You guys know the story of this one from the "Dreaming of a T44 Avant" thread I made, but here's the short story. I currently drive a Cayenne Turbo S for work. I work in the oilfield and go to various rigs all over the PA/WV/OH area. I typically have to drive about 500 miles round trip 2-3 times a month. The vehicle I use has to be AWD or 4WD, have some ground clearance, and be in good shape. The Cayenne is all of these things, but it is also a bit of a burden on my wallet, especially since the oilfield has been slowing down lately. With that, our bonuses, vehicle allowances, and what little vacation we have has all been cut. So, in the spirit of being fiscally responsible I set out to find something to duplicate the Cayenne's capabilities while also saving some money.
I searched high and low and tried to be as creative as possible to figure out what I could possibly use to replace the Cayenne. It would have to be AWD or 4WD, practical enough to store all of my stuff while I'm living out of a trailer on a rig, have some ground clearance to get through rough back roads and rig roads, be relatively safe, reliable, fun, and affordable... oh, and I wanted a manual transmission and something that wouldn't make the rig hands think I'm a dick (any new-ish european car is out the window). Phew! That's a tall order! I looked in all different price ranges and styles. I even went to a Subaru dealer to look at STIs, but they (the dealer) put a bad taste in my mouth. I think that's about the closest thing to what I need though, but I wouldn't be saving much money.
What it all came down to was that I couldn't find anything to suit my needs better than a 25 year old Audi avant
So the search for an avant began. It was half-hearted at first, but then after I convinced myself enough that this would be a good idea I got a little more serious. I wanted to find a 200 20v avant which was either restored or maintained with an open checkbook. I found that silver avant with around 60k miles which had essentially been restored and tried to buy it for what is probably the top of the market for a 200 avant ($10k). I was willing to pay asking price and was the first buyer to contact the seller, but he shafted me and sold it out from under me. In hindsight, I'm kind of glad I didn't get it because upon seeing the car, while it was nice, the paint wasn't that great, and I'm not sure what or how the body work was done to it (it had a crease in the passenger rear quarter panel which had to be fixed). It was undeniably in good mechanical shape, but also at the top of my budget.
Then I found a nice gold (bamboo) avant with relatively low miles (around 130k), but it sounded like it hadn't really been maintained the way I would have liked. The seller wasn't able to inspire much confidence in the car's mechanical aptitude. It would have been fine as a local daily driver, but I didn't feel I could trust it for my needs. This one was priced below the silver car, but only by a few thousand dollars.
Finally, I was introduced to this beautiful, blue avant. Everything seemed great about it except that it had fairly high mileage at 226k miles. I almost wrote it off, but it looked so good in the pictures that I had to investigate further. After lengthy discussion with the seller, he sent me receipts for over 16k worth of work done to the car in the past decade. There are/were more receipts, but they have been lost to the past. That doesn't count the first owner either. I have a letter from him noting other work that was done in his ownership. The evidence shows that from it's inception, this car has been absolutely pampered. I've been told that it's always been garaged too and that it was always a PNW car and thus never saw road salt. The carfax verifies the location claim and the receipts do too as well as the mileage claim.
It has had everything from the steering rack to the driveshaft, to the headliner replaced as needed. The seller was able to inspire a lot of confidence in the car for me through the receipts, his words, and Apikol's inspection report of the car.
Well, that's enough of that for now. Let's get to the more fun and exciting stuff.
Vehicle Details
-1991 Audi 200 20v Avant
-Lago blue, fairly clean paint
-Platinum (gray) interior with SPORT SEATS!
Current MODS!
-Euro headlights
-Porsche Big Red (993 Turbo) front brakes
-323 mm A8 rotors
-2B Strut bar
-Apikol rear diff mount
-Apikol snub mount
-Chip (not sure which one)
-3" exhaust (custom)
-Brass dizzy gear, correct dizzy rotor
-H&R springs with Koni adjustables
-Ronal R28 wheels
Mods added after purchase:
-Southbend Stage 3 clutch
-3" electronic exhaust dump
-Autotech adjustable cam gear
-Hardened crank cog
Cool Stuff it comes with
-Second set of euro headlights
-OEM radio
-Original front floor mats in addition to weathertech ones
-OEM rear cargo cover
-Set of winter tires
-Roof rack
Recent(ish) Maintenance
-Master cylinder at 153k
-MAF at 154k
-Wiper linkage and motor, ignition switch and lock cylinder BPV, backup light switch, etc. at 164k
-PS rack and hoses at 169k
-Rear brakes (and new calipers) at 170k
-Soldered whole cluster at 173k
-T-belt and all associated components, 02 sensor, fuel and air filters, dizzy cap and rotor, aux coolant pump at 208k
-Brake bomb and recirc flap spring replaced at 213k
-New battery and left rear power windor motor at 213k
-Hydraulic pump replaced at 215k
-Brake fluid flush and replace alternator and headliner at 216k
-Oil, trans, diff oil and t-stat, coolant replaced at 218k
-Fuel system flush at 219k
-LF CV boot, PS suction hose and o-ring at 219k
-Replace fuel pump at 220k
-VC gasket at 221k
-New reman driveshaft, Apikol snub mount, Apikol rear diff mount, 034 trans mounts, 034 engine mounts (street density, UGH!... seller didn't know better)
-Replace trans fluid (to try to help shifting which got a little notchier after installing the 034 trans and engine mounts)
-Alignment and upper rear control arms at 222k
-New front pads for 993 TT calipers and A8 323mm rotors, Apikol RS2 brake brackets
-New heated washer nozzles and full washer fluid line at 224k
-New rear pads and rotors, brake fluid flush
Older Maintenance
-New steering stabilizer, belts, control arm bushings (delrin?), new vac lines
-Seat heaters fixed, bomb, clutch, trans, rad, all hoses, ps pump, and one window reg
-t-belt, lifters, boots (CV?), bearings (wheel?), after run pump, regulators and locks, METAL DIZZY GEAR, plugs and wires, etc.
Maintenance completed after purchase:
-New Southbend Stg. 3 clutch, rear main seal, selector shaft seal, shift bushing and repaired shift ball at bushing (was loose and had to be welded back on) at 227k
-New silicone boost hoses (except TB hose) and vacuum lines at 228k
-Fixed rear hatch light wiring, right rear window reg and motor (new OEM reg, used OEM motor) at 228.5k
-Washer fluid reservoir at 229k
-Timing belt, water pump, thermostat, heater core, blower motor, adjust wiper linkage, new carbon timing cover, Autotech adjustable cam pulley, hardened crank cog installed at 230k
Current Unresolved Issues
-Passenger rear window reg needs replaced *FIXED*
-Somethig wrong with sunroof mechanism
-Headliner is new, but the sunroof part of it was not replaced and is starting to sag now
-Scuff on the front bumper
-Rock chips on the hood
-Windshield washer pump seal leaks *FIXED*
-Trans selector shaft seal weeps *FIXED*
-Clutch engages a bit high, and sometimes it is a little difficult to get into gear when first started up in the morning. *FIXED*
-Has new 034 engine and trans mounts... yes, this is an issue I plan to resolve
-Airbag light is on due to (apparently) worn clock spring
Game Plan / Future Mods
The game plan is to make sure this car is as reliable as possibly possible and as tough as it can be to withstand the stresses of driving in winter and in the oilfield.
Step 1. Fix all unresolved problems above.
Protection
-3M film on the front of the car
-Clear protective film (thick) for headlights
-Protective film for windshield (possibly)
-Some kind of protective coating for the rest of the paint to guard against UV damage and chemical damage (diesel and oil-based drilling mud particulates in the air)
-Special undercoating to protect from winter salt (haven't researched this much yet)
-Might switch out to complete weather tech floor liners if they make them for these cars
-Window tint to protect interior from UV
-Custom windshield shade thing *DONE*
-Mud flaps? That'll be a hard find! *edit* nevermind, it already has them! WOO!
Sound - I'll be spending a lot of time in the car and I love music, so I need good sound!
-Comes with Focal speakers for front
-Need more speakers for rear doors and such
-Sub and amp *JL8w7 AE3 installed with box and amp
-Amp for speakers
-DSP (MS8)
-Already has a nice Pioneer (I believe) head unit
Reliability
-New clutch... I'm thinking SouthBend Stage 4 or similar, you know... just in case? *DONE* with SB stg. 3
-Silicone boost hoses from 2B or similar *DONE*
-Silicone coolant hoses
-Watch secondary rad for leaks... remove and loop if leaks detected
-Strap intercooler
(the car supposedly already has all new vac lines)
-Apikol trans mounts
-Hank? HPR? motor mounts (Apikol doesn't make any motor mounts for urI5)
-VEMS! (because then I don't have to worry about vac leaks, etc... I can just drive open TB if needed
)-Will carry spares with me such as fuel pump relay, etc.
-Suggestions welcome
Performance
-VEMS
-Misc suspension bushings, sway bars
-MAYBE a bigger turbo, especially if the stock one goes. I'd run it on stock manifold. EFR preferably. Stock intercooler
Pictures from the PO
(not appropriate until it has a bigger turbo actually).
