Re: If it wasn't a quattro.

["Anthony K.B. Chan" <chan@seattleu.edu>]

I am on my second Audi, my first one was an 85' 5000s and my current one 
is a 92' 100 V6. They are both fwd models. I first fell in love with it 
back in 1983 when I was going to high school in England. I was living 
with a host family and the nextdoor neighbour had a brand new 83' 100 cd 
which is equivalent to an 84' 5000s in the US but it didn't get to the US 
with new bodystyle until the following year. I looked at that car and I 
thought I am going to get one of these someday. There were so many 
quattro coupe and coupe quattro, quattro coupe designation was the one 
with the five cylinders turbo and the other one without the turbo, the US 
never have the coupe quattro imported. It's been a long time ago so 
I might gotten the designation backward. I thought the Audi coupes were the 
coolest sport coupe back then. Another reason I felt in love with 
them were their handling plus I used to follow Group B rally results in 
Europe like the RAC rally in GB. I used to be a big fan of Group B rally cars,
I collected so many magazine on about Group B rally cars. 

Anyway I never learned to drive a stick and Audi didn't make a quattro with 
an auto until the V8. When I was shopping for my second Audi i.e. the 92' 
100 I had a hard time finding one with low mileage, quattro and with
automatic gearbox. I still think both of my Audis handle better than many 
Japanese cars that are so called sport sedan. I've rented a brand new 95' 
Maxima SE for a week in Honolulu before I bought the my 92' 100 V6 just 
for comparison since the price different for a used 92' 100 with low 
mileage(23,500 miles) and a new 95' Maxima SE was very little. I had it 
for a week and logged 1,100 miles on it on Oahu, yes on a little island. 
My mom comment was she got car sick and she never done that in my 5000s 
I don't really like soft spring on the rear of the maxima, I notice the rear 
when it rebound tend to also have some lateral motion. The engine was 
great, the only strong point. I heard the pre 95' handle better but never 
get to drive one.

Another reason I bought the 92' 100 V6 is because of the interior, it's 
very hard to find a car with all the gauges and with nicely done 
interior. You actually felt like you are in a luxury car and no other 
interior looks like it except another Audi whereas Japanese luxury cars' 
interior they all looked same. The same thing for the exterior, japanese 
cars have no character or their own identities. If you don't see the badges 
or emblems most of the time it is very hard to know what it is. When I saw a 
97' Toyota Camry rearend for the first time, I thought it was a new Alfa 
Romeo 164 but then it could not be since Alfa was gone from the US market. 
For german car and most european cars, it is hard to mistaken them for 
another brand. Even when they change their exterior for a new model year they 
always retain some cues from their bloodline. Like the new MB E-class, most 
people think it is weird and ugly, I think it is pretty good looking, it 
reminds me of some MBs from the 50s and 60s but you can never mistaken it for 
anything else. 

Anthony Chan, First Hill, Seattle, WA, USA.
chan@seattleu.edu
92' 100 V6 Tornado Red.