No extra zero's...
just went through it with a local dealer.
Parts alone are $1650.00
Todd C

Many of you have heard me express my desire for an A4 with better
road clearance or express the fact that I bought the A4 because it was
AWD and would handle itself well in less than ideal conditions.

Well the talk finally turned to action last weekend when I made it out
to one of my old haunts - a family cottage at the end of 100kms of single
lane twisty highway and 5kms of poorly maintained dirt road.  This
is one of the many trips I had in mind when making the A4 purchasing decision.

What follows is diorama of my "off-road" experience.  There is
much talk about whether or not this car has what it takes to take it off
the highway - I am adding my experience and observations to the discussion.

You may ask what I could possibly have to say about dirt road driving
after 5 kilometers of the stuff.  Well, the Gods were smiling in my
favour.  After escorting many friends down the road after dark, going
golfing and returning home, I had driven the road no less than ten times
last weekend! (50kms!)  I experienced a loaded and unloaded car. 
Some day driving and lots of night driving.  Washboard roads and freshly
grated roads.  Dry roads and roads covered in downpour run-off.

The dirt road to the cottage has very little traffic and is extremely
technical.  It usually takes a driver 10 to 12 minutes to get through
the 5kms.  Since you can basically see the traffic around the corners
at night (headlights), I was able to play a bit and drastically improve
my times.  The first time I did my usual safe drive in, but on subsequent
trips I experimented with powering through the turns and hard braking. 
By the end of the six nighttime runs I was inducing four-wheel drift on
any corner I could find!!  God I love this car!!!!!  My initial
10 minute trips were being completed in no more than 4 minutes by the end.

I drive a 98.5 2.8 Quattro with the sport package and 205/55 R16 Goodyear
HP tires.  The car performed extremely well.  As I pushed the
car further and further to the extremes it gently warned me where the limits
were and let me know what kind of car it is.

I couldn't help but notice how isolated I still felt from the road. 
The whole ride through washboard, wash-out and rocky bits felt almost as
comfortable as highway driving.  The only thing that was jarring was
washboard if I took it at 10 - 20kph.  Despite this isolation, the
car still held me to the road and was obviously accomodating the landscape
as it agressively passed beneath the wheels.  I did bottom out the
car a couple of times but it wasn't the suspension's fault - I just don't
have enough body clearance to allow me to launch off of the crest of a
hill and plunge into the edge of a wash-out (see pic later).  I came
to appreciate the suspension's comfort factor during my trips.  The
only negative aspect I can think of is the fact that I am not getting a
true appreciation of the pain the car is feeling as I make it slam-dance
with the road.

Despite the comfort factor that the suspension was providing me I was
surprised at how much control and traction feedback I was receiving. 
I could only tell I was going over bumps because I had seen them heading
under my car, but the minute a tire let go or slid in any way - I was notified
- and not in a bad way!  As I learned to four-wheel drift this beautiful
beast, I knew exactly which wheels were no longer tracking straight. 
As I applied the power to recover, I could instantly feel the tires regain
their grip and bite into the road surface - they had an appetite that just
couldn't be satisfied!!  I could feel the difference once the heavy
rains began to pound the road and the hydro-planing effects reduced the
contact of my tires with their long-time companion.  It was obvious
how the loose gravel had a ball-bearing feel once the township's grater
had made a pass (the first time in months by the way).  The car was
able to tell me how it's relationship with it's significant other was doing
- now communication problems here!

Setting up for the corners was as much fun as powering out of them. 
Although I never felt the ABS at work, I knew that it was keeping all four
wheels from slipping while allowing me to induce a turn only when I commanded. 
It was amazing how the four-wheel drive could power me into the start of
the corner and then on through it.  The car was not allowing me to
generate any accidental power-induced under or oversteer.  If I applied
power it pushed the car in the direction of my two big black arrows. 
If I really torqued the engine I could induce the oversteering fish-tail
feel that I had come to expect from my old RX-7 - but I really had to torque
it.  Of course, you can't beat the laws of physics - when I went into
a corner waaay to fast :)  the four wheels would be forced to let
go - but they did so in a very controlled and somewhat gradual manner. 
During the four-wheel slides, the car just stayed oriented in the same
basic direction accepting slight directional commands from my sport steering
wheel - until I apply power that it is!  Then it's - yes sir! - how
fast sir!? - thataway sir!? - YES Sir!  Did I remember to mention
- God I love this car!!  (there is only one time my car didn't listen
- pic below).

I just remembered - I forgot to mention body roll - there's wasn't any!!
None that I can remember anyway...

When I compare this driving experience with the same roads in a Chevy
Blazer, I am able to draw some conclusions (I grew up on the Blazer...) 
SUVs suck.  There is no way that the Blazer could have stayed in my
rear-view mirror.  Even at night the headlights on my back would have
been smaller than the night's stars.  You can feel the Audi technology
at work.  The Blazer just feels like a big dumb thug that is still
trying to figure out where you took off to.  Again, there is NO WAY
that I could have kept up with the Audi in the Blazer - I would have ditched
it first.  The Blazer's high center of gravity and lack of traction
control are big deficits to the old thing.

Now for the bad news:

The car is competent in the rough and can definately beat anything it
meets - but it may not be strong enough to do it every day.

I may have mentioned that I bottomed out once or twice...Take a look
at what popped out the back of my Audi during one of the last runs down
the cottage road:

<IMG SRC="gpm-cover.jpg" HEIGHT=480 WIDTH=640>:)

I'm not sure what did the final damage to this poor old engine cover
- but it happened while I had my 230+lb friend along for the ride.&nbsp;
I definately felt the car having a harder time clearing the obstacles.&nbsp;
Although I did rip off this cover, you can probably see how much it was
already worn out.&nbsp; The entire cover had been thinned by repeated scraping
over the 1.5 years of it's life.&nbsp; I'm sure the previous owner had
also been having some fun with it (a visual check possibility for you used
car buyers).

It's for reasons like this that I would like to have the option of boosting
the height a couple inches when getting ready to travel down a particularly
hazardous road.&nbsp; May this cover rest in peace.
&nbsp;

Now, did I happen to mention that the car did not listen to me on one
turn?&nbsp; It wasn't the car's fault, but rather mine.&nbsp; There is
one particularly fun, fast corner on this road.&nbsp; It is a long slow
right turn with a nice gentle hump in it as it leaves the top of plateau
and heads down the side of a gentle hill.&nbsp; Although there isn't much
weight on the tires as it clears the crest of this plateau, you can still
perform the turn at 60+kph.&nbsp; I got really good at this :))))
- But then it began to rain - rain hard.&nbsp; Well, that was the final
straw.&nbsp; The car began to gently oversteer until my car was pointing
45 degrees off my direction of travel.&nbsp; As I was thinking through
how to correct this without over-correcting into the side of the hill (since
you can do anything you put your mind to with this car) - I gently drifted
my back left wheel to the side of the road.&nbsp; This worked out perfectly
- the sand curb that had been created by the grater added resistance to
that wheel causing the nose of my car to swing gently around in the direction
of my journey.&nbsp; I was able to continue my romp without even a hitch
in my step - perfect.

When I got to the cottage I found this scraped up rim (yes it has already
been washed) and many handfuls of dirt caked inside:

<IMG SRC="gpm-rim.jpg" HEIGHT=480 WIDTH=640>

(nice eh?)

In the dirt curb there were probably rocks the size of my fist - but
nothing too extreme.&nbsp; I certainly felt nothing which could be described
as a jarring action.&nbsp; Funny thing is - this week I started noticing
a strange hum coming from my left rear wheel.&nbsp; My mechanic has diagnosed
it as a bad wheel bearing - funny.&nbsp; I hope this doesn't happen every
time I try to have some fun in the park.&nbsp; Perhaps the suspension,
etc. is too weak for this sort of thing (as many have posted).
&nbsp;

Well this post has gotten way too long.&nbsp; I'll have to write about
the 100km single-lane highway drive with the Bel radar detector I borrowed
some other time.&nbsp; (but let me just say 1:45 reduced to 1:20 :)

Tootles,

Gordon Martin
98.5 2.8QMS (Santorin Blue)
&nbsp;

Gordon Martin
98.5 2.8QMS (Santorin Blue)