Porsche (and Tom Cruise in Risky Business) proudly tout that “there is no substitute” for their cars. In my opinion, they probably aren’t all that wrong. If…
1 CommentMonth: July 2017
I am a fan of the RS America. I feel like I need to say this because I know sometimes the car is criticized for…
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The Audi S8. Still, this car ranks as one of my favorite automotive designs from the company, from the 1990s and 2000s – heck, maybe even overall. While I’m not a huge sedan fan in general, there was just something so right about the proportions and presence of the D2 S8. Did it help that it was in a movie I also loved? Sure, without a doubt. But even without that aspect I think this car, and specifically the 2003 model year, are my favorite U.S. bound Audi.
I especially like the 2003 model year because of the limited Audi Exclusive package. Special colors and interiors were fit to the car, along with updated “RS” design wheels. Limited to only 100 copies each. my favorite for the past decade and a half has been the Avus Silver Pearl with Burgundy interior and I think I’ve pointed that out…well, more than a few times. However, at nearly 15 years old, these cars are far from new and we’re deep into a territory were plenty of neglected examples are coming to market. As a result, rather than just find one in the color you want, with the D2 S8 in today’s market condition and history needs to trump other considerations like location and color.
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2003 Audi S8 on eBay
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Yesterday we presented a very nice 993 twin-turbo and in that post I spoke of my conflicting desires between those beautiful 993s and the original Turbo, the 930. So let’s turn our attention to the 930 as this presents us a nice opportunity for comparison. This triple Black 1987 Porsche 911 Turbo Coupe is offered by the same seller as the 993, which means the condition of the car is good and the price sits on the more reasonable side when factoring in condition and mileage. As we’ve discussed quite a bit on these pages the 930 market definitely has moved downward for all but the best cars, but the desirability of the model itself remains strong. There are a lot of them out there with sub-$100K price tags so it takes very low miles or rare colors/options to really attract notice. I do think that makes this the tougher sell of the two cars, but for someone like me, whose heart remains strongly tied to these iconic ’80s Turbos, that allure might be too strong to overcome, tempting us toward the dark side.
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Like the 1984 Audi 4000S quattro, the 1984 Audi Coupe GT was a bit of an odd bird in the U.S. market. The GT was a light revision of the earlier Coupe; the major difference that was noticeable immediately was the Quattro-inspired 14″ Ronal R8 wheel design and raised spoiler shared with its bigger brother. Coupled with the deep chin spoiler and 4-quad headlight design, the Coupe GT introduced in mid-1983 looked like a fitting tribute to the turbocharged halo model.
Power now came from a 2.1 liter inline-5 (code WE) which cranked out 100 horsepower. Matching its European “5S” counterpart, the U.S. spec GT got an overdrive 5-speed manual with a 4.90 final drive; it helped economy slightly, though the slab front end certainly didn’t. But the new close(r) ratio box over the early economy-minded 5 speed helped acceleration little. Despite the lightweight 2,500 lb curbweight, Audi claimed the GT could hit 60 in a little over 10 seconds and it was out of fizz at about 109 mph. Despite this rather tame performance for a ‘Grand Tourer’, the GT’s numbers were on par with the GTI and better than the Scirocco. Plus, the longitudinal engine layout with equal length driveshafts coupled with a longer wheel base made them quite fun to drive.
But what was really unique about these cars was that they were an intermediary; the end of the Type 81 Coupes before the Type 85 Coupe GTs launched with heavy revision and more power (along with bigger brakes) for 1985. So while the later Coupes were basically a front-drive quattro, the 83-84 Coupe GT was like a 5-cylinder powered VW in some ways. They retained the smaller 4×100 mm bolt circle on the hubs with 239mm (9.4″) front disc brakes and rear drums, which is a blessing for wheel and brake upgrades should you want to go that route.
But on an example like this ’84, I hope someone keeps it stock!