If the solid red horizontal strip taillights are a 98.5 addition according to the FAQ, how come JasonM's 97 2.8 has them?<p>My 98 2.8 was purchased on March 5, 98. It was built in December 97. Does it qualify as a 98.5? It has all the features mentioned in the faq as belonging to 98.5's except:<p>16.Late 98's (beginning ~7/98) also received new stationary cupholders relocated to<br> under center armrest in place of quarky old "pop-up" ones <p>Any clarifications?<p>Gus<br>98 30vq

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The FAQ is correct about the tail lights. Some people have swapped old for new lights. For your info, when Audi introduced the 2.8 30 valve engine around June 1997, they started to call it a 98 model. Then during the usual model changeover time in the fall of 97 they made the changes listed in the FAQ. The first 98.5s were made in August 97 and delivered to dealers around Oct first. The same changes were made in the 1.8T which didn't have an engine change in the spring and therefore was called a 97 model until the fall changover. Your car is a 98.5. By the way the FAQ left out that the 98.5 wothout sport suspension came with 16 inch wheels while the 98 and previous came with 15 inch wheels.

First, all '97s in North America came with red tail lamps with the orange/amber turn indicator and clear/white reverse lamp window. If somebody has a '97 with the solid red lamps, they are not factory issue.<br>Second, as the automotive industry traditionally regards October as the beginning of a new model year, vehicles changed after that but within the same model year are generally referred to as mid-year models - hence the '98.5 designation used on this board.<br>The '98 a4 started hitting the shores as early as September '97, just as the '99s started coming Sept of this year. So, 1998 A4 2.8s manufactured between late August, Audi's post holiday production start, and the end of calendar year '97 were predominately carry-over from the '97 model year, with the exception of the new 30-valve motor. Beginning in late December 1997/early January 1998 Audi started producing the "revised" '98 2.8 - what has been referred to as a '98.5 on this board.<br>A '98 built in Dec-97 could certainly be a '98.5 as defined on the board. Audi does not officially recognize the mid-year designation but would quickly admit that early production '98s are different than later production models.<p>Hope that helps,<p>Rob O<br>author of the FAQ

Actually, the FAQ is supposed to identify that it's predominately for 2.8 models, as the 1.8T had already undergone many of the cosmetic changes the 2.8 got later in production. So, technically, the FAQ need not indicate wheel diameter changes since the 2.8 came with 16" wheels in both sport (7-spoke) and non-sport (5-spoke) form, no matter what the production date.<p>Rob O

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