Reading the current Audi driver magazine and someone writes in about his quattro with 135K miles and what performance mods he can do. The editor writes back that he will soon need to overhaul or replace the cylinder head. Others have told me that these engines are pretty bombproof, and you can expect 200K with regular maintenance (I'm assuming new head doesn't fall under "regular maintenance").

Anyone know which is correct? Would a modded 5 cylinder turbo (115K) require a new head a lot sooner? One plus is that the mods were done at about 90K miles, so there is only about 25K in 290hp land (and that with Mobil 1).

There was the solid lifter 10VT, the hydraulic lifter 10VT, and the 20VT. The MC engine is the hydraulic lifter 10VT and usually only needs to be replaced when too many of the exhaust manifold studs have broken off. Otherwise, it lasts a long time at 300hp.

The 20VT head does need major work at about 120K miles, but that is not related to mods. It can be considered regular maintenance, but it isn't cheap. The issue is the chain between the 2 cams. The early V8's get especially expensive at that age.