Audi A3 2.0 TDI 170 S Line Opinions

That type of car would suit your needs to be honest. That car you list though I would say is a bit over priced for a 8P2. You should be able to find a 8P3 (roughly 58 plate or newer) with in your budget, but be prepared to travel for it at the 170 TDi Quattro is quite rare.

I maybe selling my a3 for another s3 its 2.0 tdi 170 07 plate only 60k miles all extras are in my sig pm me interested.

Lukehh said:

Hi Guys,

Pretty new to the forum, just looking around for information at the moment.

Looking to pick up an A3 and quite like the A3 2.0 TDI 08 plate at the moment, pretty much has to be black for me, something like the below:

Audi A3 2.0 TDI 170 QUATTRO S LINE 3DR 1 OWNER FULL LTHR 2007

Can anyone who has driven / owned one of these please give their opinions? My requirements are basically it has to be comfortable, economical, have a bit of power and look good - I do around 10-12k (alot motorway) miles a year. My budget is up to 12-13k.

My planned mods are:

1. Remap with DPF either mapped out or removed
2. H&R Springs 40/50mm (Can anyone link me to where a good price for these are)
3. Light tints on the rear

Cheers Luke

Click to expand...

Hi Luke.

I've got a Black 2007 170 Quattro Sportback S-Line. Ive had it remapped and kept the DPF. As far as spec goes it has iPod interface, full leather, factory tints and 18" Sportline wheels. Bought it last year with 51k on the clock. It also has built in bluetooth.

Also fitted interior LED's which look awesome, and had the rear lights retrofitted with LED's, again looks great.

The car is great to drive...the performance for a diesel is good and the brakes are even better. Car loves a long run and can quite easily get 45mpg, around town is high 30's, low 40's.
All in all it is a great car. Having quattro is good but does affect performance in so much that mpg suffers. Alot of guys have DPF issues so be careful to match your driving requirements/style to the right car.

PM me if you want any more info....

Cheers,

S

Difference between 8P2 and 8P3? Not entirely sure, but I think facelifted front and rear spoilers, tail lights are different also. Biggest change Diesel engine wise is 8P2 has unit injectors (Pumpe Düse), whereas 8P3 is commonrail (quieter and smoother running). 170 bhp PD engines (BMN) on 8P2 are supposedly known for getting injectorproblems, Siemens instead of Bosch. No clue if there are any problems on 8P3 CR engines... That's about all I know.

My two cents: I have a 2007 2.0 170 hp TDI Ambition S-line quattro and I love it to bits. Really I do. It's like it's two cars in one. You can drive it like and old lady and it has nice low fuel consumption (good for daily commutes, e.g. doing 30km/h in 4th gear and it drives on its own, pulling along with no throttle) OR you put the hammer down and then it's loads and loads of fun. 170 bhp pack some punch. I especially opted for quattro as I've experienced FWD having problems getting the power down in the wet. Corners are no match for s-line sports supsension and quattro. I love driving in the wet, accelerating while cornering to pull/push the car through without it giving an inch, just gripping down and eagerly awaiting the next corner... It is just soooo much fun, wouldn't want to miss it for the world. If you can, go for quattro mate, the only drawback of quattro is you'll never want anything else again. Sure it's a tad more expensive but you only live once, right! Had mine for almost 3 years now (bought it 2nd hand in Jan 2010 with 50k KM on it, I'm at about 80k KM now). Not complaining about anything (no DPF issues, no bad injectors, no coolant or oil consumption). I do drive it sensibly (get it up to temperature, avoid redlining) and it sleeps indoors, to me it truly is a great machine. I wanted something fun but still sensible, hence a diesel with "some" punch, the s-line (very nifty interior)/quattro is the icing on the cake! To me it's a very successful combination that I hope to enjoy for a very longtime!

Nomar said:

Difference between 8P2 and 8P3? Not entirely sure, but I think facelifted front and rear spoilers, tail lights are different also. Biggest change Diesel engine wise is 8P2 has unit injectors (Pumpe Düse), whereas 8P3 is commonrail (quieter and smoother running). 170 bhp PD engines (BMN) on 8P2 are supposedly known for getting injectorproblems, Siemens instead of Bosch. No clue if there are any problems on 8P3 CR engines... That's about all I know.

My two cents: I have a 2007 2.0 170 hp TDI Ambition S-line quattro and I love it to bits. Really I do. It's like it's two cars in one. You can drive it like and old lady and it has nice low fuel consumption (good for daily commutes, e.g. doing 30km/h in 4th gear and it drives on its own, pulling along with no throttle) OR you put the hammer down and then it's loads and loads of fun. 170 bhp pack some punch. I especially opted for quattro as I've experienced FWD having problems getting the power down in the wet. Corners are no match for s-line sports supsension and quattro. I love driving in the wet, accelerating while cornering to pull/push the car through without it giving an inch, just gripping down and eagerly awaiting the next corner... It is just soooo much fun, wouldn't want to miss it for the world. If you can, go for quattro mate, the only drawback of quattro is you'll never want anything else again. Sure it's a tad more expensive but you only live once, right! Had mine for almost 3 years now (bought it 2nd hand in Jan 2010 with 50k KM on it, I'm at about 80k KM now). Not complaining about anything (no DPF issues, no bad injectors, no coolant or oil consumption). I do drive it sensibly (get it up to temperature, avoid redlining) and it sleeps indoors, to me it truly is a great machine. I wanted something fun but still sensible, hence a diesel with "some" punch, the s-line (very nifty interior)/quattro is the icing on the cake! To me it's a very successful combination that I hope to enjoy for a very longtime!

Click to expand...

Hi Nomar.

Have you ever thought about getting your A3 remapped? Had mine done and it things get even better!

Hi my previous A3 was a 56 plate 8p2 170 s line .
I had a few mods done to it , dpf delete via miltek big bore down pipe , miltek non resonated complete exhaust system , dpf delete software and custom code remap , estimated at 230 bhp and 320 ft lb torque , 6 months down the line clutch was slipping so that got replaced with uprated sachs clutch which gave a slightly heavier feel to clutch pedal . Dont beleive the hype of increased fuel consumption , drive it like miss daisy got 52 mpg normal driving would average around 44 mpg , not complaining coz it did shift for a diesel , and munched tyres accordingly . It passed 3 mot's in this configuration with no issues , however there was no denying the lack of dpf and a remap because it did give a belch of black smoke when pushed .
All in all a great car , no issues with it other than a failed dpf sensor , which started the delete process ball rolling .
I now do less mileage so have changed to a 2.0 T petrol.
hope that is of some help

I'd say two things...

1 - If you're after economy, forget the 170PS Quattro. Yes, it may be economical compared to a petrol but, for a diesel, it's far from it.

2 - Be aware there are two completely different 170PS engines, the PD and CR (the latter is superior). I'm not sure exactly when the change happened, or whether it coincided with the 8P2 to 8P3 body style switch, but get a CR if you can.

SWILKO said:

Hi Nomar.

Have you ever thought about getting your A3 remapped? Had mine done and it things get even better!

Click to expand...

:sign_ot:

Hi Swilko,

Not really no. Honestly I'm too scared to do it. Too afraid of messing up my car. Like I said I would like to enjoy it for a long long time Not sure what remapping does to the whole package in the long run (especially considering the supposedly weaker injectors...) If it were easy to get more out of the car, why don't the Audi engineers do it themselves and then sell it for a little bit extra as an A3 2.0 TDI plus or so? I obviously mean no disrespect to all the people that get their cars remapped, but I'm not entirely sure if it all really is without risks in the long run. I'm kind of really old school in that department. I hope to take it to at least 250.000 km and not just get rid of it after 2-3 years and get a new one and pay all the taxes and insurance again. Plus, ideally if you boost engine performance shouldn't you ideally upgrade your brakes/drivetrain too? What happens when you have an accident, can your insurance company refuse your claim when they find out it's been mapped? Or do you have to tell them, but then the premium goes way up I imagine? And the emissions don't change? Because in Belgium, you need to get through inspection every 2 years and they're really cracking down on diesel emissions.

There is one thing I'd change on my car: its 6th gear ratio. It's all very nice to be able to drive 50 km/h in 6th gear and all but when I hit 120 km/h my engines already runs at 2200-2400 rpm in 6th gear (on 225/40R18 tires that is, on winter 205/50R18 the rpms are a bit lower). When I do 160 km/h I hit 3000 rpm in 6th. In my parents' 2004 1.9 TDI 130 bhp A4 Multitronic I hit 160 km/h at 2500-2600 rpm. The A4 is a heavier car with less bhp (granted no quattro and 195 tires). Sometimes that kinda ticks me off. I mean hello my A3 a sports/sporty car, not an eco thing! If it were a 1.6 TDIe I'd be OK with an extremely long 6th gear, but this is a 2.0 TDI s-line quattro for Christ's sake! You want to be able to enjoy high speed runs without having to push at all and want to feel like there's a lot more where it's coming from Then again, this way I cruise along at just 160 km/h on the motorway and not 180 or 200, which is way worse when you get caught :busted_cop:. Sometimes though I wish they'd had the 2.0 TDI quattro s-tronic on the 8P chassis already That would have been killer. I'm going to have to resist when they bring out the new 8V 2.0 TDI with s-line and quattro and 177 (?) bhp and s-tronic, that truly has to be the best of all worlds in my book - given my current budget off course.

But what do you mean by better? More punch I imagine, she picks up earlier/faster, smoother running, even lower consumption when driving granny style? And what about maximum torque range, doesn't that narrow down too much when you remap?

Appreciate your concerns but if you get a sensible remap that increases performance and economy then its a no brainer for me. Most maps increase power by about 20%, which means standard components can operate without any issues. It is not a case of "all hell breaking loose at the wheels", but a more moderate increase in mid range torque and performance. I also run a Golf IV PD 150 which was Revo'd about 2 years ago and the car's performance is so much better. Never had any problems woth clutches or brakes etc etc.

Anyway, if your'e happy then that's good enough for me!

Cheers,

S

Hi Lukehh,

The setup will be slightly different but the pricing will be very similar.

Lukehh said:

you know with DPF removal, does this still pass MOT emissions?

Click to expand...

Sure does and you'll have NO DPF light on either as that is mapped out.

SWILKO said:

Hi Nomar.

Have you ever thought about getting your A3 remapped? Had mine done and it things get even better!

Click to expand...

ou

i totally agree with you on the quattro side of things myne sticks to the rood like **** to army blanket, and yeah with a remapp its a blast of a car sooo fun to drive on winedy roads.

I've got an 07 plate one. Most exciting diesel car I've driven and it performs really well. I'd recommend it!