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Friend has just bought a 1997 2.8 quattro. £550 gets you a lot of car (when it's that thirsty), looks in nice nick. Can't wait to have a go...!
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That *is* a fun piece of kit. I've never driven a car like that before. Four cars in front of you needing overtaking on a country road? No sweat.
I think I did more overtaking last weekend than over the past ten years.
Just because I could. It's all completely pointless though, on England's roads. Every time you overtake there's something else to overtake, or a prolonged 40 limit (where the 45mph mimsers continue at 45).
Thirsty, mind.
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Definitely one for the autobahns.
Ans, once up to speed, not quite so thirsty.
Those quattro boxes are notorious for thirst when slow/fat driving and accelerations.
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Bought a Sierra XR4i for a lot less than you paid-a fast car-drove it till the gearbox blew up.Even a recon box was more than the value of the car!
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My Audi A6 was a 98 2.8 quattro.
Fantastic piece of kit - best in the wet when not much could beat you off the lights.
Part x'd it for a citroen picasso........what was I thinking
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" .. what was I thinking .."
Head over heart perhaps ?
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Cardigan over heart, more like.
MM is right about the frustration of driving a capable car on Southeastern roads, where there's always an arbitrary speed limit or something in the way - well, almost always. Every now and again, the planets line up favourably and fun can be had.
Saturday saw me and the chariot going south on the A339 between Basingstoke and Alton, a road I used to love driving in a 63hp, four-speed Escort when I lived near there in the early 1990s, but now blighted by 50 limits and nannyish signs about accidents. This time, however, nobody seemed to be going north, so the couple of slow vehicles we encountered - a German VW van and a tatty Subaru that waddled out of a farm gateway - didn't hold us up for long. The surface is still good, and it required only a little artistic licence with the 50 limit to join the bends up in a deeply satisfying way.
Then just before dusk yesterday I had to pop to the next town to collect a Beestling returning from a school expedition. Again, the twisty but poorly surfaced A-road was almost deserted, so I stayed a gear lower than I usually would and let the car do its thing. Not as smooth with all those Buckinghamshire bumps and holes, but much quicker and more stimulating than the usual daytime trundle along the same route.
So it can happen. But the next couple of weeks will be about France and the LEC, which really can't be hustled; it's all about the waft.
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The only driveable roads round here are frequented by loons on motorbikes (who kill themselves) and fast Audis (who kill others)..
Yes there are lots of quiet roads- single track with no visibility and passing spaces. How to kill yourself hitting a horse/tractor/LandRover.
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>> but now blighted by 50 limits and nannyish signs about accidents.
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ISTR that, in the mid 70's a farmer erected a sign in his field on one of the faster corners of the old Reading to Basingstoke road saying "Please do your driving in the road"
:-)
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>>Definitely one for the autobahns.
Really? What's the point. Prefer my diesel Accord actually. Quieter (possibly as the sun roof was open, the car not having aircon). Seats more comfortable too. I didn't find the speed crept up at all in the Audi; I was quite surprised to find myself cruising at a very happy 65-70 on the motorway.
On the other hand I lit up a 20mph flashing sign before I'd changed out of first on a very 'leisurely' move of from some traffic lights.
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I think there may be something in Ian's Autobahn point. That Audi is similar in power and overall performance to my 325d, and at UK motorway speed that is just at the low end of the flat top of the torque curve. In other words, it needs no persuading at all to go a great deal faster. This is important to German buyers, apparently - Gmac has commented on it here before.
It's not really a problem on UK roads, though; there's enough torque below the peak to drive in heavy motorway traffic without constantly dropping out of and back into top gear (unlike the Toyota we had a few years ago) and there are three useful gears below that for making progress on single carriageways. It's only in town that I occasionally feel third could be a little lower.
Just as well, really; to return to where we started, any car round here spends far more time being trundled than really driven.
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>> >>Definitely one for the autobahns.
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>> Really? What's the point.
Because I like hooning along at a legal 100mph?
Like the 380SEC... you'd be surprised when it gets up to speed how it hunkers down, and isn't that thirsty.
1300km trip, at some silly speeds, and still hitting 'decent' figures, compared to town driving.
33ish MPG at over 150km/h on the long road.
Last edited by: Ian (Cape Town) on Tue 19 Jul 16 at 14:14
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>>Because I like hooning along at a legal 100mph?
Fair enough! I thought you meant it was uncontrollable at 70 and would immediately drive you faster. As noted above, the torque at 70 in top isn't that high.
I was thinking about the old "cruise at 30mph in third to stop yourself from going past the speed limit" argument. Not in that car; at 30 in 3rd it's like a primed rocket. At 30 in 4th it's like a pussy cat!
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Audi A4 - Quattro fun - Mapmaker
