‘cars’ Category

1998 Audi A4 1.8T

Pictured below is my 1998 Audi A4 1.8t Quattro. It arrived at the dealership (Tischer Audi in Maryland) on Saturday, March 21st, 1998. I had ordered it on September 28th 1997, and production was completed on February 24th 1998, so it was a long wait (6 months!). In the words of Edmunds’ 1998 review, “buy this car.” You can check out my photo gallery here.

The options I selected are:

Mods

May 4, 1998: I added an OEM Panasonic 6-disc CD changer in the trunk. Installation was fairly easy since the car was pre-wired for it. Changer was ordered from Clair Parts.

May 13, 1998: I sent away my ECU to Wetterauer to be upgraded on May 11th. Got it back and installed it on the 13th. It far exceeds my expectations! Turbo boost was increased from 7 psi (0.48 bar) to 14.5 psi (1 bar), resulting in 50 extra horsepower and 81 more ft-lbs of torque. Zero-to-sixty time is reduced from 8.1 seconds to 6.7 seconds. I also installed a new air filter, from RamAir, which helps performance and engine longevity a bit.

July 27, 1998: My new wheels and tires arrived. The wheels are 17″ Ronal R-28s and the tires are 225/45R17 Pirelli P7000s. They’re a pretty drastic change from the stock 205/55R16s that came with the sport package (and without the sport package you only get 15″ wheels!).

September 9, 1998: I upgraded my speakers and added a power amplifier. The front speakers are now 5 1/4″ MB Quart Referenz speakers (model 215.03), up from the stock 4″ speakers, and the rears are 6 1/2″ MB Quarts, up from the stock 5 1/4″. The amp is an Alpine 4 channel with 30/40 watts per channel. Myer Emco did the work. While it sounds better than the stock system did, it’s hampered by the fact that the stock headunit has only speaker outputs, not pre-amp outputs.

The last modification I made was the addition of an LLtek “M” style rear wing/spoiler. The wing came pre-painted to match my Cactus Green A4, and I installed it myself in about two hours.

On February 22, 2000 I had my second new set of tires mounted. These are Sumitomo HTR-Z II Ultra-High Performance tires. They seem to handle quite well.

Problems

On May 28, 1999, my turbocharger failed, apparently with a broken wastegate. Thanks to some miserable service from HBL Audi in Virginia, it wasn’t fixed until early July.

Radio Controlled A4

Pictured above and below is my Tamiya Radio Controlled Audi A4 Quattro. It took me about two full 8-hour days to build. It is 1/10 scale and goes about 20 MPH, and is 4-wheel drive. Visit the gallery for more pictures. I still need to do some finishing work, like painting the windows black, trimming the posts, and adding the mirrors.

Autocross and Racing

I race my A4 in local Solo II autocross events. Many are hosted by the Sports Car Club of America, who I autocrossed with in my Saturn a few years ago in New York. Now I’m in the DC Region and Blue Ridge Region. The Metro Washington Council of Sports Car Clubs also holds autocross events here.

June 14th 1998 was my first Autocross in over three years, and my first in the A4. The Results are in! I placed 61st out of 117 cars. It was a really fun day thanks to the BMW Club. Some Pictures are available from a digital camera, and I’ll have some scanned-in photos soon.

I also took the A4 out onto the track at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia for a full day track event.

1993 Saturn SC2

In 1993 I purchased my first NEW car – a Saturn SC2. Since I’m picky about what colors and features I like, I custom ordered it on May 15th. It was built on May 25th, and I picked it up on June 3rd.

The color is “Plum”, which is kind of a maroon with a little bit of purple. The options I ordered were Antilock Brakes, Air Conditioning, Rear Spoiler, Cassette Player with Equalizer, and Power Windows/Locks. Transmission is manual.

I kept the car until early 1998, at close to 60,000 miles.