200 Euro Lights and More

[Majewskier@aol.com]

A few notes and then a question for the resident lumen-oligists:

Thank you again to those of you who responded to the surging V8 situation.
 Yes, the new Ox sensor cleared it right up.

PUBLIC NOTICE:  I just made a $1000 donation to the Audi gods for brake pads
(infernal type) various blower maladies and new seat heater element, labor,
etc for the 200 20v.  I now expect (no, demand) to go another year w/o
anything but oil changes!

For those of you who doubt the effect of tires and/or rotating weight, I just
couldn't wait any longer to put my Dunlops on forged BBS back on the car.
 The Hakapelitas (sp?) on steel rims were starting to drive me crazy, as
great of a snow tire that they are.  The car again drives un-like a Dorf
Bore-us, and me wondering if the car was out of tune has disappeared.  I
*think* the difference in the weight of the wheels makes the car seem
noticeably more snappy on the throttle.  But then I've also run a few tanks
of non-ethanol gas lately too.  Who knows?  

This noticeable difference in wheel & tire weight also convinced me to spend
the money on changing from UFO brakes next time I wear out the pads.  I am
now convinced that the difference in rotating weight will  make a noticeable
difference.  I think this is mentioned in the V8 archives somewhere also.
 Other than that, I still am very happy with the BRAKING performance of the
UFOs, and I would still advise people to buy a UFO brake '91 200 or V8 if the
car itself is nice.

(On my 200Q), Lately I have been constantly checking to see if I turned my
lights on (at night, when wet, as always in Seattle)  Yes, they are on :-(.
 I have stock wattage Euro lights.  I remember reading once how these lights
are much more sensitive to dirty lenses than other lights.  I do keep the
lenses clean. The question:  In retrospect, it seems that my (low beam)
lighting performance has decreased since I applied a layer of 3M rock
protection to my precious lenses.  The material seems to be pretty darn clear
and it hasn't yellowed or scratched, etc.  Is it my imagination or is there
some substance to my suspicion?   It doesn't seem to have made any difference
in the stock V8 lights, which are much better than stock 200 Q lights FWIW.
 I think I can peel it off somehow....Or can halogen bulbs get dimmer?  

Also, my apologies in advance for not finding this in FAQ, but what wattages
can I run with my stock '91 200 switches (currently no relays)?  I
unnecessarily installed relays on my last Euro light 200 (since I used stock
wattage) so I am running stock wiring now but I am willing to install the
four relays if necessary. 

Ten more days to real gas again here in Seattle!

TIA, Andy Majewski
'91 200 20v Q, Lago Blue/Platinum
'90 V8 Titanium/Platinum