[downinflames68]

So.. the past 6+ months have been insane. I lost my wife, my dog, my grandma, my job, had $4000 worth of stuff stolen from me, and ... I sold my SVX. Yes, the car I spent like 8 grand on fixing up. Yes, the one I proposed in. Yes, the one I thought I'd never sell. Why? A few reasons. One being rust. It was finally starting to get "bad". To fix this, and for the repaint, would have required $3500+. Secondly, I wasn't happy with my modified suspension anymore. The rear springs started to sag, which gave it a horrible stance, and the rear of the car was far too soft t be competitive. To fix this would have required Konis/Ground controls, and this would have cost $1000. Lastly, the transmission. I hate automatics, and my SVX had one. Manual transmission swaps are possible but they also cost $3500. So basically in order to get it where I wanted, I'd have to spend another $8000 on a car that I just wasn't feeling as much for, and it was approaching 200k miles. I sold it for $3500 to a nice girl who had been bitten by the SVX bug, who's husband was going to help her restore it when it had 199,000 miles.

So... on to my next love affair. I wanted something with a manual transmission. And it needed to be good for the winter (I still have my 4ws prelude, which I wrote about here for summer). I also wanted something I could tow my boat with, and something I could put my dog in, when I have her. I test drove an A6 wagon... which was just fantastic. Except it had an automatic. So I started hunting for one with a 5spd, and wound up with this:



A 1995 Audi S6 Avant (wagon). This is an EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY rare car. One of only 300 imported, the avant version demands a 2-3,000 premium over the sedans because of its rarity. This is also the reason S-cars even exist. Audi built the original S4 (or UrS4) using the Audi 100 as it's starting point. The most significant change was the engine... Audi's 20v Inline 5 cylinder Turbo engine. This engine was used in all of Audi's rally cars in the late 80s, and in race trim was capable of pumping out over 600hp. Detuned for the street, my version puts out a respectable 227hp, with 258ftlbs of torque. With just $400, I can bump up the power to ~300hp, and for around $2000, you can make upwards of 450hp, still retaining streetability and reliability. This is coupled a 5spd manual, AWD transmission.

Funny thing though. I hate audis. Everyone I've ever known who's had an audi had it break down all the freakin' time, and all sorts of weird stuff would fail on it constantly. So before I shelled out the cash, I researched the hell out of it. This one, is supposedly reliable. Due to the afformentioned rally cred, they pretty much broke everything and improved it until the powerplant evolved into something fairly bulletproof. For now, things are great. We'll see in a few years.

After my wife kicked me out, I lived in Madison for a few weeks but grew extremely depressed, as all my friends were back in Milwaukee. So... I turned into a gypsy. I lived on couches, with the S6 serving as my mobile design studio/command center. Some nights, if I couldn't find a place to stay, I'd flip down the seats, unroll my sleeping bag, and find a nice secluded park to rest in. I also took a 13 day trip into the wild, backpacking into the back country of the rocky mountains. The S6 performed amazingly well, with the turbo still kicking out those ponies even at high altitudes. I went through muddy, 4x4 only mountain passes, I crossed through small creeks, covered it in dirt on dusty, unmaintained gravel roads... and then a few hours later I'd be cooking along at 60-110mph on the mountain switchbacks, passing RV's, motorcycles, and other plebian forms of transportation. Here are a few pics from my Colorado excursion, just because they're awesome:

[downinflames68]

[finboy]

Nice car. I've always been big on rare ones.

Between your tribulations and mine, it reminds me of the Fountains of Wayne song " '92 Subaru."

[Phileas]

Fine car. I love the old Audi wagons. Can't stand the new ones with these idiotic fairy lights in the headlamps.

[Paco500]

Interesting- I just bought one of these (not this exact one mind, just the same year/colour)



After about a month of ownership, I love it. The suspension is adjustable, so it's not always at that high a stance. It's a fantastic motorway car, tows the horse trailer without hesitation and it quite roomy for the family. It's not quite as much fun on the twisty roads as the BMW it replaced, but all in all, I'm quite happy.

And I never liked Audi's either.

EDIT:

OMG!!!! I can't believe I did that. Drives me nuts as well. I hang my head in shame.

[Phileas]

I am sorry, but I've got to ask: Audi's what?

[richwig83]

NIce car.... may i point you in the direction of uk-audis. I know its UK based but im sure the guys would be interested to see your sweet ride!!

[downinflames68]

Originally Posted by Paco500 

Interesting- I just bought one of these (not this exact one mind, just the same year/colour)



After about a month of ownership, I love it. The suspension is adjustable, so it's not always at that high a stance. It's a fantastic motorway car, tows the horse trailer without hesitation and it quite roomy for the family. It's not quite as much fun on the twisty roads as the BMW it replaced, but all in all, I'm quite happy.

And I never liked Audi's either.

Eh.... I've never seen an adjustable suspension from ANY marque that was very reliable. Unfortunately, as nice as it is right now, I am going to suggest you start saving for the obnoxiously high cost of replacement parts. Also, that car is based on the A6 avant, which means that to work on the engine, you basically have to remove the front fenders and front bumper fascia. All in all it represents what I can't stand about more modern audis: Impossible to work on, with extremely high cost replacement parts.

Hopefully you have good luck with it though.. but you're far braver than I am.

[moep]

Its always odd for me to see people swoon over 10+ year old german cars in various american forums.
I can’t actually explain why (well, not without unintentionally offending the owners of said vehicles) — let’s just say those cars have a vastly different reputation over here.

That S6 looks pretty decent though. At least it’s no E36 or similar.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

Eh.... I've never seen an adjustable suspension from ANY marque that was very reliable. Unfortunately, as nice as it is right now, I am going to suggest you start saving for the obnoxiously high cost of replacement parts.

Umm, Rob... Audis might be imports over there but they're domestic here. Parts just ain't that expensive.

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

Also, that car is based on the A6 avant, which means that to work on the engine, you basically have to remove the front fenders and front bumper fascia.

It's actually illegal to work on your own car here now anyway.

[downinflames68]

Originally Posted by moep 

Its always odd for me to see people swoon over 10+ year old german cars in various american forums.
I can’t actually explain why (well, not without unintentionally offending the owners of said vehicles) — let’s just say those cars have a vastly different reputation over here.

That S6 looks pretty decent though. At least it’s no E36 or similar.

Dude, this isn't JUST a 10+ year old car. It's a one of 300 performance estate car. That is why it's cool. It's also easy to work on, supposedly reliable, and with not a lot of scratch, can decimate most things on the road. The upper limits are pretty insane. Watch this:

YouTube - Audi RS2 crazy acceleration

That's the same drivetrain that's in my car... with a slightly bigger turbo, bigger injectors, and different ECU. For under $2500 I can make this the same way.

[downinflames68]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

Umm, Rob... Audis might be imports over there but they're domestic here. Parts just ain't that expensive.

This might be true, but that thing has adjustable suspension. Lincolns had that. It cost a **** ton to fix. Subaru XTs had that. It also cost a **** ton to fix. I have never heard of a car with adjustable suspension that didn't cost a **** ton to fix.

It's actually illegal to work on your own car here now anyway.

What?

[Paco500]

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

Eh.... I've never seen an adjustable suspension from ANY marque that was very reliable.

The system was just replaced when I bought it- cost of £400. I've got a 1 year warranty on the repair and hopefully it will last.

I fully expect the car to cost me more than the BMW did, but I like it an awful lot.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

This might be true, but that thing has adjustable suspension. Lincolns had that. It cost a **** ton to fix. Subaru XTs had that. It also cost a **** ton to fix. I have never heard of a car with adjustable suspension that didn't cost a **** ton to fix.

Originally Posted by Paco500 

The system was just replaced when I bought it- cost of £400. I've got a 1 year warranty on the repair and hopefully it will last.

See Rob? Cheap. A set of tyres for my "import" costs £400.

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

What?

Yep. 2006 EU directive. Also stops us doing our own wiring and plumbing in our houses.

[sek929]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

Yep. 2006 EU directive. Also stops us doing our own wiring and plumbing in our houses.

Unlicensed people shouldn't be doing their own wiring anyways. Plumbing is a little easier, you screw up and you've got water in your house, you screw up wiring and you don't have a house, or anybody in it.

[downinflames68]

Sek, I feel the opposite. I find housewiring really really really easy. >shrug<

[sek929]

It's not supposed to be difficult, it's a matter of liability when something goes wrong. A licensed contractor has coverage for that, joe schmoe doesn't. Like I said an amatuer carpenter can put up crappy trim, a lousy plumber can cause leaks, a bad wiring job can destroy property and kill/maim people.

Home wiring isn't a hobby.

[seanc]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

Yep. 2006 EU directive. Also stops us doing our own wiring and plumbing in our houses.

Really?? Either I wasn't paying attention, or... Surely as long as it passes an MOT, it's OK.

I bought a 2000 Honda Civic, back in April of this year.

Honda parts, are expensive. £160 for an ignition control module... (shipped from Japan, but still) £300 for a distributor. I can only assume this was the local garage putting a massive mark-up on the parts, or Honda UK is just crazy.
Needless to say, it's running (like absolute ****) on a distributor salvaged from the local scrap yard, but at least I can drive it now.

Getting another car at the end of this week, I don't know whether to sell this, or to store it and work on it myself and try to restore it to it's former glory.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by seanc 

Really?? Either I wasn't paying attention, or... Surely as long as it passes an MOT, it's OK.

I don't think anyone's enforcing it until such a time as you have a smash. At which point your insurance tells you to go jump and if anyone got hurt, you're off to prison.

[seanc]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

I don't think anyone's enforcing it until such a time as you have a smash. At which point your insurance tells you to go jump and if anyone got hurt, you're off to prison.

How are they going to prove that I did work on it, or that it was a factor in the accident? E.g. if I changed something like for like? You can't be telling me that I can't service my own car with new spark plugs, filters etc.

[richwig83]

You can work on your own car in the UK... there is no legislation to say otherwise!

[imitchellg5]

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha have fun with that thing.

Sorry, I work at the Audi dealer here (sometimes) and that generation of A6 is a pain in the butt. As is the next gen. I don't recommend taking it off-road at all. You'll get a ton of rattles in the rear boot area.

Edit: I should mention though that I still love that generation. It's much better than that era of Mercedes boats.

[downinflames68]

Originally Posted by imitchellg5 

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha have fun with that thing.

Sorry, I work at the Audi dealer here (sometimes) and that generation of A6 is a pain in the butt. As is the next gen. I don't recommend taking it off-road at all. You'll get a ton of rattles in the rear boot area.

Edit: I should mention though that I still love that generation. It's much better than that era of Mercedes boats.

Compared to the next gen, the C4 chassis is really crude, simple, and easy to work on. I've spoken to many Audi techs who claim the engine in the S4/S6 is the BEST powerplant that Audi has ever made, which is why even though they work on 65k+ cars, they drive UrS4/S6s. And yeah, the rattles in the rear hatch area are fairly retarded, which is why I removed all my trim back there. Where people sit it's still nice, but back there it's all raw metal.

[imitchellg5]

Good call on removing the metal. I forgot that the S6 is the 5-cylinder, not the 2.8 6. That is a very good motor.

I see two S6 sedans in the service bays sometimes, one's white and the other's black. I've never seen an estate in person, and never one in your color. Is the interior black or beige? Hard to tell from the pics. I always see a ton of 2.8s with "S" badging, which annoys me greatly.

[downinflames68]

Hence why I mentioned the whole "rally bred inline 5 turbo engine" in my original post. :|

Yeah, there were ~ 3500 UrS4/S6's produced from 1992-1996, but only 300 of the wagons, which were all S6s, and all 1995s. Mine is emerald green with an ecru (beige) interior.

I actually test drove a regular A6 with the 2.8 that was for sale for only $1500. It was a really well put together car, but really slow. I wanted one with a 5spd... but.. the only way to get a 5spd Wagon was to get the S6. Oh darn.

I have a lot of plans for this car, I already have some H&Rs/Bilsteins sitting in the garage for this spring, and I'm also going got chip it to stage 2 for now, then start saving for something that will make the RS2 seem tame. I want 400hp in my wagon.

[richwig83]

For Stage 2 youll need a turbo back exhaust at least and preferably so sort of induction kit!

[downinflames68]

Nope. Stage II (chip + vmap) works fine with stock exhaust, and the stock intake is fine for up to over 450hp, so.... really no need to change that. Stage II costs about $600 but makes about 300hp.

[richwig83]

That is contrary to every tuners advice ive ever come across (VAG engines)!.... still 300brake will be nice either way! :-)

[downinflames68]

Yeah, but I hear the stock exhaust on the S6 flows pretty dang good. Once I go for a bigger turbo, yeah, but... 300hp should be no biggie.

[olePigeon]

Looks like a Subaru to me.

[richwig83]

Originally Posted by downinflames68 

Yeah, but I hear the stock exhaust on the S6 flows pretty dang good. Once I go for a bigger turbo, yeah, but... 300hp should be no biggie.

Bigger turbo would usually require a custom map anyway!