Hello Everybody, I am currently selling my 1993 BMW 325i and I am looking into buying an manual transmission audi A4. MY budget is about $12,000 to $13,000, and i had a few questions for you all. (I apologize if there are answers to these questions already on the forum somewhere, I have been searching for the last hour and havent found any answers)

First, i was wondering what is faster, a stock quatro A4 2.8 or a 1.8 Turbo? My little brother just bought a 1999 1.6 Turbo, and frankly, i want a faster car than him.

What kind of stuff would i want to consider to make it a freaking sweet car after purchasing? If i spend less than $13,000 i will put the extra money toward upgrading it. All the other cars i have owned i have just left stock, aside from adding a CD player or something, i dont want to do that with this one.

I am very new about this car related stuff, but i want to end up with a sweet fast car this time around, i will really appreciate any help you guys can offer.

Thanks,
Chris

 

2.8 is faster in Stock form
1.8 has more aftermarket stuff compaired to the 2.8 so you can do
more with a 1.8

 

2.8 is faster than the 1.8....heres a link with a bunch of performance links that u can check out...its not everything avail for the a4's but its a start....... Performance Sites

--E

 

A 2.8 doesnt stand a chance against a chipped 1.8t, its the still the same exhaust motor, just remapped.

 

How expensive/ hard is it to chip a 1.8 T?? Also my brother has a 1999.5 1.8T, what does the .5 mean?? I would be buying it from a used car dealer or from a private seller so i wouldn't have to worry about warranty stuff right? I am really bad with car related stuff, would chipping it be something my local repair shop could do??

 

plain and simple, theres not much you can do to the 2.8 A4's except exhaust, intake, and if you got deep pockets a supercharger. with the 1.8T, there a lot of different options. a chip alone is the best bang for the buck upgrade and add an exhaust and you'll be happy.

 

The chip is about 500 dollars installed and will yield about 30-45 extra HP on the 1.8T. Either the GIAC chip or APR chip totally transforms the car. If you have a spare 1500-2000 dollars, you can upgrade the turbocharger to a larger K04 and GIAC programming and get much more HP.

In 1999, there were some mid year changes to the car, thus the .5 designation. Run a search for the differences.

You have left unanswered the other big questions which are extremely important.......quattro vs FWD and Tiptronic v Manual.

For the 2.8 engine there is little you can do except improve the engine breathing with a low restriction exhaust. If you have a spare 5000 dollars for parts, and money for installation, you can get a great supercharger for the 2.8. There is little you can do inbetween that will yield major changes.

 

Hmmm. Well i thought i was pretty sure i wanted a quattro manual. What are the differences? I love driving manual and the AWD will be very usefull during the winters. is the 1999.5 1.8t faster than a 1999 1.8t? Thanks for all your help. Every dollar under $13,000 i spend i will use that toward upgrading it, today i will have to talk to my dad about what he thinks about chipping it.

Thanks for your comments,
-Chris

 

only the 2001 model is faster than the previous years (170 vs 150 hp)

 

Ok,

Here goes, I own both one is a 97" 2.8 Q 30v with a Supercharger and the other is a 2000 1.8TQ standard.

The 2.8 is quicker than a standard 1.8TQ or T and even with a chip there about even Stevens dependent on chip.

The 2.8 are a much smother ride with almost effortless power where as the 1.8T's needs a lot more work to perform.

As stated tuning is limited on the 2.8 with the only big gainer being the Supercharger by PES and with that your see major improvements in power.

Now the 1.8T offers loads more tuning options and a lot more power. The 1.8T can be tuned to 330-340hp without any internal engine mods but buy adding larger turbo's and so on.

I'm selling my 2.8 not because I don't like it just because I want more power and the car was cheap.

The only car to get in regards to trip, FWD or AWD is the AWD.

Also bear in mind that the later 1.8T's with fly by wire do not yield the same amount of power like the 150hp cars do, simple things like chip will not show up the difference actually the later car will yield more but when you change the turbo and thing that’s where the difference will be more apparent.

i.e. the 150hp cars with say 340hp upgrade kit (with G28RS turbo) will only show about 300hp on the later cars.

Hope this helps.