Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

£20 and away ..
Now most garages you would be in for 20 x that for the diagnostics.
I envy your spanner skills , you must be getting towards the last generation of folk that can fix rather than replace .
And then electric will come ....

924s are inline 4, most of these 1000bhp+ Audi’s are 5cyl turbos, looks like it’s based on the 2.5TDI block from T4 etc then converted to take the 20v head and forged internals etc

Was more about van engines going in to performance cars.

Guess this is the last bastion of the Internal Combustion Engine.

Electric still 100mph off over a Quarter Mile using over 10,000hp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDjxZgi5VXU

Well I honestly never thought any of the mundane nth hand cars I have owned
would ever add anything to this discussion,
but,
I owned a 'G'-reg Audi 100 Avant with the i5 2.3L engine,
134hp of smooth easy power,
purchased to easily transport 4 adults plus child in child seat
plus all the 'stuff' you need when you have a first child.

This US-focussed wiki suggest the 2.3 and the i5 2.2 could easily,
(turbo & 20v head) could get to 217hp.

The same i5 engine in the 2.2 R5 20vT 232kW (RS2) version gave 311hp
in the RS2 Avant

I still have plans for an I5, it's just not an Audi one. And it needs to wait until I've got a garage and workshop of my own.

Six hours work, probably about £50ph back then :)

Probably, I used to make my apprentices diagnose some jobs with just a volt meter and scope rather than rely on diagnostics, many cars are replacement components only, labour rates alone have ruled out the cost efficiency of repairing somethings these days.
I was Level Four Hybrid trained for High Voltage component diagnostics and working on high voltage batteries, it is the way forward at least until they can sort hydrogen fuel cells.
Left for TFL last year fixing trains, bigger bolts and volts :D

1,100 sounds like, how can I put this, a lot. Now, don't get me wrong - 1,500 horsepower can be had from very small capacities and a modest number of cylinders, but they only have to run for ~6 seconds at a time, typically.

It was more that in your first comment you sounded unconvinced that they could get there, then softened and said that they only had to run for 6 seconds. My point was that there are a lot of small capacity, big turbo cars running around, and unless everyone is embellishing, a lot that are fairly well used without having to rebuild after every 6 second pass. Cost isn't a issue to building suff like this and from what I've seen, a lot of the big power Scandinavian cars seem to be built by talented home-garage builders.

As you say, maybe postie made a fortune and his job keeps him out of the house. Maybe he saved up for a decent chunk of his life to buy one and got something someone else had blown a small countries operating budget on. Maybe he did all the engineering in a single garage with ebay parts on a limited budget. Maybe he managed to fudge the numbers for a one-off peak output on a dyno. Any route, Audi 5 pots are out there with that kind of power.

Ok sure, and what about dynos?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5jUK1EkX_M

Last night I filled up with 98 for less than 95c a litre, crazy... What's the price of petrol gone down to in the motherland?

Not sure what it is back in the UK but its been as low as 74c here in Toronto. (*Edited to note that was for the regular petrol. Not sure what premium got down to.)

Would have been a perfect time to own something with a big V8...

I know right, so sad that I got excited filling up v-power for under a dollar.

I know right, put 100+ in the rally car last night at NPD for $1.80 which is the lowest I’ve seen it so far

I'm using the car extremely infrequently at the moment - I've not filled it up since a couple of weeks before lockdown, and it does 12 mpg if that's a decent indication.

Which means I'm a bit concerned about the battery - this looks handy, but is it, in fact, any good?

Anyone used one?

I use ctek battery / trickle charger and they are the best in the business. So they know their way around batteries.

£1.02/l of 95, £1.09 for 98.

Interestingly, not all garages have crashed prices, lots of places still at £1.19/l for 95.

The wireless charge indicator thing is £48 on Amazon, a charging lead with traffic-light style indicators is £6.79. I bought the charging lead, and will work out how to make the (waterproof) LED indicator/connector visible without opening the bonnet.

Now am unsure if this is coming across as confrontational, it isn't I'm trying to discuss the point but would like to know how much you know so I don't come across as condescending.

Far, far more than you Lynx

My friend put a m135i engine in to an E36 but it was for drifting. Unreal.

I love E30/E34's

So, no value for your time and expertise ;)

You taught your apprentices well. Very very few I have come across are like that. They seem to be change the bit the computer says and no worries as the customer pays. Reminds of a few cars I have bought that had lots of parts changed and still didn't work. Mind you I have spent hours and get a real sense of accomplishment when I fix it.

I'm just not sure what "the point" is?

I've worked on a basic rolling road when I worked at a small kit car manufacturer a while back, so I know a reasonable amount about Dyno/RR foibles and pub figures if that's what you're getting at.

Engaging with @lynx is like repeatedly hitting yourself in the plums in the hope that one day it won't hurt so much. Pointless and painful. That ignore button is your friend.