Hi all,
I have been reading this forum for awhile, since a friend of mine bought a 1.8t Audi TT. I owned a 1991 MR2 Turbo for the past 8 months with about 230RWHP. It was an extremely nimble car, very quick, and with the T-Tops out it was an all around blast to drive. But I've had to give way to practicality and the 126k miles on the car started scaring me! I was afraid something was about to break everytime I turned the key. I never had any problems with it, but nonetheless.... Now I am looking to purchase an A4, it will most likely be a '98 since my budget is about $10k...probably a little less. I've been searching and reading the forums and this is what I've gathered. Keep in mind I want to do some tuning to the car so it's as quick as my MR2 was-

1. The 1.8T motor is easier to tune
2. The 1.8T motor is less reliable than the 2.8
3. The cheapest way to get HP is with a chip
4. Adding exhaust (like any turbo car) will increase turbo performance
5. Timing belt is a must for maintenance when looking at these cars
6. Checking for squeaky suspension/cv joints is important

Ok, that's my list so far! I want a car with 225WHP at least, and something that handles nimbly. I think it would be best to find a good 1.8T for $8k or so and take the rest in upgrades. I want to get into 17" rims straight away and get the car lowered a bit (I dont want to mess with body kits for the time being). I know you get a thousand of these posts a day, so that's why I did my research first and then posted to see what you experts think about my plans for the potential A4. I know a sedan is different from a 2 seat, mid-engine sports car, but I have no doubt that an A4 can be a fun, sporty, and practical vehicle. Keep in mind, I would like something reliable to get me to and from school (Atlanta to Clemson) and not get shabby gas mileage (20mpg in town?). Please offer any comments, suggestions, criticisms you may have. I look forward to becoming a part of this community as I was a part of the MR2 community! Thanks guys!

 

hey man, welcome to the family. your list so far is pretty good, i got my 1.8t wiht 116k miles on it for 8 grand, i have had to put some money into maitnance i.e. (some lights that were on, and gettin all the fluids change, as well as a freak powersteering pump accident, and some oil leaks i had to take care of). I would definatly go witht he 1.8t, just cuz of the turbo, i would think that you can see where in coming from, seeing how u owned a mr turbo.

if your gonna buy an audi for 8grand, its gonna have some miles, and your gonna have to deal with just little **** that will ding your wallet pretty good

other than that i love my car.

oh yea, one more thing, if you want it to handle like your mr2, your gonna need nothing short of a miracle, but your best bet is to go with a quattro awd setup, if you get some suspension, then it will be a pretty quick little car. what you loose with the entry speed in corners, you will gain with exit speed bc of the awd

welcome again, and happy shopping

 

Welcome gibson, I think your on the right track aswell. As for as what ur looking for power, Your going to need a ko4/pc-16 with everything on it, or else fork out the cash for a elim. With a ko4 with pc-16 your well over 200awhp. Remember, the awd sucks up some hp, so its diff then sending it to 2 wheels. With a gt2x you could get 225awhp easy, its just how mush tinkering you want to put into ur car to make it run right.

 

The ko4 is the TT turbo correct? So it will bolt up to the car without needing a custom fabricated DP or manifold? Another question, do all Quattro cars have the 3 spoke wheel? If my car ends up not having one, are they easy to obtain from a junkyard or car-parts.com?

Besides checking for maintenance and the squeaky suspension, are there other common problems on '97-99 cars? I will gladly spend more for a car that has been well maintained versus upgraded so that I am starting with a reliable car. I am not looking for a race car, just a sporty sedan with some power when I need it. I know it will never handle like the MR2, but when you're not racing and just enjoying yourself, you dont need all the benefits of mid-engine design....

 

Yeah, same turbo family, you will want a ko4-015, the tt is the ko4-025. The o15 has the better software and will better gains.Yes, you use ur stock mani. I even took mine and bored/ported/polished it, spools really well.

 

What kind of cash am I looking at for that turbo? Is that more important than a chip? I read that you can get chips that will upgrade for different turbos so if I chipped first then changed the turbo I could update. First thing is first, buy a solid A4. Then, do the best upgrade for the money. If $1k for a new turbo is better than $500 for a chip, then that's what I'll do first! I'm just trying to see how much money I'm looking at to get the performance I want, so I can adjust my budget accordingly and not spend too much on a car and then be stuck with a slow ride.

 

Yes, i would just skip the chip and get the awe ko4 upgrade, comes with everything u need, includeing the chip for the ko4.

 

I just sold my 93 mr2 turbo, looking for a nice low mileage a4 1.8tq.

 

What's the AWE ko4 upgrade? Is that a kit? How much $$$? I have swapped a turbo before so I could probably manage another direct swap to save $$$. Anyone got some links to sites with upgrades for the 1.8t? Thanks guys!

 

Gibson, this is the best ko4 kit out right now.

http://www.awe-tuning.com/pages/shar...rain&IL=AWEK04


Its an advertised 235hp, and 265pd/tq (it really makes 238hp, but they advertise it lower) Giac is the best ko4 software, they hold the ffastest ko4 of 13.6, and thats using a 1.8t trans.