Tell me about: 1991 Audi 90

[superchevy]

189k miles
Driver Air Bag
Cruise Control
Compact Disc Player
Passenger Air Bag
Rear Window Defroster
Power Seats
Leather Seats
Power Door Locks
Power Mirrors
Power Windows
Power Steering
Sunroof/Moonroof

so i randomly came across this car ad, and the $800obo asking price caught my attention. i don't know anything about the cars, and did a little research. it seems to be a more than fair asking price compared to ebay listings ($1000+). do you agree?

wikipedia tells me that it is a b4 generation ('91-'94) and that the 2.8e v6 with 172 hp was the only engine available in north american versions.

the seller listed the car as having an automatic transmission, and wiki says that north american automatics were all rwd. so no quattro.

i searched the internet for some possible performance upgrades, but i couldn't find anything for the 2.8 v6 sedan models. everything seemed to be for the inline-5 engines, 20v quattro, and coupes. how different is the 20v quattro models from this version? could i use the some suspension and engine parts from the 20v quattro bin?

do y'all have any insights on the car? do you or have you owned one? where might i find some performance upgrades? positives and negatives about this particular model? and anything else you'd like to add?

 

[avanti]

I'm pretty sure the one in the picture is a B3.

 

[Adunaphel]

Audi 90 automatically means the 5-cyl variant of the B3 and B2 Audi 80, with either FWD or Quattro AWD, Audi NEVER built RWD cars. There are 10v (133ps) and 20v (170ps) versions of this car, with the 10v version by far the most common. The B4 Audi 80 dropped the 90 designation for the 5-cyl versions and meant the addition of 6-cyl engines. The cars are pretty easy to get a 5-cyl turbo engine from an (R)S2 into, as it's basically the same chassis as the B4 Audi 80 and the Audi Coupe. Dunno about Quattro tho, most pre-90s Audis had different bodies and sometimes even wheelbases for their Quattro counterparts.

I have quite some experience in B2 and B3 Audi 90 and C3 and C4 Audi 100s with 5 and 6-cyl engines (my parents drove lots of Audis for a while). I really love the sound of the 5-cyl engines, but the 6-cyls run a lot more smoothly and are (at least the 2.8l) quite a lot more potent than the 5-cyl versions (only drove 10v versions). They are good cars to drive, pretty comfortable suspension setup, especially considering it's a German car. Rear space is not something B3 and B4 Audis are well known for (they're mostly known for their lack thereof).
Audis are not know for body problems, nor are the 5-cyl engines know to have lots of problems, for the rest i don't really know what you should really check in these cars, but the interwebs are bound to know more.

 

[superchevy]

thanks for the info! you have me confused with the engine thing though. wiki could obviously be wrong, but it says that the u.s. spec is a 2.8e v6 and not a 5 cylinder. then again, the seller lists the engine as a 4-cylinder. again, wiki says only the 2.8e v6 was sold here. i emailed the seller, so hopefuly he/she can clear it up. eitherway, if this car is fwd, i'll probably pass on it.

 

[thedguy]

In the US the 5 cylinder was the only option that year. I've seen (on the net anyway) a few S2/RS2 engine conversions in these. The V6 came later, and the 20v will have a badge, and aren't particularly common. If it's a 20v 90 though, it'll have quattro and only available with a manual.

If you want to know exactly what engine options were available in the US on a car, check http://www.fueleconomy.gov/ thats the EPA's website. If it's not on that list, it wasn't sold in the US, not legally or from a dealer anyway.

As far as mods go, the only thing I can remember looking into was a cheap way to build a fairly strong 20v turbo engine was to use the cylinder head from the 20v 90/coupe and use one of 2 of the many versions of the older 10v I-5. I believe it was called the "NG" block. It would yield a 7:1 or 7.7:1 compression, and quite a few things would have to be custom. Audi's naturally aspirated engines seem to be over looked since they have so many turbo motors.

www.motorgeek.com is where you'll find plenty of info from American owners of pre-96 audi's.

Just remember, there is an old joke with Tow truck drivers, "if you see an Audi, follow it, it's guaranteed money." Or something like that.

Lastly, don't trust wikipedia on car info, the people who put the car articles in there aren't enthusiasts and can't be bothered to put effort into research.

 

[superchevy]

that fueleconomy.gov sight is nice! i've never seen/heard of it before, but it's pretty useful.

unless the seller emails me back that the car actually has the quattro, which i doubt will happen, i'm gonna pass on this. i can't stand fwd cars.

 

[Spectre]

The transaxles on the Audis of this generation are pretty weak and are prone to hard part failure (read: $$$$$$$$$$$$$) at high mileage.