G'day everyone, first post here from a (hopefully) future Audi owner switching from a 2003 Alfa Romeo GTV that I used to drive in Sydney. As I've relocated to Boston I think I need AWD. Glad I discovered this forum! My questions are:

Q. What is the difference in performance between a chipped (say with a Stage 1+ APR chip @ 229hp/271lbft) B6 A4 1.8T I4 vs a stock 3.0 V6? Is the V6 still quicker off the line? What about handling? Fuel consumption? Assume both manual transmissions.

My apologies if this has been asked before.

Cheers and thanks for any help,
OZGOD

 

A chipped 1.8t will be able to keep up with a stock 3.0. With a 1.8t, you have much more mods available to you. The only mod that's available for the 3.0 is a supercharger ($5k). Gas mileage will be better on the 1.8t, but it really depends on how youdrive (city vs. highway, speed limit vs. speed demon, etc...). The 1.8t will also handle better, because the engine is smaller & lighter, and there's not as much weight in the front as the 3.0. If you're going to keep your car stock, go with the 3.0. If you are even remotely thinking about modding the car (which it looks like you are), then buy the 1.8t.

 

IF you want to go performance you need to go 1.8t the 3.0 is assed out for performance mods, for any rael power. The 3.0 is alil nicer IMO biased as it is.It depends if you want speed or Class is all.

 

3.0L engines have much better torque for getting around in the snow, but are gutless when they get going. Maintance on a 3.0L isn't needed that much but really sucks when you have to DIY.

 

yeah the 3.0 engines have no room to do the work yourself. it'll make you wanna total the car if you try to get your hands in such tight places! the 1.8T engine isn't bad for DIY jobs...there's plenty of room provided you don't have giant hands...

a chipped 1.8T will keep up with a 3.0 I believe, but a chip and an exhaust on a 1.8T and you'll be schooling the 3.0.

LampyB.

 

i have a 1.8t with lots done to it and it basicly has no turbo lag and could probly smoke a 3.0 yea it can andit almost beats my dads 3.2 TT

 

G'day all - cheers for the useful feedback. I've now test driven all four B6 quattro "variants" - auto and manual 1.8T and auto and manual 3.0. My initial impressions were:

1.8T auto - great handling, acceleration was a bit sluggish
1.8T manual - great handling, engine was way more responsive than the auto, felt faster than it probably was
3.0 auto - very cruisy, heaps of power, but seemed a bit less responsive steering-wise than 1.8T (probably due to weight?). Nice interior
3.0 manual - heaps of power and more linear, but didn't feel faster than the 1.8T even with the V6 (maybe this is a perception issue?), same handling as above auto

All in all I enjoyed all of them and could probably live with all but the 1.8T auto which just seemed too sluggish. The 1.8T manual seemed to be the most fun-to-drive one and from feedback here is the easiest to mod? I contacted a bloke who was a licensed APR dealer near Boston and he quoted me $1000 approx. for an APR Stage 1+ ECU + injectors, which I will probably get if I go for the 1.8T...other stuff to come later.

One thing I noticed was that you really need to keep the 1.8 singing above 3000 rpm, where the engine is really responsive - between 0 - 2000 there's a bit of a dead spot (similar to the WRX). Once you get past 3000 you get heaps of power (probably the turbo lag?). I guess I'm used to my Alfa's V6 which had quite a bit of low-down torque, but I don't mind revving my car's engine anyway!

Unfortunately I'm looking for a certified pre-owned car and most of the 1.8s are bloody automatics! [&o] I started to consider the B7 2.0T (2006) which seems to be more common in manuals. Is there a massive difference in performance between the 2.0 and the 1.8T? I figure the difference in price and mileage between an 04-05 model and an 06 model would be about 15K miles and $4-5K...not sure if it's worth it?

Thanks for all the help!

 

So its settled, the 1.8T manual with the ultrasport package? lol

 

Sorry, I just noticed this point - does this mean that the 1.8T is poor in the snow?