RE: Audi 200 turbo quattros

[John Weir <jcwx@execpc.com>]

On Thu, 25 Jul 1996, PAT MARTIN wrote:

> I have to correct you on a couple of points.  A CUSTOM 2 1/2" exhaust system 
> will set you back less than $360 and if that gives you ~5-10 hp.  There are 
> also very inexpensive tuning tricks to get you 5 here or 5 there.  K&N might 
> give you ~7 and a wastegate mods might give you anouther 10-20hp.  
> 
> So what does that add up to.  400 for the exhoust, ~40 for the K&N,  ~60? for 
> the wastgate mods(high end).  So if we take a conservitive # of 25 hp gained 
> than a second might be in reach depending on where the power came in for a 
> little less than 500. There are probably other routes to go that are more 
> effective but I dont own a 200 so I cant tell you.
> 
> Pat Martin

I don't know about 25 hp being able to produce reduction of a second in
the 0-60 time.  Especially when you consider the fact that the quicker 
your car is the hp needed to make a time reduction of a second is
proportional.  I.E. - the hp gain need to go 0-60 in 9 instead of 10
secs is less than the one needed to for the difference in the 6.5 to
5.5 sec reduction.

I do understand what you say about the gain, it isn't exactly how much,
but as well the improvement to the powerband.

I don't know where you are buying your 2 1/2" custom exhaust, but I have
a feeling that it is going to be more than that.  I had a exhaust put
on my Audi 4000S Quattro in '92, and the least expensive was $440.  This
was at a place that bent their own pipe, and wasn't a custom performance,
just a plain exhaust.  Audi wanted $900 for the system, everyone else was
about $600, like I said, this wasn't a performance oriented application,
either.  If you go to a shop that specializes in custom performance
exhaust you are going to pay a considerable amount more.  I honestly
wouldn't even trust a shop that told me that they were going to put a
custom performance exhaust on for $360, I would get the impression that
they don't know what they are doing.

I am somewhat familiar with the aftermarket world for turbocharged cars.
It isn't cheap.  If you are getting things cheap I wouldn't trust them.
Engines are too expensive to be putting questionable equipment on them.
I just ordered a mechanical valve controller for my '88 323 GTX, but don't
plan on leaving it on for too long, for I plan on getting a more reliable
electronic boost controller from HKS or GReddy in the not too distant
future.  (We're talking $80 versus low $900s)  The electronic ones give
you more control, and you don't have to worry about them locking your
wastegate shut/open as much on a failure.  I have put a air/fuel monitor
in and am putting a boost gauge in with the mechanical valve controller,
I believe in putting in safety items that will give me a warning prior to
my engine going south.  I also will get a exhaust gas temp gauge and a
few other things as hp goes up.  

I don't dispute that you can't do some impressive things with a Audi,
but what some people have claimed does seem just a little bit ridiculous.
The numbers that I have been getting from people in e-mails indicate
that the 200TQ does 0-60 in the high 6 to low seven second range, with
the q/m in the mid to low 15 sec range.  I look into aftermarket equipment
all the time, and follow improvements with a particular interest since
both of my vehicles are turbocharged.  When someone tells me they are
going to knock off TWO seconds in the q/m with a chip I'm going to tell
them they are full of it.  If the most reliable shops can't do it with
custom chips, I won't believe a chip manufacturer like Superchips can
do.

I still really don't think that the $500 is reasonable for the hp
increase needed in the mid 6 sec to mid 5 sec reduction in acceleration.

John