Which one?

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markthenewt

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Hi just joined!

I have not got my A3 1.8t yet but shall be buying one soon so trying to gather a bit of info before I do.

Is there any engine differences to be aware of as I want to get the most tunable one I can.

I have read that the first A3's can be a hard to re-map because the Ecu has to be taken out, is there any way of knowing what ecu it has before buying?

Thanks.

Mark
 
Hi mark and welcome, i think it was the AGU engine that had the early ecu, it will be stamped on the top of the cylinder head, after MY 2000 i think you will have the later ecu
 
AGU has the big port head gives you more room for future air flow. but like dave said above^ I think some can map without removing it these days
 
What are you aimming to do? Later facelift models and runout (2002-2003) should have a ko3s turbo which will produce more power than the earlier 1.8t which run ko3 turbos. Unsure as to which models these were fitted. Also later models were facelifted. One of the A3 boys should be able to tell you more, check out the stickys section for more info too
 
Thanks for the reply guys :L

Do they all have the AGU engines, the 1.8t that is?

My budget is about 3k, just been looking on autotrader and the one I want to get is the facelifted model, think the earliest I have seen on a facelifted model is a Y reg so will that have the better engine?

Mk1chopper. Just the usual to start with... Air filter, decat, full exhaust system then once these have been done I shall be looking for more power :L
 
no there are a number of engine codes it also depends if you want fwd or awd my engine code is ARY thats a 1.8t quattro sport facelift model it comes with the k03s and 180bhp standard. i hope this helps
 
my 2 pence...get the quattro, more power too. mine wheel spins with ease as just fwd.
 
I just sold my 1998 A3 1.8T AGU a couple of months ago for £1750, it was an absolute mint example with 114k on the clock which I'd owned for 5 years. I've now got a 2001 S3 for £4k with 128k on the clock, needs a bit of tidying to get it up to the standard of my old car, but it has way more potential and the S3 seats make the old A3 sport seats feel like sitting on a bench.

Jabbasport did a generic remap on my old A3 for £295 a year ago, it did need to have the ecu out but I don't think that was too big a deal. I think they did say that the older drive by wire 1.8T could get a bit more power from them, though their down fall was the KO3 turbo isn't as good as the KO3s turbo which was fitted to the later A3's. I'd guess my old A3 was running about 190-200bhp and according to the vagcom 0-60mph timmer gave a 6.6 secs vs my S3 at 6.9 secs, the S3 needs a remap! The remap was the best thing I ever did to the car, made it smoother to drive and the added torque was great.

I really enjoyed my A3 but I have to agree with Steve Bain, go for a quattro, if you do anymore than a basic remap wheel spin will be your enemy! In damp conditions mine was always wheel spinning if you booted it. The grip you get when you drop the clutch on a quattro is awesome after you've been use to fwd.

Why not wait a little longer and get an S3, the prices are coming down all the time, afterall you'll only end up spending the money on the A3 trying to get it to S3 spec.

S3 and loving it, there's no going back.
 
I'm going to say S3, I have no experience of the R32, but surely the R32 will be heavier, worse on fuel, higher tax bracket if later than March 2001 and I'm assuming as it's a non turbo it will be harder to get more power out of it unlike the S3 which responds great to a remap. I emagine the torque and the sound of the larger R32 engine must be a real plus point along with not having turbo lag. The Audi's are also really nicely finished off inside compared to Golf's. I use to be a Golf nut after having a 1x MKII golf, 2x MKIII golf gti's, but the A3 1.8T changed all that for me, now I'm completely blinkered to Audi's... especially the S3 now!

I think the only way you will decide though if you're considering both is not to listen to someone like me who is hugely bias toward the S3 but get a drive in both cars and do a proper comparison.....then let us know!

Don't buy an S3 if you suffer from OCD unless you enjoy tinkering, great car but they are getting on a bit now so there will always be bits to replace and fix.....but that's half the fun....isn't it!!!!
 
Hey guys thanks again for the replys

I brough a 52 reg (2003) Quattro sport. Wow what a car, very quick and the handling is excellent.

Had a fright yesterday in it though... I took my brother out for a spin and was driving it pretty hard. I went to change into 4th and the clutch pedal just stayed down and I couldnt get the gears so I limped into a bus stop shouting oh no I have broken it already. Anyway managed to get it inot gear and drive home with the clutch biting right on the floor, gears crunching Couldn't work out what I'd done so I put my foot under the clutch pedal and pulled it up and hey presto it's back to normal and working fine now as it was so I dont know what happened there... Any ideas???

Also she has bad throttle hang, but got used to it now, to get round the over reving on gear changes I just change gear a bit slower and that cures it a bit.

Apart fro these issues though I'm well happy with the little rocket
 
hmm dont wanna scare you but thats the beginings of the master cylinder going....thats inside the gearbox! good choice on the quattro though, spend abit of cash and it will fly!
 
quattro1 said:
hmm dont wanna scare you but thats the beginings of the master cylinder going....thats inside the gearbox! good choice on the quattro though, spend abit of cash and it will fly!
Click to expand...

Really...How do you know this, has it happened to yours before then.
 
dunno about the question but good choice on car!

may be a tight spot in the pedal mech. don't always assume the worst!

took me ages to get used to driving the audi after driving a thoaty old VW. the revs drop off much slower! and it has loads less torque and needs to be revved much more to get going. good times

pics?!
 
Cheers Steve yup really nice car, will get some pics up when she has had a good clean and polish :L

I just took her out on another hard drive and she is fine so I'm puzzled? I could do with her breaking now if she is going to break though lol so I can get it sorted asap, just glad I still have my old car just in case she does (Mondeo st24 mapped and modded to 200bhp)

Quattro1 do you have experience with the problem I had then?

Cheers guys
 
yeah my pedal would stick like youve described all through the winter which made me read into it and come to the conclusion that it was the slave cylinder


having said that it hasnt done it for weeks now, it would literally do it every day so im sort of hoping it was a sticky pedal mech!
 
quattro1 said:
yeah my pedal would stick like youve described all through the winter which made me read into it and come to the conclusion that it was the slave cylinder
Click to expand...

Oh right, thats not good then how long did you drive it like that for and did it only happen when driven hard or at random times?

Did you fix yours yourself, if so was it a hard job to do?

Thanks mate.
 
lol did you edit your post or did I just miss that bit where it aint done it for weeks?
 
no only on cold mornings when it was first started up, thats the only time it would do it? have a good look down there and see if somethings stopping it from coming back up, give the mech abit of love with the wd40 and take it for a blast, if it still does it try bleeding the system, other than that i wouldnt know what to suggest mate
 

Ahh hopefully then just a sticky clutch pedal, I will give it blast of WD40 and hope it cures it... wonder if any other members have had this problem?

Cheers for the replys mate, appriciated
 
Just gave it a quick spray of WD. It only stuck the once so hopefully it will be ok now.

Just nothiced as well there is some sort of adjustable plastic nut under the accelerator and it was not wound down all the way, maybe it will go a bit faster now aswell
 
lol! i havent noticed that on my accelerator ill go have a look! i dunno if that will put your throttle body sensor out of calibration?
 
I think they are a restricter so you can only rev it so much, they have the same sort of thing on fork lift trucks. Maybe not the case with these but hey you gotta have a twiddle eh lol.
 
lmao i swear to god if you gain like 50bhp from twisting a little piece of adjustable plastic my mrs is gunna find me hanging from a rope in the shed tonight!
 
Haha if only it was so easy to gain some more bhp lol. Did you have it on yours?
 
lol tell me about it!!!!!

yeah mines got one too! it was already at the bottom though! hmmm
 
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