Tuesday, 27 July 2010 16:15

Audi Quattro Jan 2010

Written by  Will Holman
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'Always buy the best car you can afford', is the advice PPC mag regularly churns out to readers. It's sound too, but unfortunately Will couldn't really afford a nice quattro so he bought a shonky one for 1200 quid. He managed to get it on the road but the engine went pop quite soon afterward.

At the time, pistons for the 10-valve five-pot turbo were unavailable so Will bought a 20-valve unit from an Audi S6. In bits. After Charlie had finished swearing at him he managed to get it in the car and badgered Dave Walker to build him a custom Emerald ECU to run the five-pot turbo engine - it needed sequential ignition and injection.

A year, a lot of head scratching and several false starts later he had it on the road and it made 280bhp on stadard boost - the extra 70bhp mostly down to the massive Allisport front-mounted intercooler. He was planning to up the boost after he'd fitted the bigger brakes and sorted out the tired dampers but PPC's Mallory Park track day put paid to that.

On only his first complete lap the quattro span off into the Armco doing nearly 100mph. 'It's the only time I've ever seen Charlie Broomfield lost for words,' says Will. Both of them were unhurt but the car is rather a mess, as you can see. Even the roofs kinked. Will nearly gave up with it at this point but the car is now off to Manchester College, where the third year students will restore it to it's former glory. Details in PPC mag every month

Last modified on Wednesday, 28 July 2010 20:37
Will Holman

Will Holman

'Stick a V8 in it,' says Will. And he often does. Currently sticking one in his 1970 stack-headlight Merc and talking about doing the same to a Prius just to upset people.

Website: www.ppcmag.co.uk/will-holman.html
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Practical Performance Car (PPC) is a monthly magazine aimed at real car enthusiasts interested in affordable performance tuning. At PPC we pride ourselves in providing the most entertaining, informative and inspiring features for petrolheads everywhere. Each month we feature an eclectic mix of affordable performance cars, great driving adventures and world-class technical features for the DiY tuner. Our editorial team is headed up by well known Will Holman who has a deserved reputation for 'stick a V8 under the bonnet' attitude to life. His editorial team is stacked with experience including Dave Walker (speciality engine management), of the sadly missed Cars and Car Conversions (CCC) magazine, David Vizard, the legendary engine tuning guru, and Kevin Leaper - ex technical editor of Practical Classics.

Have a look at the online Staff Cars section to give you a flavour of PPC but for the real thing go to your local newsagent, WHSmiths, Asda, Tesco or Sainsburys - PPC is on sale the last Thursday of every month. Better still visit our subscriptions page for the latest offers and discounts to have PPC delivered direct to your door at a fraction of the cost.

Examples of magazine features: brakes uprating, suspension improvements, engine transplants, buyers guides, ECU management, kit car builds, car event coverage (including PPC's own show, PPC in the Park) and much more. Examples of some of the staff's cars: 27 litre Rover SD1, 5 litre Capri, track day Rolls Royce, MK1 Transit and more.