Jeff
Jeff Dork
9/8/11 7:04 a.m.

I've found another interesting potential challenge car. 150K km on the clock, looks to be in good order. Owner says he'll do the safety certify, so he must think it's in decent shape. Going to look at it tonight.

What should I know about these things? I've read the engine is bulletproof and can make good power. I've also read that you should put it in a 4000 . What can you do with this car, thinking challenge? Can they be made to handle?

Thanks as always.

ppddppdd
ppddppdd Reader
9/8/11 8:50 a.m.

Quattro or no?

I've never met a 4K or 5K that didn't understeer like a pig and I don't know if that can be fixed, but it's not a particularly heavy car (3000-3300 lbs or so) and with quattro you'll never have traction issues. Even just chipped 10v's are decently quick at ~220 horsepower IIRC) and the whole drivetrain is the very definition of bulletproof. They aren't what I'd call "responsive" engines though.

The real weak spots aren't things you'd need to be too concerned about on a challenge car (GM sourced climate control, interior electronics, etc). Steering racks leak, vacuum lines fail (and there are a lot of them), fuel lines are a bitch to access, and brake pressure accumulators (the "bomb") go bad. Test the bomb by running the engine for a few minutes, shutting it off, and then pumping the brake pedal until it gets hard. It should take 20-30 pumps. If it goes hard faster, bad bomb.

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