What the *&%$ is happening to my car?????

["D.J. Bergesen" <achtungvr6@hotmail.com>]

Okay. Just made it back in two nights ago. Two days, 24 hours, 1600 miles 
driving from Tucson to Pensacola. Fine.
   Somewhere along the way, maybe when I stopped to fuel, someone got into 
my engine bay and put an extra cylinder in the engine. I don't know why, but 
for some reason, 1st and 2nd pull like a racehorse on speed. It's 
incredible. It was quick before, but now it's downright Super-fly. Maybe 
it's the shoes. Or the Mobil 1 synthetic. The down side is, my idle is rough 
again. Not rough as in the mirror's shaking off, but as in my body is shaken 
by the thing. I had the prob in FL before, but didn't notice it in AZ. Now 
it's back in FL. If I have to put up with it to have the accel, so be it.
   For some reason, my tail drifts now. I'm suspicious of the suspension, 
but now I have a greater problem with OVERsteer than under-, something I 
find downright amazing considering the chronic VR6 understeer woes. When I 
conduct my own slalom tests, the rear end seems to want to keep going 
straight in my lane of origin, instead of tracking with the front. It's NOT 
a plowing problem, but a loose rear problem (I know, that sounds bad). It 
also happens when I brake hard. The car doesn't pull per se, but the rear 
drifts (usually driver's side). It's time to replace the brake pads, but I'm 
thinking my suspension is going out. I'm now considering coilovers or 
something of the like, although I am VERY wary of dropping that $1200+. Is 
it worth THAT much more than Bilstein or Boge/Neuspeed? I might be trading 
up to an A4 2.8 Quattro in 18 months, so will it be worth the extra in the 
interim? I'm sure (unfortunately) that the two suspension setups aren't 
compatible between platforms, so I'll basically just lose that money. If I 
have to replace components either way, the Bilstein/Neuspeed will probably 
be comparable price-wise to the stock system, although with enhanced 
looks/handling.
    Any thoughts on why I'm spinning so much? Oh yeah, forgot to mention 
that I spun out once completely in Tucson, and in San Antonio (actually 
Boerne) on my way out here, near my Godparents' house on a twisty mountain 
road, I lost the back end making a sharp right - I recovered in time, and 
without exiting the road, but I was still concerned. By the way, these FWD 
cars are absolutely VIOLENT when recovering. Turn into the slide, regain 
steering, turn back towards intended track, apply throttle, and the back end 
comes back in line with a VENGEANCE!

Later,
VWaffe

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