New CQ Owner in the States

[Pace]

Just wanted to say hello. I've been referencing this forum for some good info and decided to join the fun.

Not an S2 owner, but I just recently picked up a Tornado Red '90 Coupe Quattro (actually bought it from a friend). Kinda new to the AWD side of things, but it's been a blast so far. The car's pushing 180k miles and needs some TLC... 7A seems to be holding out pretty well, but the body's starting to show it's age (crappy USDM bumpers). But since I have a soft spot for uncommon cars, I don't mind dropping a bit of money into it. The car was previously owned originally by an Audi mechanic up north, followed by an avid Audi enthusiast (sold it to fund his URS4 project), and then by my friend. So it's been treated well for the most part.

Good thing is the car came with a few mods, including:

2bennett Adjustable Coilovers
Koni Yellows
034 Motorsports Injector Kit
3" CAC Exhaust
Factory Tubular Exhaust Manifold
Kamei Grille
Rally Armour Mud Flaps
17" Mille Miglias that we sprayed white.

The suspension will be seeing a refresh pretty soon. One of the 2bennett coil springs broke... apparently the second time in the past 2 years according to the sales receipt. The Konis will probably be swapped out for Bilsteins, since they don't like riding any higher than at a slammed stance... not fun on some of the roads around here. And part of the rear subframe broke earlier this week. So it's parked until I can get my spare subframe cleaned up and new bushings set. 034 Motorsports will be getting a call from me this holiday season.

Anywho, looking forward to learning more and getting some things done on my Audi.

A few pics:

[Ruffiano]

Welcome, this site is a great source of info! There are quite a few of us state siders here. What are your plans for this car?

[Pace]

Thanks for the welcome. Good to see there are some active people stateside too.

Currently, plans for the car are to get it back to a healthy and more reliable status, which is looking to be more of a project in itself. Along with a worn suspension, it's having a few issues with vacuum leaks and a touchy ISV. On top of that, it has recently started showing symptoms of a heater core going bad. So if I haven't had my fill of work from fixing those things this winter, I'd like to look into a few things to make it a little more fun to drive. I wouldn't mind getting a bit more out if while staying NA... such as the 034 chip and big MAF. Small things for now until I can fix and sell my Z.

Ultimately, I wouldn't mind getting an 01E and V8 Torsen rear end. And if I can keep the boost bug at bay, some reground cams and a rebuilt top end would keep me happy. Not looking for big power. Just something to keep up with the Subies on the backroads.

Oh, and if any of our members across the pond would be willing, I wouldn't mind ditching these broken US bumpers for a pair of pretty S2 bumpers at some point.

[Mcstiff]

No sense in an 01E for the power that you'll have from mild NA mods (<200 whp) unless you really need 6th; the extra weight will make you slower.

Welcome to the fray!

[Kliminati456]

Welcome

Nice looking coupe

[speeding-g60]

USA active member checking in.

goto ebay.co.uk and look up user Audibits2. thats the cheapest guy you will get S2 bumpers from shipped to here. i have done it 3 times now....

[Pace]

No sense in an 01E for the power that you'll have from mild NA mods (<200 whp) unless you really need 6th; the extra weight will make you slower.

Welcome to the fray!

Good point to keep in mind. I don't see it being a viable option for now anyway, although the ability to upgrade to a quaife front diff would be nice. That and running lower rpms on the interstate. But for now the 5 speed is doing well.

Welcome

Nice looking coupe

Thanks!

goto ebay.co.uk and look up user Audibits2. thats the cheapest guy you will get S2 bumpers from shipped to here. i have done it 3 times now....

Awesome tip. I'll keep an eye on his listings. Thanks!

[K Simmonds]

Good point to keep in mind. I don't see it being a viable option for now anyway, although the ability to upgrade to a quaife front diff would be nice. That and running lower rpms on the interstate. But for now the 5 speed is doing well.

Welcome to the forum, nice to see another CQ being saved.

The Sixth gear is as near as makes no odds the same ratio as the Fifth gear in the Five speed box, so it won't make any difference to cruising RPM's in top gear on the interstate (motorway in the UK).

The 7A is a really good engine but not that cost effective to tune, the original Hitachi ECU being main limiting factor, by the time you've got over 200WHP out of one you'd have been better off converting to 20VT power. It's also worth considering the 10VT engines as they can be picked up for next to nothing. If your doing the work yourself then it's possible to convert a 10VT to EFI for under a grand, with a K26 they will put out 300CHP safely. A member from your side of the water has done just this, see this thread----- http://www.s2forum.com/forum/showthr...highlight=10vt


Audibits2 is indeed the guy when it comes to getting bumpers too the states, he's going to be forwarding one to member in the states for me soon, his names Mike by the way.

[Error404]

I have an 01E in my CQ20v. 1st to 5th ratios of the 01E are pretty much the same as the CQ 5spd box. (the S2 5spd is a lot longer, with 5th gear matching 6th in the 01E) so you do gain a longer cruising gear with the 6spd box, when fitting it to a CQ20v.
It does weigh about 30kg more than the 5spd box and unless you are planning to go 20vt one day or do a lot of motorway driving its not really a cost effective upgrade, once you have to buy the gearbox mounts and linkage which are rare and expensive, even more so on your side of the pond.

[Pace]

All good info, guys. Thanks for the responses. I've still got a lot to learn about these older Audis and your input is helpful.

[K Simmonds]

I have an 01E in my CQ20v. 1st to 5th ratios of the 01E are pretty much the same as the CQ 5spd box. (the S2 5spd is a lot longer, with 5th gear matching 6th in the 01E) so you do gain a longer cruising gear with the 6spd box, when fitting it to a CQ20v.
It does weigh about 30kg more than the 5spd box and unless you are planning to go 20vt one day or do a lot of motorway driving its not really a cost effective upgrade, once you have to buy the gearbox mounts and linkage which are rare and expensive, even more so on your side of the pond.

Durr, yes your quite right the CQ20V has different ratios to the 3B S2, I often forget thier not the same. As they never got the S2 states theres very little chance of finding a 3B S2 box over there.

[Wheeljack]

I've been pretty happy with my 01A 5sp in my CQ. I like the close ratios, and don't mind clipping 4K on the freeway. I still get 23+mpg. I have an 01E to go in when I opt for a larger turbo, but for my 225whp, stock gearbox is fine. There is some work involved with the swap, so it should be justified accordingly. I do not launch it often, though.

Most of the above posters from US have very informative project threads, mostly over on motorgeek, and you can learn a lot from them. Between here and there, and a couple spots in between, you'll find all the info you can handle on these old Audi's.