I recently found a 91 Audi 200 20v Turbo Quattro for sale and it has me wondering more about the car. It has some nice stats on paper; turbo, awd, 5-cylinder but other than that I don't know much. The one I found has higher miles at 185k but looks well kept.
Anything good or bad about them? Obscure german car to stay away from?
My Uncle had one before he got into porsches.. seemed nice enough
I owned a 200 turbo 10v and then a Coupe Quattro 20v for quite a while, but am somewhat familiar with the 20v turbo. The bodies are galvanized, so they never rust unless they're dinged pretty hard. The electricals...oh boy. My windows would sometimes randomly cease function, the turn signals quit working one day, and other smaller faults were frequent...parts are expensive. They are pretty difficult to work on - the engine is HUGE and the layout of the engine bay is nothing short of bizarre. You need to take the entire front end of the car apart to do a timing belt with the engine in the car. 20vs sound like sex and the 20v turbo can make astounding power (look at 034motorsport.com for some serious parts) but the parts pricing is more Porsche than VW.
My chipped 10v turbo felt really quick for how heavy it was, and kicked ass in the snow. It left me stranded a few times, though. Not a fault of the engineering (the drivetrain is quite overbuilt) but stupid cost-cutting like a plastic distributor gear, 75% of the car's wiring being run to the driver door, etc...
It would take a REALLY nice example to get me into another Audi, and even then I'm hesitant. Between the Coupe Quattro and 200 the ownership experience was very similar - EXPEN$IVE and very stressful. I really want a TT but I just don't trust Audi anymore.
Great donors for engine swaps or race cars because you rip all of the broken luxo-crap out.
BTW, the engine bay is setup that way to minimize the weight on the nose since the engine is ahead of the center line of the front wheels.
BTW, the engines will bolt to a 924 bell housing, which will bolt to a 944 torque tube (essentially uses the same transaxle as the Quattro, minus the rear drive output). Just sayin....
Repteel
New Reader
7/25/12 9:33 p.m.
What's the difference between the 200 and the 90??? Just being nosey because there's one on kijiji I'm trying not to buy............
Wally
UltimaDork
7/25/12 9:43 p.m.
I know nothing about them but they made a good looking race car
Did a little research since the ad mentioned the need for front brakes - then I found this abomination.
"UFO" Brakes http://ranwhenparked.net/2009/11/17/what-lies-beneath-audi-ufo-brakes/
Woody
UltimaDork
7/26/12 1:56 a.m.
Wow, never knew about those.
codrus
Reader
7/26/12 2:34 a.m.
Yeah, the UFO brakes are weird. There used to be a group that sold relatively inexpensive brackets to replace them with Porsche monobloc calipers and some off-the-shelf Audi rotors.
Looks like the web site is still there, don't know if they're actually still in operation though: http://bira.org/
Keep in mind that "relatively" inexpensive is relative to normal Audi aftermarket prices. It might still double the cost of the car. :)
ddavidv
PowerDork
7/26/12 5:51 a.m.
Great engine donors for 4000q and CGT's. Other than that, for all the headaches that are generated by the electrics, climate control system and UFO brakes I'd just buy a nice BMW 5 series.
Awesome cars, how much are they asking? Don't worry about the UFOs, they are not that tough or expensive. Rotors make interesting garage art too.
They are great highway cruisers, carry a ton, comfortable and huge gas tanks.
Found it on CL. For 1250 it is a good deal.
Many of the cars with UFO brakes were changed out so a more standard Audi caliper / rotor setup early in their life, something to check for.
Old Audi's are one of the few areas of my automotive experience and I know I have written long posts on here before about how great they are except for the all the accesories that stop working. If don't want to tinker with a car, don't buy an Audi. If you do, it is well worth it for the enjoyment. That is a pretty low mile and cheap example, could be a lot of fun.
Shamless plug for mine if anyone wants a cheap fun beater, or needs parts.
"http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/200x-classifieds/91-audi-200-900/44253/page1/
'91 Audi 200 $900: $2012 Classifieds Link fail, if I am going to be shamless, I should at least do it correctly
Ghia, did you put the car up on motorgeek? Audifans?