A3 1,6 sport 2001 plate review

[jamesmaher]

Afternoon all,
I currently drive a 6k classic polo saloon but I'm very interested in an A3 1.6 Sport on a 2001 plate that a garage has for sale near me.

Good poiints:
The car will be 6 months taxed and 12 months MOT, it has 110k on the clock and looks very clean. Comes with a headunit, 4 new tyres etc.

Bad points:
No serice history provided. When I went to see the car, it wouldn't start as apparantly the battery was flat and also slight surface rust on the disks which shows it may have been stood for a while. Also, it has a silver/chrome ariel tip (were these standard with the 1.6 sport 3doors? Or isit a halfords job (stereotypical but may avoid if it's been own by a chav that has abused it everywhere).

Just looking for some general information on the model really, and how expensive are they to run? (22 year old student - works part time in a pub).


Many thanks

 

[jamesmaher]

Anyone?

 

[aragorn]

never seen a factory Audi with a chrome ariel, so its bound to be a chavvy addon.

Why the 1.6? Its almost invariably the worst engine choice. If you dont want performance, buy a TDI. You'll get more power than the 1.6, the power will be delivered in a far more user friendly manner, and it'll use much less fuel.

 

[jamesmaher]

never seen a factory Audi with a chrome ariel, so its bound to be a chavvy addon.

Why the 1.6? Its almost invariably the worst engine choice. If you dont want performance, buy a TDI. You'll get more power than the 1.6, the power will be delivered in a far more user friendly manner, and it'll use much less fuel.

Thanks for your reply.
The TDi's seem to be more expensive on insurance for me, and the 1.6 petrols are the cheapest option £60 a month!
Are the 1.6s reliable? I'll have a look at a few others, but there doesn't seem to be many A3s of this age near me

 

[aragorn]

How much more expensive? You dont have to drive far before the fuel savings start building up.

What i'd suggest you do, is first off avoid the one you've found, as it sounds ****. But go test drive a TDI and test drive a 1.6 and see what you think of the difference between them.

 

[joe_echo]

definately go for a tdi. I'm 23 no ncd and my insurance is £61 a month get 500 miles out of a 3/4 of a tank (I never let it get into the red). Nice amount of power and torque I wouldnt trade it for the world. I have had a few problems but thats because I bought a bit of a old dog (180k odd miles) but she is a trooper.

 

[RGL]

Yeah 1.6 is the worst. TDI can give you some proper pull for little money (as the fuel economy is on point), but only if it has been handled and serviced correctly, otherwise it can start emptying your wallet rather quick IMO. When getting an A3 (8L) turbo's really are the best way to go, if you obviously can afford them that is. The free breathers are what they are...won't ever give you enough run for the money and fuel consumption is ridiculously high. I own a 1.8 N/A (the 92kw one) and it would've been better to go with a TDI or 1.8T on any day of the week. Atleast 1.8 N/A are a little bit more quicker than the 1.6. 1.6 really is the last resort. Cannot comment really much on their reliability. Obviously there are going to be some of the expensive parts and gadgets missing when comparing it to 1.8T and the TDI. Meaning there are less expensive crap to blow out on you. Unfortunately 1.6 won't ever give you the driving satisfaction you need or wish and it cannot ever be easily or efficiently modded to do that.

I obviously cannot comment on insurance prices since I live far away from the nasty insurance system, you fellas seem to have.

 

[joe_echo]

Insurance is stupid really and I work in it. My tdi was cheaper to insure than a 1.2 ford fiesta.

 

[jamesmaher]

Firstly, thanks everybody for your replies!

I notice a common thing is the 1.6 is underpowered, but power isn't what I'm looking for so the 1.8 t model doesn't appeal to me as such! I've had a 1L 6n polo and now a 75bhp polo saloon and I stick to limit the majority of the time.

How poor is the 1.6 on fuel? According to Parkers, it does better MPG than my current Polo saloon which is a bonus and insurance is over half the price.


Insurance on the 1.9TDi is £101 per month, which I cannot afford to dish out every month and the 1.8 t model is about £123 per month!

Reliability is quite important, although (without sounding spoilt / a knob) if the worst comes to the worst and a big job happens, my Dad has a contract for his work vans with a garage around the corner so can get it done and pay him back weekly. What should I look out for if I were to buy the 1.6 model?

Cheers!

 

[Sham101]

scrap it £190 in metal

 

[jamesmaher]

scrap it £190 in metal

...........

 

[jamesmaher]

What are the clutches like on the 1.6 sports? I went to see one yesterday at another garage and the clutch felt weird. I'm used to Polos as stated earliar, but this clutch felt like stepping on a sponge? There was no spring in it, is this normal?

 

[werdna232002]

Hi! I currently own a 1.6 fuel wise is ok but expect not much power when pulling off from junctions or stop lights. Reliability..depends on the condition of the car. Mine was bad as i bought it for 800 on 107 clocks. After th vacation last summer (london-wales-london-brighton-kent-london-cornwall-london) my gearbox failed from typical duu gearbox fault (check if it was reinforced already). So have to change but only cost me 399 for the gearbox from a gearbox company in kent. Had to do the gearbox change myself took me 3 days as it was my first time and i was only doing it couple hours a day. Got myself a powerflow exhaust and k&n filters and it was fine since then. I had fun with it on motorways i was doing 110 max but i think i can do more as i wasnt pushing it hard. I bought genuine vcds as i will be staying with vag group for while.

 

[werdna232002]

Watchout for the throttle bodies and egr as well they become stucked if not maintained well so will give you problems on emission during mot. If the battery is disconnected for a while the egr and throttle body needs to be reset or reconfigured with vcds.

 

[JimS3]

I know we are in the audi forum, but have you considered getting insurance quotes on golfs, seat Leon etc?

I would far rather be driving a Seat Leon cupra TDI than an A3 with the 1.6 engine.

The 1.6 is terrible on fuel if you like to drive swiftly / make progress as you have to work it hard. The tdi zips along effortlessly with all the torque.

i would highly recommend test driving a pd tdi if you can.