Newbie looking for an avant

[Moor]

Hi guys, this is my first post so go easy if it's full of newbie stuff you have heard plenty of times before
I'm on the look out for a decent 190 sport quattro and I'm wondering what there is to look for?
I'm coming from a fairly modded golf MK4 gti (mapped, air suspension etc) so I'm familiar with the 1.8T all be it in a slightly different form but everything else is fairly new to me.
From what I have uncovered so far the 190 quattro sport is harder to come by than most but are fairly well equipped but few have xenons which is disappointing as they make a huge difference, but I see they all have projectors so are ripe for HIDs, i retrofitted some OEM xenons on my MK4 is an option on the A4?
I test drove a red 190 sport quattro this afternoon and it had no go at all, couldn't feel any turbo pull, I'm presuming this was a bit if a dog as I was expecting much more pull than there was, is it right to presume that?
Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance.

 

[Moor]

Anyone?

 

[hades-]

you can retro the oem xeons easy
and you should feel the 190 pull off
maybe it had a bad DV or air leak

 

[Moor]

Thanks for the reply bez, there may well have been some issues I walked away from that car pretty quickly though.
I have been told the 163bhp quattro is a better option than the 190, can anyone else offer any insight on that?

 

[therainking_jake]

Hi Moor,

I have a 190 avant and like you I was initially quite dissapointed with the performance. I came from a mk3 16v Golf with 150bhp so was expecting it to feel much faster. In actual fact it feels about the same from a stand still but in 3rd/4th gear it just pulls so much better then the Golf did. It seems to be one of those cars that doesn't feel that fast but then you look at the speedo and realise you are in licence losing teritory!

Not sure on the weight of the mk4 but if it was mapped then maybe thats why the a4 feels underwhelming. My dad has a mapped mk1 TT and it just feels so much more responsive that my A4.

Mapping my car is high on the list of priorities!

Jake

 

[blanc]

its the quattro system, it zaps power. Iam very disappointed with my 2.5 quattro coming from a vrs diesel

 

[Moor]

I appreciate it's a much heavier car than my golf so will obviously not be that quick but I was definitely not expecting what I got, definitely not licence losing territory I'm afraid, whatever i get I would definitely get it mapped though.
It's interesting that the quattro zaps power, I was after a quattro for the grip in the wet as this is where my golf had trouble, is there a big difference between the power of the quattro and fwd? If so I will give the quattro a miss, there is also a load more fwd 190s on the Market than quattros.

 

[therainking_jake]

Never driven a quattro so not sure how much better it is but mines fwd and it is pretty tricky to get the power down in 1st and 2nd in the wet but its a price I'm willing to pay for a bit of weight saving/increased mpg. When I first looked I fancied a quattro too but as you mention much easier to find a fwd.

Does sound like the one you tried was a bit of a dog! Mine is definately fast even if it doesn't give you that shove back into the seat feeling.

Maybe worth getting a shot in fwd as in the dry never had a problem with traction and realistically how much can you push it in the wet in any car?!

 

[quattrojames]

If I had a choice between quattro and fwd it would be quattro everytime, granted I'm lucky in that the 2.5 has more power in the quattro version, especially when re-mapped. The benefits of quattro far outweigh its weight and mpg disadvantage I think. Power is nothing without control, ie traction

 

[Avant4me]

When i was buying mine, my best mate said to me
"Buying and Audi without power to all 4 wheels, is like having a Porn star Girlfriend who doesn't do anal. Still nice but you feel like your missing something!!"

Hit the nail on the head in my opinion. Power is nothing without control, and given the size and weight, your always going to struggle with Fwd when comparing to the hot hatches people seem to be drawing parallels with.

 

[T0m]

When i was buying mine, my best mate said to me
"Buying and Audi without power to all 4 wheels, is like having a Porn star Girlfriend who doesn't do anal. Still nice but you feel like your missing something!!"

Hit the nail on the head in my opinion. Power is nothing without control, and given the size and weight, your always going to struggle with Fwd when comparing to the hot hatches people seem to be drawing parallels with.

Hear hear how can anyone compare the A4 to a hot hatch they are two totally different categories of cars you cannot expect an A4 to be the same as a golf or anyother car labeled a hot hatch.

 

[Moor]

Thanks for all the input guys, quattro is definitely my first choice especially with the winters we are having, the problem I have is patience, there are loads of nice fwd out there and very few realistically priced quattros out there, I will just have to be patient.
Is the 190 a better option over the 163?

 

[Avant4me]

I would put forward the point that despite its size, the A4 has some seriously complicated suspension giving it some good stability. With the quattro system, i have literally driven up the inside of a Fiesta ST whilst he was spinning his wheels on a roundabout, unable to get the traction down. With new suspension components, i would suggest the handling would be better than Mk4 golf which had a torsion bar rear suspension and simple wishbone front suspension.

 

[Moor]

I will definitely be looking at a quattro if i can find a decent one in my budget. I'm pretty sure the MK4 golf didn't have a torsion bar are you thinking of a MK3?

 

[Avant4me]

I will definitely be looking at a quattro if i can find a decent one in my budget. I'm pretty sure the MK4 golf didn't have a torsion bar are you thinking of a MK3?

Mk4 defo had a torsion bar. I had a Leon which it was based on. Handling was not too shabby once i put a set of Eibach ARBs on, but the rear end got a little snappy, never felt that planted.

 

[Moor]

Well i have pretty much given up on finding a decent quattro that's priced realistically, the prices some people want to charge is ridiculous when compared to the fwd so I think it will have to be a fwd as I simply will not pay B7 prices for a B6. I have come across a couple of decent looking cars but both are tiptronics which isn't my first choice but I think that's because I have never even driven an auto before, how do they compare to manuals?

 

[Mike B]

Well i have pretty much given up on finding a decent quattro that's priced realistically, the prices some people want to charge is ridiculous when compared to the fwd so I think it will have to be a fwd as I simply will not pay B7 prices for a B6. I have come across a couple of decent looking cars but both are tiptronics which isn't my first choice but I think that's because I have never even driven an auto before, how do they compare to manuals?

We have both and I prefer the manual but my son likes his triptronic cos its a relaxed drive but performs when you want.The auto is heavier on fuel and I would only consider one if reasonably priced.I think most want manual thats why prices are holding.Not bad an investment though he made a profit when he sold his previous 1.9 Quattro after a year and I think mine is still worth what it cost 2 years ago

 

[Moor]

Thanks mike, found a nice 190 quattro s-line with a manual box that I'd been eyeing up for a while that came down in price so I bought it this morning, very pleased with the car. Thanks to all for the input on this thread.

 

[Mike B]

Thanks mike, found a nice 190 quattro s-line with a manual box that I'd been eyeing up for a while that came down in price so I bought it this morning, very pleased with the car. Thanks to all for the input on this thread.

Good news another Quattro convert .Lets us know how it goes

 

[quattrojames]

Nice, look forward to seeing the pics.

Make sure you do your research on oil sludge.

 

[Moor]

Thanks James, I haven't heard a great deal regarding the sludge, from what I understand the dumps can build up sludge that will stop oil flowing properly, what van be done to prevent it?