How many barns ARE there???!

[Flying Frank]

So when did you buy your first Audi ?

[Hanuman]

Ah. 1992ish

[John.]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Barn-find-...ee2&rmvSB=true

Something for your UR Craig.......just sprinkle on the suspect sensor(s)?!

[geneandbolly]

sprinkle on the whole damned thing, medz!!

[b2_sport]

pre facelift audi 80 sport.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-80-SP...item339ac69bab

[msh]

Originally Posted by The Real MSH!

I'm probably being a little unfair, but I shall remain stoically unapologetic.
The (ur) quattro package was great, and changed then in only minor, insignificant ways for a fair while.
It combined a successful approach to 4wd transmission, turbo charging, and not a lot else.
Power output was good, but not great. Comfort was good, but not great. And most of the components were in fact common and to be found in the entire range. Not unlike Ford, and and many others.

Meanwhile, EFi was gaining popularity (but took a while to join in at Audi)
Multi link suspension was being developed after having been around for a while.

They have in the past had a tendency to rest on their laurels. Not undeservedly, but I still think the legend is much greater than the reality.

I agree to you about the last sentence. As for the rest:

Is it so bad that rest of range gets beefed up components and they are common? Would you prefer if turbo engines would be rare, with different engine blocks and different internals, making swaps, upgrades and repairs harder?

EFI was gaining popularity - but what's there worth mentioning? The main strenght of the EFI is what can be felt today - that it has been adapted by everyone - and so widespread, with lots of used parts and new parts are rather cheap, because manufactured by everyone. Back in the eighties K-jet was used by bunch of manufacturers - mercedes, porsche, ferrari etc. EFI potential of slightly more power often wasn't used, especially because a lot of engines used MAF with spring loaded flap which in it's working principle is a lot like K-jet, restricting flow. Emissions and economy for KE-jet vs EFI is about the same, meanwhile KE-jet has way better limp home mode - try running EFI with ECU fuse removed Ah, and EFI was gaining popularity among cheap car manufacturers, again, due to economies of scale - the rest simply jumped in in bandwagon at the end of eighties - audi just kept manufacturing existing engines until there was good reason to replacing them with something more modern.

As for suspension, it's a shame that audi didn't used double wishbone suspension, and it's great that multi link suspension came that late. There's a good reason why B4's and C4, especially A6, still are very popular over here - because they have durable suspension, which is durable even if cheap parts are replaced as needed, instead of changing everything for new high quality parts. And if you think that MacPhearson struts are outdated, take a look what mainstream manufacturers are still manufacturing. I actually laughed when I found out that Opel Insignia, so apparently modern car, still uses the same suspension setup that could be found on 1985 Ascona

[Flying Frank]

Originally Posted by b2_sport

pre facelift audi 80 sport.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AUDI-80-SP...item339ac69bab

It's mine and it WAS in a barn for 21 years, sadly not a nice dry barn but perhaps something more resembling a leaky tin shed. You can see from responses to questions just how much work will be required, I've already spent many hours doing the simpler things that one takes for granted when buying a car....like opening the doors, locks that work, electrics that work etc etc. Main graft needs ( in my case at least) to be left to the professionals. When I got the quote, it was outside my limits for doing up an older car, so I stuck it back on eBay. I don't think it will make the reserve, so I may just have to bite the bullet and "dig deep".......