Do I have the "Most Travelled" 1998 1.8T Audi A3???

[luckymacy]

I'm sure I don't but thought I'd throw out this teaser question. I have a car that was originally bought new from a dealer on Terceira Island, the Azores Portugal. The car was imported into the US in 2002 and makes it home travelling up and down I-95 between Florida and Pennsylvania and Maryland. The manuals are delivered in Portuguese and English though the steering wheel is on the left side. The car wasn't imported into America at the time. The United States VIN system thinks the VIN number is 'illegal' but agrees it was an Audi built in 1998...It has some of the problems others have seen including both driver and passenger windows with broken window motor cable clips (hope I can find the right size ones in the States or I'm going to have to brush up on my U$D to quid conversions and order from the UK), water leaks into the right rear interior and the LCD display is no longer readable (doubt the last one is worth fooling with).

However, it's an absolute blast to drive and there's no other Audi around like it so it draws attention - not always a good thing - but my teenage son loves the car.

Any other worldy early A3s out there still going strong and surviving in a place where a mechanic has never seen one before? I think the parts are pretty common with VW Golfs of that same era. Any thoughts on what make and model Golf best referenced for parts?

 

[Prawn]

hey dude, sounds like a pretty worldly motor you have there!

You'll find amazingly, that almost ALL the mechanical parts are shared with the mk4 golf of the same era.... if you go like for like, with a 98-2000 golf (when did you guys get the mk4 turbo?) in england, it's the same AGU engine, all the same running gear, brakes, suspension, the lot.

Most interior bits fit too, like seats and steering wheels and such things if ever you should need to know.

There's also a massive OEM parts list in terms of upgrades too, like 312mm front brakes from a TT, a TT steering rack, turbo's from later TT's or golfs.

perhaps not quite as scary as you may first think!

Must be cool having something so rare out there though. Did audi only bring the 8P to north america then?

 

[luckymacy]

hey dude, sounds like a pretty worldly motor you have there!

You'll find amazingly, that almost ALL the mechanical parts are shared with the mk4 golf of the same era.... if you go like for like, with a 98-2000 golf (when did you guys get the mk4 turbo?) in england, it's the same AGU engine, all the same running gear, brakes, suspension, the lot.

Most interior bits fit too, like seats and steering wheels and such things if ever you should need to know.

There's also a massive OEM parts list in terms of upgrades too, like 312mm front brakes from a TT, a TT steering rack, turbo's from later TT's or golfs.

perhaps not quite as scary as you may first think!

Must be cool having something so rare out there though. Did audi only bring the 8P to north america then?

Yep, A3s didn't come to the US until the early 2002, 2003 period and therefall all local Audi parts are for the newer platform. Thanks for the Golf info. I might have to try and scrounge a couple of driver/passenger seats from scrapped Golfs. But I'm not really familiar with the "TT". I guess you are saying there's a different Audi that has some interchangeable parts with my early Audi A3 as well? Interesting since I think it was a very different, heavier, and more powerful machine!

Take Care,
lucky

 

[Prawn]

This is the TT:

it shares the same platform as the A3, in both fwd and 4wd versions, so it's the FWD TT's that have the most interchangeable parts with your A3.

My A3 for example, has a steering rack from a 225 quattro TT, a turbo from a fwd 180bhp TT, and the same front brakes are found on the 225TT, and also the S3, and seat leon cupra

 

[luckymacy]

Huh, that's good to know! I haven't seen one of those in the US in a a few years. I don't think they did well in sales. Did the Boxter and 2 seat BMWs push them out of the US market? Seems like it timing wise if my lousy memory for this sort of stuff is right...