Who knew Pat Goss had an Audi 4000? Hang in there Retro fans! We're preparing to live stream a few super early seasons of MotorWeek marathon style in their entirety. Who's ready for that?!? Episode 218. Original airdate: 03/15/1983
"The 4000 isn't exactly light -- 2,400 pounds..." Boy, those were the days. Fast-forward to 2020 and the successor A4 has picked up 1,100 more pounds along the way -- and is still considered a "lightweight" car by today's standards.
Even despite the weight gain they've managed to exponentially improve acceleration. A 12.5 second 0-60 time would be considered dangerously slow in today's high-performance world.
aint that the truth! Cars today are HEAVY. I thought growing up in the 80's with all this new tech "space age" alloys, compoite materials / carbon fiber...…….that cars in 2020 would weigh like 1500 lbs and be able to keep up with traffic and be FUN to drive (due to the LIGHT weight) on only a 100 BHP electric drive motor!
My first new car was a 1986 4000S. By then they had added a third gauge, a power sunroof, and refreshed the overall design a bit, plus the engine displacement had been increased to 1.8l. That damned upshift light, though, always came on in fifth gear! The Brazil Brown interior was one of the most beautiful colors I’ve ever seen.
I had a 4000 5+5. (5 cylinder + 5 speed) The cloth interior held up very well. The video shows a lot of body movement during maneuvers. Cars have really improved.
Never understood why people call a manual, 5 speed. Autos have different 'speeds' too. How would you refer to a vehicle with a 5 speed manual or 5 speed auto? I believe the Ram truck used to come with either or.
I bought a 1982 4000s when I was in college used for $1600 in 1995. The car got great MPG and was quite fun to drive but man did it nickel and dime me for a lot of little things. I paid so little for it I didn't mind too much but new would have been upset given all the little issues I had with the car. Yes, it was easy to work on so given the engine design so that helped. Lot's of electrical gremlins and from what I hear from current German car owners that hasn't changed much at all. Very solid and safe feeling to the car though.
@@76TomD That's incorrect Tom. The VW Quantum was the VW Passat in the rest of the world, and was built on the same B2 platform as the Audi 80 (or 4000 in NA) The Fox however was the Brazilian built version of the Gol, which used VWs sub compact PQ24 platform, which in that generation had no corresponding Audi equivalent. The Audi 100 (5000 in NA) in this generation, was built on VWs C3 platform, which at the time, had no VW variant.
@@macgto The C3 was the redesigned (streamlined body) 5000 new for 1984 in the US. 1983 was the last year for the C2 5000 in the US. I had two of them and one C3
These were made for TV, meaning the source material is 29.9fps (or fields per second if you want to be a real nerd about it). In any case 60fps does nothing here, it's just uploading a good quality version with little compression that matters.
I’ve been waiting for this retro review for ever, as my first car was an Audi 4000. But mine was a 1980 model with a 4 speed and round headrests with 70s scirocco wheels. I loved that car, even tho it broke all the time. Being a senior in high school my part time job didn’t actually help much with paying for repairs, so it sat most of the time. We used to do our own motorweek road tests with it on the deserted back roads near our house. 0-60s, braking tests and slalom testing....dam we had fun!!! Now please post the 85+ 4000 tests too and c2 5000 models if u have them.
My first car was an 84 model, and I loved it! Very roomy for its size and had great fuel economy. Not the fastest, but fun to drive. Did not have any major problems until around 2007, then was killed by electronics (repairs being more expensive than the car). I still miss it.
I always liked these Audis, the shape was tidy and clean, with more than a hint of Scirocco on the front fenders. The dash and cabin is so period VW, I love it. Direct and to the point, if not a little austere. I was surprised by the manual winding sunroof...I might expect that in lesser Passats/Quantums of the era, but by this time the VW group was clearly trying to push the Audi brand upmarket. Many Japanese cars had power everything by this time (Maxima/Cressida/some Mitsubishis come to mind). Speaking of the Quantum, not sure if they had the same engines but they were an even more baffling mix of luxury - basically a decontented Audi 4000, and yet this was the premier VW branded car. It has to be said that this Audi 4000 would have looked pretty boxy next to the rounded 5000 hitting showroom floors around that time. We take 0-60 mph times of 8 seconds or less to be pretty standard these days, so 12.5 seconds may seem very slow. But JD is right, this was probably slightly better than average for its day - especially for a 4-cylinder - and returning that kind of performance and handling with over 30 mpg is actually quite good. For anybody that doesn't think cars have improved much in 30 or 40 years, just watch the performance of some of the cars tested on retro MotorWeeks! Nevermind all of the safety equipment and the level of connectivity and tech we expect from all modern cars...yet there is something innocent and exciting about all of the cars tested in the 1980s. Perhaps it was the era of success, perhaps it was because cars (and carmakers) had such different, unique personalities.
"Zero to 60 of 12.5 seconds rates it the better end of average for all cars" Sadly the slowest they rated didn't make it to 60 by the end of the test track as I recall.
Imported dish rags! That had me laughing out loud. I like blanking plugs, does that make me weird? I friggin' love the 4000/5000 and following 10/200. I wish there was a Canadian version of this program. We had some cars the US didn't get!
I asked for this review a few years ago. Thank you MotorWeek! I've been a loyal viewer since the beginning and my mom had this car new. I'm going to watch this with my son!
My father in law had a 1986 4000 Quattro, black on black leather, 5 speed, 5 cylinders and fully optioned - LOVED THAT CAR! Fast, comfortable and unstoppable in all weather conditions and very reliable - like an Armani suit on four wheels!
In the case cited here, one could say that a couple of erratically working courtesy lamps or an upshift light hardly constitute "car trouble". Oil leaks on a new car, however, are quite another matter. German cars have ALWAYS been a mixed bag, similar to American cars. Some, usually the more pedestrian German-market spec examples, were quite reliable and trouble-free, while vehicles for US export, where anything German is most often marketed and priced as luxury, came with a boatload of potential quality glitches, mostly due to increased complexity of added power options and electronic features demanded by luxury segment buyers on top of all the added stuff required for US emission controls. Add to that the very different car-maintenance culture in the US vs. Germany, and you get vehicles which have become synonymous with trouble to US buyers, while they were considered reliable in their home market.
Back in the early 90s a friend let me drive his Audi 100 on the way back from an interstate trip to FL. I fell in love with the car. We had never really talked about it before, and I kept talking about it after driving it and asked my friend how I could get one. He was a successful real estate agent and let's just say I wasn't. He told me unless I was able to save thousands for repairs at any given unexpected time, I couldn't. I longed for an Audi ever since but have had the good sense to not own one, mainly thanks to my friend being so honest with me. That was decades ago and nothing has changed.
I'm loving these time capsule retro reviews. Please keep them coming! On a side note, I wonder if BBC will ever do something similar for the pre-2002 Top Gear...
I've been waiting for this one to be posted. I was 12 years old when I recorded this road test on VHS. The 1983 Volvo 760 GLE might have been part of the same episode - maybe Ben Davis can confirm this. (Hoping to see the Volvo road test uploaded soon BTW.) I loved the Audis of this era, even the bright and plush velour upholstery. Super comfortable!
I very much enjoy these trips down memory lane. Growing up in Maryland, Motorweek was a home grown favorite on Maryland Public TV. The shows debut in 1982 was just at the beginning of my formative automotive years, and I have watched the show since episode 1! It's funny to look back and see how the show was able to commandeer the, (at the time), still under construction Interstate 795 for their test track, LOL. One of the comments on this Audi 4000 that made me chuckle was pointed out below, concerning the "not exactly lightweight 2400 pounds!" LOL. How times have changed. My 2019 Jetta is nearly 3000 pounds! Keep up the good work guys!
@@jacktorse2145 Yes. Their main testing facility was the the former 75-80 Dragway just outside of Frederick, Maryland. The strip closed in 2005 however. I do believe MW still used the facility even after it closed, but by now I'm sure it's deteriorated to the point that its unusable.
MotorWeek !! Please a retro review of the Jeep Grand Cherokee ZJ 5.2 V8 ?! (You have one for the 4.0 L6 and the rare 5.9 V8) in quarantine time is a pleasure to see this retro reviews !!
I rode bitch in my buddies moms 83...it shook and rattled us all the way to water slide parks and ski hills throughout the early to mid 90’s .But by the end of the decade it was becoming part of nature as it rotted out in the back lane....where it still remains.2020
Season 5 will be live streamed in it entirety soon. Live streaming starts next Thursday with season 4...with an encore streaming on Sunday. A different season each week for the month of may
My first car was a 1981 Audi 4000s 5+5, champagne gold with velour interior. I bought it when I was 17 with my dad, not being too happy about the fact that this was the car I wanted. It was used I bought it from the original owner with 76,××× miles in 1991. It was the 2dr version of this car - minus 2 years older. Not the coupe gt. I think it was imported only 1 year. It had the 5000s five - cylinder engine with a 5 speed manual. Hence the 5+5. I loved it but.. Wow everything broke on it! Manual windows and crank sunroof worked. But the master cylinder went out within 2 months, then the front driveshaft went. Then finally the clutch... And that was it! As I was pushing it off to the side of the road with the flashers on - some chick rear-ended me while I was in front pushing it! The car was totalled. The trunk was so smashed, the passenger door wouldn't open. After the crash it then looked like a coupe gt!! Luckily I wasn't hurt too bad, several scraps and a busted tooth. I got paid well more than the $1350 I purchased it for then bought a 1981 BMW 528i.. But I did miss it! rarely ever see one.. There was one recently on eBay.. I thought about buying it.. But remembering all those problems.. I passed!
My parents had one of these back in the day, what a disaster of a car. Was fine for about a year then anything that could've went wrong did, and parts were hard to come by. I think my dad just left it at the repair shop.
I AM!!!!!!!!!!! BRING IT ON, BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew Pat owned MANY 'Vettes, but I never knew what his DD was!!!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!!!!!! And I LOVE seeing Pat as a tester here!!!!
It's just so interesting to see how cars have improved. I paid not much more than the 13K price quoted in this video for a 2 year old Hyundai Sonata Sport with fuel injection, a six speed transmission (that shifts itself!!) and 184 HP. Really though, our expections in 1984 were low, weren't they? This thing, with the 100" wheelbase is tiny! A new Jetta, by comparison, rides on a 105" wheelbase. And 12.5 seconds to 60, wow. Where's the quarter mile time? Oh yeah, it still hasn't hit it. Don't get me wrong, these retro reviews are great, keep em coming!
I have a 1984 Audi 4000S with the 1.8 FWD, and it’s amazing. The seats don’t actually look that bad after constant use, the extra hole where the gages are is used for an optional air pressure gage, measures how much PSI of air is moving through the engine, the boot is extremely large but slightly taller than it needs to be, and the engine is sluggish to be expected. It’s still stock keep in mind and those are the only major complaints I have from it. Other than that, it’s amazing and I wouldn’t trade it for anything other than a 5 cylinder Quattro version of it 😂
@@danielreigada1542 Audi didn't do nearly as well as Mercedes and BMW did in the 80s and 90s in the U.S. so yes, very rare to see an older Audi around here.
Ray - so true. Bought new 83 4000 Diesel, put 275,000 miles on the car and had zero issues. Finally gave it up when injector pump went out and decided it was time to move up to “baby” Benz 190-6, both, fantastically engineered cars.
“Aww-Dee from West Germany” 😂😂😂. The center blank cutout in the center stack is where an oil pressure guage would have been. The similar Coupe GT has the guage there.
That handcrank sunroof killed me. Lol. You're paying $13k for an audi, with a 4 cylinder, and they couldn't even be bothered to make the sunroof electronically operated. What a pile. I dont think ive ever seen a single one of these. Not even in junk yards.
I owned the 1980 example of the 4000S, but it only had the 4-speed stick shift. It was an endless fount of repairs, and Audi dealers are not known for thrifty service. I eventually had to teach myself to do repairs. Problem was, the VW-Audi corporation had problems with stems/seals on their 4-cylinders, a problem for years only fixed by new hydraulic controls.
I can vouch for tons of minor problems but my $250 beater in high school still got me where I needed to go even with major problems. Those were the days driving around billow smoke out of the hood. Kind of wish I’d kept longer
Traded mine for a 1000cc Honda Hurricane , but kept I my first 4000 quattro. Since my first Audi Fox I’ve had 8 more, my latest addition is a C5 Allroad, and recovered a ur quattro in there at one point around 2005.
interesting that Pat had one for a year before they did a full review on the car. But Motorweek does seem to always have reviews later than other sources.
It was the MK1 VW Jetta with more electronics. Although the Jetta had fully independent suspension all around. The 1.7 could be pretty reliable when it's looked after. And these were smart-looking cars, not a bad price considering the junk coming from Chrysler, Fiat and Datsun in those years for only s little less.
I like Audi's... but Pat Goss was right about a few minor quality issues, ie oil leaks ...I have an old A4 I know. Good design and handling though and my O2 feels solid ...so Audi is ok if you are careful and maintain them
@@jriley1992 It's an coolant temperature gauge from other countries beside the U.S. that reads temperature in Celsius.. Maybe this was an early import test car that had it instead of °F reading? Oh yes, LOL! 🤣😂🤣
I really wish they could have done a review on the 1981 Audi 4000s 5 + 5. My first car. Unfortunately the clutch went out and I was rear ended which totaled it.. I broke my leg.. teeth.. but I did end up getting a 1981 BMW 528i.. Only that one year the made that Audi model..