I have the 2.8 and a buddy of mine has a 2000 1.8. I've driven his and I have to say, there isn't much of a difference in power as far as I can tell. There is definitely a different feel to the engines. The 2.8 just feels heavier. You will also probably get a little better gas mileage with the 1.8. I'm not sure about the weight question though.

 

That is weird that the power feels about the same... maybe the 2.8 has more torque than the other?

 

Base 2.8 is more powerful, get about 4 mpg less mileage. Is a bit more reliable, but there are essentially no mods available (under 5K) for the engine.

 

Yeah ,what david 9999 said. The 2.8 is more powerful, but not a huge difference in my opinion. Thats all I'm saying. If you want to go faster than stock anytime in the future, go for the 1.8t

 

Seeing as I am in college and probably wont want to work on my car, I think im going to get the 2.8 Quatro.

 

my 2.8L keeps me out of trouble...if i had gotten a 1.8T, it would be modded by now, and i'd probably have a suspended license...

 

I too am going to be looking for an a4 1.8t here soon. 1 question, how do you check for sludge in the oil?

 

Also, is it generally difficult to find an a4 with complete service records?

 

For oil sludge, I believe you can find it if you take the oil cap off and look around in there for a gooey, non-oily substance. At least thats what I read in another thread so dont take it from me.

As for finding all the original records...if there was only one owner then they SHOULD have a history of all records otherwise I would stay away.