Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
I love this car so much that I want to bust through that fake brick wall like the Kool-Aid Man. This car being a 1995 Audi RS2 Avant in what looks like Ragusa Green Metallic. Outside of the legendary RS Blue Pearl, this is my favorite color on the RS2 because it is very clearly green, but at night and in shadows can pass as black. All that is great, but I’m afraid the RS2 train is only gaining speed and I’m not going to be able to catch it.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the VAG 1.8 liter turbocharged motor was the go-to motor for the company in the late 90s and early 00s. It appeared nearly everywhere in the U.S.; the Golf, Jetta, GTI, GLI, Passat, Beetle, Audi A4, and Audi TT all received the forced-induction unit. And that was just in the U.S.; go to Europe, and you’d find many more models (the A6 and Sharan) and even other companies (VAG’s Skoda and SEAT) with the venerable motor. They were used in race series like Formula Palmer as well. You’d also be forgiven for thinking they were all the same – however, a pause for thought would tell you they couldn’t be. First off, there were the drive train configurations; the Golf-based variants have their engines mounted transversely, while the Audi A4-based cars have them longitudinally. Then there is the output that was available from the factory; the 1.8T started with 150 horsepower in the early 1990s and ended with 240 horsepower in the highest output TT Sport. The natural assumption would be to think they had just turned up the boost, but in fact there were a host of changes to the higher horsepower motors to help sustain the increased pressure.
There are, in fact, no less than 13 distinct versions of the 1.8T from that generation. All shared the same basic structure; cast iron block, 20 valve head with a single turbocharger; but details including injection, crank, computers and engine management and breather systems vary in between each of the models. The Audi TT was the only one to offer various engine outputs here; available in either 180 horsepower or 225 horsepower versions, the later of which was pared with a 6-speed manual and Haldex viscous-coupling all-wheel drive. Though heavy, they were nonetheless sprightly thanks to the turbocharged mill. I’ve said for some time now that I think these will eventually be more collectable as they were an important part of the development of the company, yet few remain in good shape. Were I going to get one, I’d opt for one of the 2002 special edition coupes; the ALMS edition, launched to celebrate the American Le Mans Series victory by Audi’s R8 race car. Available in two colors, Misano Red with extended Silver Nappa leather or Avus Silver Pearl with Brilliant Red Nappa leather, they were mostly an appearance package but also received special 18″ ‘Celebration’ alloys and were limited to 500 examples each:
I’m always curious as to what the right-hand drive “discount” is. The reality is that unless you live in one of the 75 countries (I bet that is more than you thought) that utilizes right-hand drive vehicles, owning one is a real value killer. I know this first hand as I have a right-hand drive vehicle in my small collection and while it is fun driving it, I know that compared to an identical left-hand drive example, the value is less. I think that even holds true on some of the more desirable models and that seems to be the case with today’s car.
This 2001 Audi RS4 Avant up for sale in London is one of the 500 or so produced in right-hand drive specification. To be honest, unless you live in the UK, Japan, South Africa, Australia, or New Zealand, owning this doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. (Those 70 or so countries are not places you’d want to own an RS4 Avant.) However, this is a right-hand-drive car in a right-hand-drive country. Why is it so much less expensive?
Recently I looked at a 1987 Audi 5000CS quattro Avant project that I hoped someone would save. It ended up trading hands just under $2,000 – not bad, considering at least 1/2 that price was worth it for the wheels alone.
Today we’ve got the other side of the coin – a running, driving 5000CS quattro Avant. The color isn’t as exciting, but at this point in my life “no project” beats “yes project” on the ballot almost every time. The thing is, pretty much every old Audi is a project in some form. Is this one worth taking on?
Why would anyone even contemplate paying over $70,000 for a 27-year-old, complicated, and turbocharged Audi wagon? Because of the badge that adorns the front – the magical ‘Renn’ added to the S2 badge, along with the legendary name Porsche scripted below. That meant that this relatively unassuming Audi 80 quattro Avant had been produced in Zuffenhausen on the 959 production line rather than Ingolstadt or Neckarsulm and had added a healthy dose of even more “Sport†to the small chassis. Ostensibly, though the Sport Quattro was the first RS vehicle, the RS2 was the first to wear the badge which has become synonymous with Audi’s speed department. For many Audi aficionados, though the RS vehicles have become much faster and more luxurious, just as the with W124 500E and the E30 M3 Audi has never made a car better in its overall execution than the original. Not that it was slow by any means; Porsche’s massaging of the ADU inline-5 resulted in 311 horsepower – even more than the Sport Quattro had from essentially a very similar motor.
So despite being much heavier than the Sport had been, the RS2 wasn’t much slower; sub-5 seconds to 60 and a top speed north of 160 mph. Along the way, it was capable of bullying everything outside of a supercar; yet this car also established the move from Audi’s 2-door halo vehicle to a long line of fast five doors. Porsche also upgraded the brakes and wheels with Brembo units and 17″ Cup wheels creating a signature look, and tacked on 911 mirrors for good measure.This car was legendary from the start, and the upgrades to the motors and wheels spawned an entire generation of enthusiasts to turn up their inline-5s stateside. Now that these cars are legal for importation, though, it’s possible to find the forbidden fruit already imported:
