A3 8l tdi 110

[WillJP]

Hey all,

In the new year i want to get a new car, stepping away from a Pug 306 Dturbo s, and I'm stuck between an A3 tdi 110 and a Civic vti. A bit of a chalk and cheese decision and want to know if an A3 tdi 110 would be the right choice.

Been doing as much searching as pos on an A3 but still not 100% with them. I'm after performance and still get decent mpg. So from what I know, and what I want to do if I owned one, (providing the engine has a good history behind it and not likely to blow up) chip/remap it to get around 143bhp if that's right (which would make me more than happy seeing that I'm driving around 100/110bhp and I think that's fast haha). Get it lowwww but will need ARB? Only thing i don't want to lose is the fast-hatch feeling, like right now, I know i could chuck my little 306 round a corner and it will glue to the floor but just doesn't have enough puff lol. My aim is for a new daily drive/project and go euro, down n out and smooth. And I'm not the type to be trying to stick anything closest to a cosworth spoiler on it lmao so let's get that out the way first! Also Is there anything I should know about them etc?

So any help would be great!

Thanks

 

[sportstractor]

The 110 tdi engine is pretty hardy, I had one in a golf which slipped out 3 teeth on the timing belt and lived to tell the tail, since then my brother and then a mate now has it, still battling on. Not exactly quick and you don't exactly feel connected to the road without doing a few suspension mods, but once chipped and decent dampers and arbs are fitted it would be fairly good

 

[Kave]

Forget the 110, its ancient. The PD130 6speed is an epic tractor. One of VAGs best ever engines IMO. Chipped to 170bhp and you will still see 50mpg on a run.

 

[a3tdi2001]

The 110 is the second best diesel engine ever produced, behind the XUD of course.

 

[camscockle20vT]

Hi dude,gonna play devils advocate lol have you checked out the insurance on the tdi? I found the deisel worked out more exspensive than the 1.8t petrol and as deisel is now over £1.40 a litre i dont see where the economy is! I get about 35mpg combined mpg and thats being abit heavy footed. Also the Tdi holds there value alot better than the 1.8t, you could pick up a 1.8t anywhere from £1000 upto £2500 for a nice example. Where as a Tdi would be the top end of that scale for the dogs. So id say out of the vti and the deisel go for the deisel but if your after a cheap car thats as reliable as the rest with loads of potential then the 1.8t sport is the one to go for imo.

 

[Kave]

ofc the financial diesel vs petrol argument must always be done in the context of distance covered by the car. I would say if your doing less than 200 miles per week then its a no brainer, go buy yourself a v8 guzzler (or a 1.8t) as soon as your into 400+ miles per week territory, I don't care how rich you are, filling up more than once a week is a pain in the ****. I had a 1.8th sport, I do 500 miles / week, and it was 1.5 fill ups / week, was costing me £100+ a week. Now my pd130 goes 1week and a few days on a tank, that's around 60 / week, you do the maths...

 

[sportstractor]

Hi dude,gonna play devils advocate lol have you checked out the insurance on the tdi? I found the deisel worked out more exspensive than the 1.8t petrol and as deisel is now over £1.40 a litre i dont see where the economy is! I get about 35mpg combined mpg and thats being abit heavy footed. Also the Tdi holds there value alot better than the 1.8t, you could pick up a 1.8t anywhere from £1000 upto £2500 for a nice example. Where as a Tdi would be the top end of that scale for the dogs. So id say out of the vti and the deisel go for the deisel but if your after a cheap car thats as reliable as the rest with loads of potential then the 1.8t sport is the one to go for imo.

Right so it's an extra 5p per litre but you lightly to see an extra 20mpg combined? Which soon adds up when covering any amount of miles. Even if the car is an extra £1k, your likely to see that money back in 4 months based on current fuel prices and 10,000miles per year. Diesel is a no brainer when your looking at saving money.

 

[SiGainey]

Forget the 110, its ancient. The PD130 6speed is an epic tractor. One of VAGs best ever engines IMO. Chipped to 170bhp and you will still see 50mpg on a run.

Gotta disagree. They have major issues with cams and the followers which is not a cheap problem to fix

 

[camscockle20vT]

Right so it's an extra 5p per litre but you lightly to see an extra 20mpg combined? Which soon adds up when covering any amount of miles. Even if the car is an extra £1k, your likely to see that money back in 4 months based on current fuel prices and 10,000miles per year. Diesel is a no brainer when your looking at saving money.

I pay £1.29 per litre and deisel is £1.42 a litre, also even thought the deisel is an insurance group cheaper its still more then what i pay on my 1.8t, maybe somthing to do with value of the vehicle? Dosent a remap cost more? And also labour and parts for when things go wrong?

 

[WillJP]

Thanks for the replies

I would go for a pd130 but only having about £1200, i don't think i can lol and as for a 1.8t, I'm after mpg and 35mpg is just not good lol my derv 306 hits around 38-40mpg and it's fine but I'm fed up with it now and time to move on

As for someone saying to get decent shocks on an A3, coilovers would be the first thing I'd get like i did my 306. It's a must!

Also looked a VTI mpg and it hits 35mpg which is not good either so at this rate, if i were to go for a civic then something like a 1.5i ls would be the one i geuss..

Don't know what to do! Driving me bananas!

 

[sportstractor]

I pay £1.29 per litre and deisel is £1.42 a litre, also even thought the deisel is an insurance group cheaper its still more then what i pay on my 1.8t, maybe somthing to do with value of the vehicle? Dosent a remap cost more? And also labour and parts for when things go wrong?

True I didn't factor in the fuel cost difference. A like for like diesel model Shouldn't be more to insure. Remap cost the same. Compare a petrol to turbo diesel, yes on average diesel will cost more to insure. But there will be no difference between turbo petrol and turbo diesel. they used to say the cutoff mileage was 12000 before it was worth getting a diesel (new), but I wouldn't be surprised if that's lowered now.

The pd130 is good for a diesel, but there is far to much going on with them, so they are less reliable than the 110

 

[sportstractor]

Thanks for the replies

I would go for a pd130 but only having about £1200, i don't think i can lol and as for a 1.8t, I'm after mpg and 35mpg is just not good lol my derv 306 hits around 38-40mpg and it's fine but I'm fed up with it now and time to move on

As for someone saying to get decent shocks on an A3, coilovers would be the first thing I'd get like i did my 306. It's a must!

Also looked a VTI mpg and it hits 35mpg which is not good either so at this rate, if i were to go for a civic then something like a 1.5i ls would be the one i geuss..

Don't know what to do! Driving me bananas!

Have a look at the Leon tdi's, slightly better looking than the a3 and golf I reckon and it's basically the same car. Insurance is pretty good on them too.

 

[colicabcadam]

get the 130 tdi sport - i was getting 45+ mpg on a motorway and around 35 mpg in town and this was ragging it !!!! take it easy and i'd imagine you'd get 40 / 50 mpg easily

 

[camscockle20vT]

Well with £1200 you will struggle to get a 110tdi that hasent done 12million miles lol i bet i could get my 1.8t to do 40odd mpg if i really tried but i have size 12 led feet also sports tractor im in total agreement that a deisel is a no brainer for people who do alot of miles, but for the price of deisel now and the fact they are holding there value means this chap cant afford one .

Also i know iv said the 1.8t is a good alternative but whatelse is really out there for sub 2k that has reliabilty, performance and will do 35-40mpg? No there not perfect but please show me a better car?

 

[sportstractor]

306 gti6? I used to get 40mpg from mine, fantastic car also.

For 1k, any a3 is going to be a dog, 1.8t or tdi, unless you get lucky.

 

[camscockle20vT]

306 gti6? I used to get 40mpg from mine, fantastic car also.

For 1k, any a3 is going to be a dog, 1.8t or tdi, unless you get lucky.

Yeh the gti6 is a good all rounder aswel but iv never really been keen on peugeot at all, and you must of drove like a saint lol and i agree that many cars that go for £1000 are likely to be agro and have alot of miles but i think about why people sell a car, in the case of a deisel who in there right mind would sell an audi tdi for a grand? But a 1.8t is usually cheaper as people are scared of petrol these days, i couldnt sell my 1.8t sport for £1800 and its got all the extras you could ask for.

 

[camscockle20vT]

Also willjp why dont you check out the mg zr deisel? They go for your kind of doh and are a nice car, my mom had one that was mapped to 130bhpish and was good to chuck round the corners.

 

[egesford]

i got a 110tdi a few months ago, good car but wish id got the 130bhp model. if your going to spend money on a remap why not just put the extra cash in and get the better model. 6 gear box suits it well. i had a golf with the 130 engine, done 192000 miles and still pulls like a train, never had any problems with it whatsoever

 

[WillJP]

Well with £1200 you will struggle to get a 110tdi that hasent done 12million miles lol i bet i could get my 1.8t to do 40odd mpg if i really tried but i have size 12 led feet also sports tractor im in total agreement that a deisel is a no brainer for people who do alot of miles, but for the price of deisel now and the fact they are holding there value means this chap cant afford one .

Also i know iv said the 1.8t is a good alternative but whatelse is really out there for sub 2k that has reliabilty, performance and will do 35-40mpg? No there not perfect but please show me a better car?

I check autotrader quite often and there's a fair few tdi 110's around £995 to £1200 that come up but like said, could be a dog ha

You really get 40mpg from a 1.8t?? Really thought it would be a thirsty car

306 gti6? I used to get 40mpg from mine, fantastic car also.

For 1k, any a3 is going to be a dog, 1.8t or tdi, unless you get lucky.

How the hell do you get 40mpg from a gti6??? My mate has one and he defo does not get that lol although he does like to pull out the lead foot now n then

Also willjp why dont you check out the mg zr deisel? They go for your kind of doh and are a nice car, my mom had one that was mapped to 130bhpish and was good to chuck round the corners.

Noooo MG are not my cup of tea

 

[sportstractor]

How the hell do you get 40mpg from a gti6??? My mate has one and he defo does not get that lol although he does like to pull out the lead foot now n then

Easy, I never used to try very hard to get that. One of the funnest cars iv owned I think

 

[camscockle20vT]

I check autotrader quite often and there's a fair few tdi 110's around £995 to £1200 that come up but like said, could be a dog ha

You really get 40mpg from a 1.8t?? Really thought it would be a thirsty car



How the hell do you get 40mpg from a gti6??? My mate has one and he defo does not get that lol although he does like to pull out the lead foot now n then



Noooo MG are not my cup of tea

Iv never got 40mpg but i have had over 35 im not an eco driver, but im sure a carefull driver could. And id say you cant really go wrong if you can get a deisel audi A3 for £900, because youl have a few quid left to sort any problems.

 

[Jason.s]

My A4 1.8T which is slightly heavier than an A3 would do 480miles to a tank.

I had a EK4 Civic VTI and to a full tank i`d just about scrape 260 without touching tec once. So thats a no no but obviously a lot more fun lol.

 

[beachbuggy]

Gotta disagree. They have major issues with cams and the followers which is not a cheap problem to fix

It's Only the pd150 with the chocolate cams and followers. Pd130 although the same spec used different versions and so don't suffer the problem.

 

[WillJP]

Iv never got 40mpg but i have had over 35 im not an eco driver, but im sure a carefull driver could. And id say you cant really go wrong if you can get a deisel audi A3 for £900, because youl have a few quid left to sort any problems.

Yea been thinking the same. Surely there couldn't THAT much wrong with one though? Maybe carbon build up and crap like that? It's a vag diesel *** lol

My A4 1.8T which is slightly heavier than an A3 would do 480miles to a tank.

I had a EK4 Civic VTI and to a full tank i`d just about scrape 260 without touching tec once. So thats a no no but obviously a lot more fun lol.

Yea that's not good haha my 306 did 530 miles to a tank but it was filled all the way up to the hole!

Another thing I like to know is to potential. So after chipping a 110, how far can you go with it? within reason lol

 

[Jason.s]

Pretty sure you can still do pretty much the same as the bigger engines. Guy on local vag forum has a 110 tdi golf and still went and fitted a hybrid pd150 turbo and so on.

Regarding the pd130 reliability..the cams do go as my mates Fabia VRS had them done and replaced with the newer revised items. The minute you start playing with them reliability goes down the pan. Loads of mates have them. Also they suffer from cracked cylinder heads even as standard. Unit18 who i use have replaced a fair few now.

 

[WillJP]

Yea i know someone that has a mk5 golf pd140 remapped and was saying if he were to get more then hybrid turbo and another map

Think A3 tdi 110 it is

Anyone have any pics or links of an A3 lower than 60mm or on coilovers at their lowest setting?

 

[WillJP]

Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaase!

 

[TDIQ]

There's a thread with a picture of someone with a 60mm drop here
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-forum-8l-chassis/141032-so-i-dropped-60mm.html

 

[Routledge]

No petrol Hondas well give you 40mpg. I've had a 1.5 Eco, 1.6 16v, 1.6iVt, 1.8 VTi and none I then gave much more than 30-35.

Don't buy a car now just because you want one now. If you need to save a bit more to afford one that's not going to be a nightmare then do that. Don't just buy one for the sakes of it because you're bored. It'll cost you exponentially more in the long run and you'll unnecessarily hate the model for that reason. Buy good and buy once. Buy cheap and expect to buy more.

 

[WillJP]

There's a thread with a picture of someone with a 60mm drop here
http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-forum-8l-chassis/141032-so-i-dropped-60mm.html

Thanks Looks good btw

No petrol Hondas well give you 40mpg. I've had a 1.5 Eco, 1.6 16v, 1.6iVt, 1.8 VTi and none I then gave much more than 30-35.

Don't buy a car now just because you want one now. If you need to save a bit more to afford one that's not going to be a nightmare then do that. Don't just buy one for the sakes of it because you're bored. It'll cost you exponentially more in the long run and you'll unnecessarily hate the model for that reason. Buy good and buy once. Buy cheap and expect to buy more.

Nah it's not the case of just wanting one now. I've been going on for a few months now and now it's getting nearer the new year I'm starting to look into it more.

Thanks for the input anyways! Better than most forums I've been on asking the same thing lol and so far I'm quite happily wanting an A3, whether it's a 110 or 130pd, I'll let you know when I own one haha :icon_thumright: