Firstly - My wife asked what the "R" stood for on the fuel gauge where an "E" for empty usually is. I guessed "refuel", but I'm not sure. Does anyone know for sure? I have a 99.5 1.8T, bought in Canada, if that makes any difference.

Secondly - I would like for both of us to practice using the ABS as soon as we get our first set of icy roads here. This is the first vehicle we've had with ABS, so we'd like to make sure that we are familiar with how the car reacts when it is used. We'll practice somewhere safe like in a large empty parking lot. The question is, will using the ABS one or two dozen times cause any undue wear and tear on the braking system?

Thanks in advance for any answers you can supply.

Mac
99.5 1.8TQTip

...learning a little about how your car works! I highly recommend that anyone who plans to drive their quattro on icy roads, practices driving it in open spaces such as empty parking lots (watch out for light poles and curbs, etc. though!). Actually, I think this is important for any car. You really need to get a feel for how the car reacts to steering input, braking, and acceleration. The problem with quattro is that it gives you the ability to accelerate like a madman on slippery surfaces, giving a false sense of security. Braking is still the same as any other car and depends on your speed and tire traction more than anything, although quattro and ABS may be able to help you steer clear of anything you may be headed toward.

Anyway, to answer your questions, i don't think the US cars have an "R" on the fuel guage, and I'm too lazy to go look right now! My guess is that the "R" means reserve, rather than refuel. I believe the A4 has a 2.5 gallon (sorry, don't know liter conversion)reserve.

There will be no mistaking the activation of ABS. When ABS kicks in, it sends feedback through the pedal. You will here a grinding/groaning/pump? type sound, and the pedal will pulsate wildly. This is why inexperienced people get in trouble with ABS. They think that if the pedal is pulsating and the car is making weird noises, they should let up on the brakes (thinking something is broken or...), but nothing is farther from the truth. In an emergency, or for the quickest stop, you need to keep the pedal pushed, and steer the car as best you can. THat's the idea behind ABS. The noise and pulsation is not only there to indicate that the ABS is activated, but also to inform you that you need to watch your speed. If there was no feedback, you wouldn't know when it was working, and would then not know you are driving too fast for conditions.

As a side note, I find that the throttle is my friend when turning the car on icy and snowy roads. Go into the turn slowly and use the throttle to gently bring the rear of the car around, and then accelerate. Takes practice! If you give it too much, especially in first or second gear, you'll end up doing what I did once! I was playing around and thought I had enough room to see what would happen if I gave it a lot of gas in first gear while turning onto a side street. Well, the whole car went sliding across the street, but most of the sliding was done in the back, and it swung around and right into a big snow bank with a very loud thunk!Oops! Good news was that even though I hit hard enough to jolt my body a little, there was no damage to the car; just my pride. :-)

Any more questions?

Charles

...like if you pumped the brakes yourself, only the system can do it much faster than you can!

I've had ABS since 1991 and every winter I 'play' and practice with it just to get the feel. But do it with plenty of room because when it's working, it seems to take much longer to stop. Where it really shines is when you need to brake hard while in a turn or curve on wet blacktop. Also give it a try on clean dry pavement when no one is around.

Never heard that using it wears it unduly.