well after a distance of about 6000 mls/ 10.000 km. So I can say I'm satisfied as far as the factory-designed output is concerned.
I do recommend STRONGLY NOT to stress the engine before You have sufficient oil-temperature!!! And You should give the car the chance to cool down after a heat: the turbo needs it, and the Ufo's certainly do, too, to prevent warping. (There might be additional circumstances causing warping.)
I now have a turbo-boost reading of 0.3 bar idle and 0.2 letting the car slow down in gear with no throttle. Max pressure is 1.6 bar full throttle (2.0 bar after ECU-setup). The cold engine starts with max oil-pressure, it's 2 bar idle when warm, slightly above 4 bar doing 80 mph in fifth with cruise-control. The usual oil-temperature is slightly below 70 degrees Celsius, stable for hours, as I just checked with winter-tyres, cruise-control set at 200 km/h when I went to Austria and back, for skiing.
All figures oem-gauges! There are good analog gauges for turbo-boost and lambda (mixture) by VDO. They are recommended!
In my pre-quattro times I believed that four-wheel-drive is an advantage only when it's slippery. As You already might have learned Yourself impression struck quickly that I should have experienced what I'm talking and thinking about. In fact my first quattro convinced me within minutes of its superiority in any conditions. It allows You to round bends quickly that were a problem with either front- or rear-wheel-drives before. It adds a lot to stability around fast corners as well as when having to go through a rapid course correction at high speeds. You can leave the tarmac with two wheels in a drift applying full throttle without losing control of the car, a situation which probably means a complete write-off of any other car. I now do KNOW, that every other transmission-concept is nothing else than an emergency-solution. Do NOT believe me: try it Yourself! Let Your dealer give You a Quattro for a test-ride! Alternative offers: Porsche, Lamborghini Diablo, FORGET the Mercedes. I checked the Porsche: If You want fun, it's a good bargain. Ferdinand Piech checked the Diablo, but up to now neither let me know what he found out nor let me try myself: so I don't know :(
Driving on snow (mud) is pure fun. I cannot recommend publicly to do things that are widely considered as insane and might be dangerous for others. But if You are crazy enough to do it I cannot stop You from doing it. Perhaps I can help You not to hurt anybody including Yourself. Do it only when it's legal. It might be legal: on a race-track, during a rallye, in a private parking lot, in a car-test or -exercice area; if in doubt, always ask (the owner). Do it only if You can afford the damage You might do to Your car. Be aware that driving on snow in general, with any car can fill Your mudguards with ice to a degree that seriously affects Your steering-abilities!
On snow You start at speeds You know You can control. Brake hard, several times. Hard does mean: Full power on pedal (Many are not able to do this, for whatever reason)! Brake with anti-lock deactivated. Check the difference: It's significant!!! Now You know why it's SO IMPORTANT to be able to switch the anti-lock OFF (Train hitting the button blind within a fraction of a second! Train it very often. Never stop training it.). Do NOT forget to step on the clutch simultaneously: Think of it...and: BANG! with both feet! Then make the car spin. Do it in both directions. Try four-wheel-drifts applying power at harmless speeds. Train the "brake-hook": System deactivated, brake hard, release brake, turn steering-wheel to avoid a fictitious obstacle. Check acceleration nailing the accelerator to the floor, i.e. full throttle. If You started for example doing 30 mph straight on, and You feel after several acceleration/ full-stop-cycles that You feel comfortable with everything You may wish to inrease speed. Do so in small increments, always braking the lot down in between. If You do not feel 100% comfortable with what is happening: Stop it! (This training might save somebody's life in an emergency an unexperienced driver might fail to master. It might be useful if You train with any conventional car of Your's, too.) There are instructional trainings offered by several institutions, including Audi. The safest way of learning is taking part in one of these! Taking part in such an event might even put You on the right side-seat in a car driven by Walter Roehrl or other top-pros, shooting You into the 100 mph area on a common road, on snow. I'm told the experience is quite unique, even if You've seen one thing or the other before :)
On flat terrain in rain: same exercises: Brake hard (ABS MUST come into action, don't be afraid!), same without ABS. Go round in a tight circle: increase speed (2.gear). You'll experience understeering. Go round short of understeering, then pedal to the metal (full throttle): With some exercise You should be able to introduce oversteering, and keep the car oversteering for as many rounds as You like: find the balance! It's not cheap, but You'll like it.
Then try dry tarmac: brake as before: pedal to the metal (brake!). Find out braking distances: on dry tarmac You should have about: 13 meters from 50 km/h (=31 mls/h), 39 m from 100 km/h (=62 mls/h), 160 m from 200 km/h (=124 mls/h) - in GOOD conditions!!! This is just the brake-distance!!! In an emergency You also have reaction-time depending on Your personal abilities and Your personal state of shock in a given situation!!! This does mean: At 200 km/h You are eating up 55 meters per second. If Your reaction time is 2 secs /average is 3 secs!!!) You do need 110 m for the reaction, + 160 m to full stop = 270 m in total. At 250 km/h the figures are about: 70 m/sec = 140 m done during reaction, 250 m brake distance = 390 meters: Be sure to have 500 meters in sight and free of obstacles when going at 250 km/h!!!
It might be wise and cheaper to do these exercises with a worn tyre-set (wet and dry, NOT on snow!) :)
Ergänzende Seite zur Bremse (deutsch!)
I will soon add more information about technical aspects, and so on.
WHATEVER YOU DO WITH OR TO YOUR CAR, YOU DO IT ON YOUR OWN RISK, NOT MINE! AND: Do NOT sue Audi for YOUR faults. (Killing Your kid IS !YOUR! fault! - I do refer to that american mother who did so and caused multi-million-$-damage to the Audi-reputation in US for years without refunding Audi for the damage she had done.) The information provided in here is solely intended to widen Your theoretical knowledge. Do NOT try any of the procedures described. Join an instructor on a race-track if You REALLY wish to learn to react properly!
Perhaps You'd like to visit the Audi S-Org , where they have a nice and international S-car- as well as 20V-registry, too.
I do recommend Jens' Audi-site , too, as well as Oliver Wischerath's Audi 100 - Seite .
© 1999/2000 ivcon. All rights reserved.
