From: eliot@engr.washington.edu (Brutus Thornapple)
Subject: Audi 100 quattro V6
Organization: University of Washington
Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 08:47:52 GMT


Stopped by the dealer this evening to take a quick peek at the new 100Q.
Here's what I found out:

- they had 3, all in "CS" (highly loaded) trim, with the one touch sunroof,
  climate control etc.  I'm told that 100Q's only come in CS trim.  There
  will not be a base model, neither will there be an intermediate "S" model.

- Surprise, surprise.  All 3 were automatics!  I will certainly be interested
  in finding out how the center differential locking is done.

- They came in very stylish looking multi spoke wheels that look wider than
  those on the regular 100's.  But the rubber is the same 195/65 HR15 all
  season "comfort" Goodyear GA's.  Some what of a cop out if you ask me.

- The much criticised (by the Europeans, the US press don't seem to mind) 
  Servotronic variable assisted steering is standard.  On the fwd 100's one
  could escape the Servotronic by opting for the base and "S" models.

- The worst news is the price.  Starts off at $36K, then they nickle and
  dime you to death.. $1700 for leather (all 3 had them), an outrageous
  $935 for pearl white paint (dealer invoice is only $150), $400+ for
  the metallic black (!!)  $800+ for slush and it finishes off at 40 plus
  big ones!!! Yikes!!  Add another grand for luxury tax, then add sales
  tax on top of that.  I guess they are moving upmarket in what they
  consider to be a specialty car.  Granted discounts are possible but
  since supply is going to be limited, they may not be too negotiable
  at the current time.  To put things into perspective, a better equipped
  and more powerful Audi V8 could be gotten new for less than that 18 months
  ago.  And used V8s with few miles could be gotten for less than $30K.
  It is going to be a hard sell, to say the least.

- The S4 is coming for sure.  Sticker will be $47K.  Even if this car
  costs more, it does seem like better value for money since it has
  colossal performance.  The 100Q with slush and all that luxo crap
  will be happy to break the 10 second barrier.  S4s will be very, very
  rare.

- Audi 100 sales have picked up dramatically recently, at least as far as
  this dealership is concerned.  3 V8s sitting in the lot for months were 
  suddenly snapped up.  Corrado VR6s are also doing very well. Perhaps we're 
  starting to see the end of consumer nervousness?

- The Golf Mk 3 and Jetta 3 will be here in the fall.  The Jetta will have
  the VR6 model but the Golf VR6 will come later if at all.


Commentry:

Seems like the marketing branch has prevailed in Audi of America.
They must have identified their target customer well and went to great
lengths to cater to him (I'll bet that their guy is a male making
$80-150K in his mid 40's).  That would explain the somewhat wimpy
comfort tires, the one-finger-at-parking-speeds steering, the
automatic transmission and the tons upon tons of gizmos.  I did not
drive it, but I can't imagine it to have anything more than adequate
performance. I am somewhat disappointed at how the new 100Q has turned
out.  It will probably be judged to be "better" than the 200Q and
5000CSQ [1] that it replaces, but in the process of becoming "better"
it has lost some of its German character.  (I did drive the fwd 100
when it was launched)

Perhaps I'm being too idealistic and Audi is simply fighting for
survival.  In that case, it's better to have a compromised 100 quattro
than to not have any Audi at all.  At least they will be offering the
highly desirable S4 for the fortunate few fanatics, even if at its
$47K asking price it will probably not be a money maker.  That car, by
all accounts is still largely traditional, no compromise Audi...

That's all folks..


eliot


[1] Perhaps I should be comparing the 100Q to the non turbo 2.2 100/5000Q's,
    but at $40K it seems fair to compare it with the turbo models.