Quattro worth £1000-£2000 more than FWD counterpart?

[Anon]

I'm in the market for an A3 2.0 TFSi and do like the thought of a quattro but is it worth paying so much more? I'm looking at a 2006 A3 quattro but the owner wants £8500 for it (sub 70k miles). I'm also looking at a '07 2.0 TFSi which is only FWD but it is around £7500 and has 10k miles LESS.

Ideally I wanted a S3 but I do want to be able to save as well for a mortgage so I'm making the trade off and going for an A3 which will remap to 240~bhp hence why I initially wanted a quattro.

All help appreciated.

 

[Lewbo]

If your wanting to remap the TFSI which you will, quattro is deffo a must as the front wheels don't like that much power, plus it's perfect time of the year to be buying quattro, I miss It loads from my S3 and deffo recommend it if you can find the right car. Just make sure the haldex has had it's correct oil changes at every 40K miles.

 

[daz5182]

from the cars that i have looked at the quattro fetch the same or less in some cases as they are less economical!

Shop around mate, it goes on options and condition too, if it's a minter it might be worth the extra 1k

 

[Anon]

If your wanting to remap the TFSI which you will, quattro is deffo a must as the front wheels don't like that much power, plus it's perfect time of the year to be buying quattro, I miss It loads from my S3 and deffo recommend it if you can find the right car. Just make sure the haldex has had it's correct oil changes at every 40K miles.

Yeah I have considered that, the remap would definitely benefit from the quattro. I'll make sure I ask if it has been changed at 40k, I worry it hasn't though.

from the cars that i have looked at the quattro fetch the same or less in some cases as they are less economical!

Shop around mate, it goes on options and condition too, if it's a minter it might be worth the extra 1k

I'm quite eager for something new, finally got a half decent job and I want to treat myself to a nice car. I just worry that £8,500 for a car almost 7 years old is a bit too much. Then the usual honeymoon period sets in and you end up deciding what changes you want to make to the car (I already want the A5 y-spoke alloys and will probably want RNSe installed which will also require single to double din conversion) so £8,500 can quickly become £10,000 with alloys, a remap and RNSe.

 

[daz5182]

this is true mate an you're better off spending 10k on the car if you're worried about getting any of your money back, if you look hard enough you'd find a nice quattro with nice wheels and maybe even nav.... Once just sold down the road from me, red, 08 reg with special edition wheels and red/black leather, immaculate car, went for about 10500.

 

[Anon]

this is true mate an you're better off spending 10k on the car if you're worried about getting any of your money back, if you look hard enough you'd find a nice quattro with nice wheels and maybe even nav.... Once just sold down the road from me, red, 08 reg with special edition wheels and red/black leather, immaculate car, went for about 10500.

I completely agree that the 10k would be a wiser spend based on a resale value - but the modifications don't have to be done right away so it could be in the summer or next winter before I spend each £500. I don't think I'd spend £10,500 on an A3 in the one go when the S3 prices are so close.

I guess I'm just trying to decide where to draw the line, if I aim too high cost wise I will end up getting an S3 (or give up and stick with the runaround). I think now I should have asked if Quattro was worth the premium it seems to be demanding as its branded as a 'rare' car by some dealers I've seen...

 

[daz5182]

Have a drive in both, mine is a fwd and I think it is best for what use it for, they're not the best on juice. Quattro worse.

Drive them and see what suits you best....

 

[JPK]

I have a remapped FWD and would be around 260BHP and dont really have any issues with traction in the dry.
Have decent 225 tyres, Whiteline ALK, Whiteline front control arm bushes and full set of uprated mounts which helps.

 

[mookster]

As said above, the quattro will knock a few mpg off your economy, when standard and when mapped.

Keep in mind that you could fit a Quaife ATB diff to a 2.0 TFSI - had one in my old Rover 220GSi turbo and it makes a noticable difference to turn in and front end grip. It also had the benefit of pretty much guarenteeing 2WD in snow - normal open diffs just spin a wheel and go nowhere, if you lost grip with a Quaife it would transfer power to the other wheel. Well worth the investment, especially if you want to keep the car for a few years