The Chief

Has anybody got or driven one of these and jow does it compare to an S3
Ive noticed you can get these remapped to nearly 190bhp and they are nowhere near as heavy as an S3 -

Thanks guys

FletchCSL

i thought they ran the same engine jsut the S3 was in 225 tune?

surely the 1.8T can manage the same?

would amke a great q car and upset afew S3 owners

Engineer@Uni

Well, the 20v 1.8 VAG engine is absolutely bomb-proof. Legend has it it's one of the safest engines to modify, although pre 2000 models have a more resilient crankshaft. However, and this is a very big point, the S3 is 4-wheel drive. Something that the A3 is not, and never will be. There will never be any point in driving more than 200-250 horses through the front wheels of anything. Not that the A3 is a bad car, but personally it'll never beat a Civic Type-R for handling and balance.

Leave the Audis for the germans. Pay half the cost of an S3 (or the money for the A3 1.8T for that matter) and get a MY05 STi, I say.

class_A

http://www.jabbasport.com/mods/audia3.html

The 1.8T's run the 150/180BHP version of this engine and typically go to the low 200's after a remap. There's a few component differences between that and the 210/225BHP used in the S3/TT which remap to around 265.

john banks

A3 1.8T Quattro?

Cupramax

Lol, beat me to it, welcome to the scoobynet world of wrong info

NWMark

This is 180bhp and has all the weight of the S3 and 'only' chips to around 220bhp. A3 is around 200kgs lighter!!

Best bet is a 1.8T 150 chipped, giving around 200bhp, maybe a little more if you get an AGU engine (early engine with bigger ports, S and T reg mostly)

or if you want 4wd and can stretch to the S3 prices get one of these and chip it to at least 260bhp.

Mark

NWMark

Newest S3's are around 20-22k now, and you can pick up an A3 1.8t for around 7k+

So id like to know where i can get an MY05 STi for 7-10k?

Mark

ianc

Or get an Octavia or Leon with the same motor, cheaper still....

RobinSherwood

It was possible to order the A3 1.8T with the 225BHP engine.

It was never listed but we had an order accepted on a 'Special Order' basis for an A3 1.8T 5 door with the 225BHP engine and the Tiptronic gearbox.

Having said that we never took delivery of it, as when it arrived (after a 9 month wait!) it was a 3 door and not a 5 door and missing a number of options we had specified - and the dealer was annoyed we wouldn't accept it and that we asked for the deposit back!

So somewhere out there is an approx MY01 (post facelift) A3 1.8T in Denim Blue with the 225bhp engine fitted from the factory. I wouldn't have thought it was the only one?

Robin

pbee

problem with going the modified 1.8t a3 route is you still have the naff handling and brakes. by the time you have sorted these out you might as well of bought the s3.

p.s naff might be a bit stong. but you get were im going.

class_A

Just means you can upgrade to the lurvely Porsche spec. items with the money you save

Engineer@Uni

Well, I just checked out top-gear's pricing. The new Audi A3 2T (as the 1.8T has been upgraded) costs circa 21K. Hence, the new S3 (when it comes out later this year) you can bet your money won't be cheaper than 26k. If you insist on quoting prices for a 2nd hand car, I'd like to point out loads of 2nd hand STis for 7-10K. Albeit none of them MY05. Touche. I stand corrected on the price of a used A3 1.8T. I honestly believed they'd depreciate less than that.

Also, thankyou for pointing out that the Quatro is only marginally lighter than the S3 and a good deal heavier than the normal A3. I though it was obvious. People, 4WD costs weight. Isn't it blatant that the FWD and 4WD can't weigh the same? 2 extra Diffs and a few extra metres of propshaftaren't light ya know.

marklemac

My friend has just had his A3 1.8T remapped by AMD. It was 191bhp and 192lbs before remap and 219bhp and 242lbs after.

AMD charged him £350+vat as an xmas special.

Bloody good price for that sort of power increase.

NWMark

you did specifically say the A3 1.8T in your original post though, of which the newest would command around 11k, so on this basis id still like to find a nice Sti MY05 for this money. And you said nothing of the new S3 just the S3 of which the newest will be 22k, hence still 11k working from your original post

Although i do see where your coming from on the New A3 front, if performance is what your after a new Sti would be a better choice than the A3 2.0T, although a little more expensive and when it appears the S3 would be probably slightly more expensive than the new Sti and propbably slower, but many people dont buy Audi's for the outright performance alone.

Mark

Midmotorsteve

magic lol

I had an audi once and took it to AMD.. amazing what can happen on coast down no mustn't laught i must admit i was taken in by them too, I paid £250 almost 5 years ago to have my audi remapped, i believed what they said, put it on a differnent set of rollers you can guarantee it doesn't make what they claim.

Petem95

Sti might be cheaper than a similar age S3, but you'll see a lot less of this back when you come to sell in a few years compared to the S3.