Hi. My dad and I (both longtime audiphiles) are considering starting a project with an 87 5KTQ Avant. We've owned one non-turbo FWD 5K Avant and one 5KTQ sedan before, and we know we love the cars... But the one we're looking at may have coolant troubles, and I'm looking into engine conversion ideas... Obviously, a replacement 5-cyl. turbo is a possibility (a later-model 20v perhaps) but what i'm now wondering is if other audi engines might be crammed into that wide, flat engine bay instead, and mated to the existing 5-speed transmission... Perhaps a 3.6 from a '90 v8Q? Maybe a 12v V6? I'd love any suggestions. Also, anyone know a scrapyard that might have an already-modified 5-cyl. (10 or 20v) from a car that had some accident that left the engine intact?
Anyway, time to end this novel, but thanks in advance for the help.

Also, does anyone know any relatively subtle visual modifications i can do to such a car? I'm not looking for 'the fast and the furious' here, just a little bit of an update; For example, whence might one obtain a set of blackout taillights?

finding smoked tailights for a type 44. Those lights are vary rare. Unless you find them on a Treser super 5000 lying around in some junkyard you will have to look to Europe for them. Even over there they are pretty rare and expensive! I've seen guys in Germany selling used ones for $500 US dollars!

If you don't have $500 dollars lying around you have 2 other options tailight wise....

The first one involves buying the all red tailights that came off of a V8 quattro. These are $300 brand new but you should be able to track some down at a autobreaker for half that price. The only problem is that these will only fit 88+ type 44's that have the lock in the tailights, not on the trunk itself...

The other option is a can of "Nightshades" sold at your local Autozone type store. It is basically a can of semi transparent black spray tint paint/lacquer. Works halfway decent and costs under $5.00. Do this at your own risk and don't blame me if you get rear ended:)

Other than that there are very few cosmetic add ons made for these cars. It's best to spend your money on something wiser like maintainence items or good suspension/tires IMHO.

HTH!
Steve Ankney
88 5000
Holland, MI

I would fit another 5 cylinder turbo motor 10 or 20v.The v6 12v is a lazy lump(but the 30valve v6 is a fire ball) and audi v8's are costly to repair.Here in Johannesburg at very high altitude the turbo 5s perform much better than the v6's

as for suspension/tires... how good would a swap of the stock wheel/tire package to the 10-spoke 16's from an A4 sport package and the stock dunlop SP 8000's be? i've been told it fits, but is it worth the $500-900? As for suspension, any reccommendations?

a head of steam. I think a heavy flywheel and drive-by-wire throttle have a lot to do with it. However, once it gets going it GOES!!! You really have to have it about 3k (like the turbo 5's) to get some good power. I'd stick with the 5, too.

http://www.spoilers.com/ge/audi5000.htm