Grant's Audi A4 Part 1 - Background
Part 1 - Background.
Background
A few years ago our friends at FCM Motorsport were selling a cheap and beaten up Audi A4 1.8T Sport Avant. I’d just had my first child and thought I’d add another estate to the fleet and use it to mess about with as well!
For those that aren’t aware, the 1999 B5(8D) Audi A4 1.8T Sport Quattro is actually quite a rare car. There are only 183 left on the road according to http://www.howrareismycar.co.uk/
A bit about the beast:
Audi A4 Avant (estate) Facelift model with the 20V 1.8 Turbo engine mounted longitudinally. In this form they make a massive 180hp (Sarcasm intended). At best I’d say it was making 160hp! The power is transmitted to the road via a full-time 4wd system with no electronics or silly diffs to interfere. This means the transmission is strong and reliable. Also means you can do silly things like a bit of rear end out slidey slidey and driving in very tight circles (DONUTS!!!!). The suspension is typical of cars of this age with slightly over-complicated linkages front and rear – shared with the B5/B5.5 VW Passat.
Lifted from Wiki:
The Audi A4 was the first model in the Volkswagen Group to feature the new 1.8-litre 20v engine with five valves per cylinder, based on the unit Audi Sport had developed for their Supertouring race car. A turbocharged 1.8T version produced 150 PS (110 kW; 148 bhp) and 210 newton metres (155 lb⋅ft) torque. Moreover, a quattro GmbH special edition of the B5 1.8T was later available in Germany and Europe, for which the engine's power output was raised to 178 PS (131 kW; 176 bhp) and 235 newton metres (173 lb⋅ft).
At the time when it was launched the A4 was quite desirable. Over the years they haven’t aged too well, but still drive very nicely and are plain and simple mechanically and electronically.
Initially, the plan was just to test Gizzmo products on it, but after a bit, I decided it was actually slow and boring, so needed some more extensive modifications!
Come back soon to read more about our intended plan of attack!