Conference terri::cars_uk

    Whilst browsing through a mag today, entitled something like 'VAG driver'
    I saw an article which described the cost of running quattro's.
    
    Two cars were featured, with a few tarty mods on each.
    The driver of one of them was a 21-year old, whose insurance
    came to two thousand quid !
    
    Anyway, my question is, why did they refer to these vehicles as
    "Ur-quattro"s within the text ?
    
    J.R.

    
    I saw an advert recently for a really expensive (�100k) Quattro.
    It was described "Rare. swb. Not raced or rallied". swb means
    short wheel base to me. Agreed?
    
    So the question is "Were the Group B rally winning Quattros all of 
    the swb variety?"

    Richard    

    
    The SWB (agree with your understanding) was the Audi Quattro Sport.
    
    It was a late version of the Group 4/B Quattro. Earlier versions were
    of the more normal length and the idea was to make the car more nimble
    by shortening its wheelbase.
    
    Mark

>>    The SWB (agree with your understanding) was the Audi Quattro Sport.
    
    Yep.
    
    The road version of the 'sport' was a shortened version of the Quattro,
    with a huge chunk of car removed from where the rear seats were.
    It also had the 20v engine, which put out more poke.
    
    I remember seeing one or two advertised for sale about a year ago
    for prices in the region of 35 thousand pounds.
    
    Of course, the competition versions ended up with evolution versions
    that included monstrous arches and spoilers, with as much hardware
    moved to the boot area as possible.  All this because the engine was
    still positioned too far ahead of the front wheels, resulting in a
    *very* strong tendency to understeer, until the boost decided to
    make all the wheels lose traction.
    
    The only driver who seemed capable of handling this beast in
    rally trim was Walter Rohrl.  Due to it's history (being one of
    continual evolution from the early Quattro's) it still was not
    really on a par with the special Group B developments of the
    other manufacturers - being Lancia and Peugeot.  Don't count
    Austin-Rover, nor even Ford (RS200) in the running.  The first
    model wasn't powerful enough/reliable enough, the second was put
    out with the claim that no evolution model would be produced.
    
    This was clearly an oversight by Ford management.  The RS200
    had possibly the best suspension setup for rough surfaces, but
    couldn't cut it in competition due to power deficit.  When some
    'evolution' models were created for Rallycross, this car at last
    became a winner.  Then again, Peugeot and Lancia Group B machines
    were quite a rarity in Rallycross, mores the pity.
    
    J.R.

    
    Wasn't the relative rarity of Pugs and S4s in rallycross at least
    partly due to their lack of success when they did appear. It seemed
    that the amount of support for these cars was more than the rallycross
    teams could provide and even the big name rallycross drivers couldn't
    make them win against the much less complex Metros and Fords.
    
    There were also very few S4s or 205 Turbo 16s in privateer hands in 
    rallying, although this MAY have changed over time had the FISA not 
    killed Group B.
    
    Mark

>>    Wasn't the relative rarity of Pugs and S4s in rallycross at least
>>    partly due to their lack of success when they did appear. It seemed
>>    that the amount of support for these cars was more than the rallycross
>>    teams could provide and even the big name rallycross drivers couldn't
>>    make them win against the much less complex Metros and Fords.
    
    I had the feeling that they were quite effective when used, but as
    you have picked up on, the support was not there from the manufacturers.
    As a result, they would be much more expensive than a number of
    other vehicles available at the time.
    
    Of all of the vehicles used, the Metro was the only one which was sold
    in competition trim only.  All the others had 'road-going' versions.
    This alone makes a difference in the cost of setting the vehicle up
    for competition.  For the other Group B vehicles, a person would
    either have to try and purchase an ex-factory competition vehicle,
    or get the road-spec version and modify that.  Neither way is cheap.
    
    J.R.

    
    I seem to remember that the RS200 was introduced in the year that
    FISA killed the supercars off? 
    

	I have recently bought a 89 Audi coupe 2.2e, when it is started up
	in the morning you can hear the tappets. After about 5 mins 
	the noise is away. Is this normal ? .The oil level is ok, pressure is 
	ok indicated by guage, fully garage serviced, running on leaded petrol.
	
	Steven.	

    Steve...
    
    I think you should have entered this in note 1063.    *:@)))))
    
    
    
                                          Frank Bough.