Ownership Verified: My Audi A3

tquattro

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2008
Messages
1,089
Location
Transylvania
Car(s)
Audi A3 1.8T
Yay, new(ish) car.

I wanted to change my old Audi 100 with a newer, smaller and a bit more economical car. The Audi 100 it's now used by my brother. Initially I wanted a small diesel hatckback(Alfa 147 JTDm 150hp was on top of the wish list, Polo/Ibiza/Fabia with the 1.9TDI 130hp) but they were above my budget or with very very high mileage. So I started looking at petrol engines again and I found this 2002 Audi A3 1.8T and so far I'm very pleased with my purchase. Only one previous owner, the exterior of the car looks in very good shape with only a couple of very minor scratches. Interior it's also in a good shape generally, there are some wear marks: on the climate control buttons, a small hole on the driver seat, and two holes under the pedals thorugh the mats and through the carpet (the owner from the papers was a man but I'm guessing a woman drove the car with heels). The eninge feels very solid and fast(fast,compared to my old 2.3 from the 100), it was serviced regulary, but the fuel pump it's noisy on startup so I will replace it sometime, but for now I think is still ok(on my old quattro I had a noisy fuel fump for two years until I decided to change it and even then the engine worked very well) It is very well equiped and I love the alcantara seats.

And some (crappy phone) pics:

https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/08/05/IMG_20110801_164136.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/08/05/IMG_20110801_164122.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/08/05/IMG_20110801_164106.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/08/05/IMG_20110801_164048.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/08/05/IMG_20110801_164038.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/08/05/IMG_20110804_200616.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/08/05/IMG_20110804_200659.jpg
 
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The 1.8T, is the 150 or 180 HP version? I recon 180hp, top of the range (since sat-nav is very rare on the "lesser" versions).
 
It's only the 150hp versiom. But it's indeed very well equiped: alcantara seats, heated seats, auto-AC, cruise control,parking sensors, factory subwoofer(not the Bose version)... The sat-nav it's useless here because there are no maps for eastern Europe, no tv-tuner,also the cd-changer it's missing, in the cd slot from the main unit only the navigation CDs work...so basically I have just a fancy radio:). Tommorow I will try to mount a cd-changer, the cd-changer bracket it's still in the trunk but I can't find the cables that go to the cd-changer. Also I'm thinking of buying a Xcarlink USB but I heard mixed opinions about them.
 
'grats, audi ownership is rivaling mx5 ownership on FG
 
That is one nice looking Audi! Great buy! :)


Seeing an Audi with cloth seats still boggles my mind though (I know, I'm a silly American).
 
Thanks for the compliments!

So far I like the engine, it pulls well from low revs and the car feels very nimble compared to my old 100 2.3(but my old turbo quattro felt quicker on accelerations).
A friend gave me for free a cd-changer that fits perfectly in the cd-changer bracket from the trunk,but I can't find the cd-changer cable that comes from the main unit...:(i really hoped for an easy install.

Also, I'm planing a small road trip at the end of the month, going on the Transfagarasan Road and coming back on the Transalpina Road( a less known but spectacular road, which was recentely paved. Pics from this road HERE)
 
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Nice car! I curious tho how you would rate the ride quality compared to the 100. I've driven both, and the ride of the C3 100 is MUCH better than the harsh, slightly bouncy one of the A3.

Seeing an Audi with cloth seats still boggles my mind though (I know, I'm a silly American).

I actually prefer cloth seats to leather ones. Cloth doesn't get sticky when it's hot, it's less slippery, and less sweaty.
 
You're right, the A3 feels a little bouncy, on the A3 on my regular comute I started to notice small bumps that I didn't noticed before on my 100. The 100 has a softer suspension and it's very comfortable on longer journey, but in corners it had a massive body roll compared to the A3...also the seats on the A3 are much harder compared to the ones on the 100. So far I don't know how the A3 is on longer journeys, the longest trip I did was about 100km, but my brother, who brought the car from Germany for me, says it's ok. Overall I like the A3 ride, it feels more planted and secure than the ride of the 100. But i miss a lot my turbo quattro 100 that I had before the FWD 2.3 100, and if I wouldn't have had that accident in december I would not have thought of buying a new car.
 
Because of the very nice weather from the last weeks I really needed to get away from the office, so last week I took 2 days off and went on a small road trip.

During the first day I went on the Transalpina Road. This road was recently reabilitated, there is some work still to be done but most of it has smooth new tarmac. In weekends this road is full of tourists but during the week, at least when I was up there, it was quite empty and a really great place for driving. Here are some pics taken with my crappy phone(i really need to buy myself a decent camera):
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110921_122107.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110921_132200.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110921_132213.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110921_134339.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110921_135856.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110921_140030.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110921_142927.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110921_152030.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110921_154646.jpg

During the second day I was on Transfagarasan, because it was during the week the traffic was very light, mostly foreign tourists.
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110923_120824.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110923_121019.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110923_121026.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110923_121114.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110923_122954.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110923_172549.jpg
https://pic.armedcats.net/t/tq/tquattro/2011/09/26/IMG_20110923_173748.jpg

I had a great time, both places are very spectacular, quite different and great driving places. I recommend to everyone that wants to visit The Transfagarasan Road to take an extra day to visit Transalpina Road too.
 
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Some updates:

That steering wheel GOTTA go, otherwise congrats very nice looking A3!
ulqnUHO.jpg


Because I'm still a kid inside... Before:
TYUIlBx.jpg


After:
XVPrNix.jpg


and at night(the colors look similar in real life)
in5T22B.jpg


The "Passanger eject" is just a dummy cover and the "pursuit mode" is a switch that i will use it for turning on/off my dash cam

On summer tires:
GCemq37.jpg

p8jGcTY.jpg


For the last 10.246 km I used 1.019 l of gasoline(=> 9,94 l/100km) with mostly city driving.
 
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So far this year the car ate quite a load of money, some necessary some not:
-cambelt
-new 4 shock absorbers
-new suspension bushes all-around
-new engine mounts
-new cam chain tensioner(not really needed, but old one was leaking a bit of oil)
-replaced passanger-side mirror motor
-sillicone turbo hoses kit
-new intake diverter valve
-remapped to 190horsies

And there are still a few things to do:
-to repaint the doors because they got keyed by a nice person
-oil and new filters are due to be changed soon
-and maybe a new windscreen
 
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I finally installed a new head-unit:
8NFneb5.jpg


Doesn't look as good as the original head-unit, but I think it looks decent enough.
 
Nice. I'd want something like that but I'm not sure it will integrate properly with all the other units. Those things are always easier in an older car :)
 
Installing it was a PITA. Mainly because there aren't any double-din head-unit fascia adapters for my gen of A3s. I had to adapt an A4 fascia to fit my car. Actually I had to adapt two A4 fascias, because I was not pleased with the first one. On the second one I spent almost 3hours of sanding, grinding and cutting it to make it fit.
Here's the first attempt:
yOmpz98.jpg
 
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This winter I bought a set of 17" Audi S3 wheels, four new GoodYear Eagle F1 Asymmetric2 tires and a set of OEM rear mud flaps . Today, I finally got them on the car, but I only got two pictures with them on the car:
SPxcjr9.jpg


225/45/17"x7.5j Vs. 205/55/16"x7j
lXjgbo0.jpg


I love how the the new wheels look and the car feels more stable on corners(less body roll) compared to my 205/55/16 winter tires(Conti's TS850).
I was a bit worried about how the mud flaps will look on the car, but I quite like them. I got them to reduce rear water spraying which was quite bad even with the narrower winter wheels.
 
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