.RJ Wrote:Well, from what I gather the 60k interval recommendation is not to be taken lightly.
this is very true. initially VAG had instituted timing belt changes at
110k miles! in fact, i have a VAG newsletter sitting on my desk that has information on a class action lawsuit regarding people who had catastrophic engine failure due to them waiting to change the t-belt until factory recommendation.
moral of the story - you're safe changing it between 60 and 80k. find a good euro shop, and have them inspect it, that will go a long ways towards helping you save some money. mine was inspected at 60k and i was told it looked flawless. for me, that means i can drive on it until i have the cash to change it, most likely at 70k.
in addition to the t-belt, make sure the water pump is changed out if it can be identified as having a plastic impeller. some of the plastic ones fail, while others last forever. either way, for peace of mind change it out to a metal one, they came into production later in the A4's life.
control arms are the only other big maintainance cost next to the t-belt/pump. they usually go anywhere from 80-100k. ECS tuning sells an upgraded control arm kit made by Mayhle with beefier arms. 200 bucks for each side i think, minus labor.
the difference between the 96-99.5's and the 00-02's is in the engine programming, throttle actuation, and head. early A4's had 150hp/155lb. ft., while newer versions had 170hp/166lb. ft. the power differences are simply marketing ploys...by starting the engine at a lower power level VAG could just pop in a new chip every couple years and stay competitive. they also didnt want to bite into V6 sales. older versions use drive by cable, not drive by wire like the newer ones. older ones also, for some odd reason, have larger ports in the heads that flow better, but its no big deal if you arent pushing the engine to over 300 horsepower. overall, like you stated, its a moot point regarding the horsepower differences in stock form since a chip will push every model of the 1.8T to the same power level, which is held back only by the size of the tiny stock jobbie. for the money, its hard to find more bang for the buck from an engine so choked from the factory.
if you do want to check one out, look out for the control arms and t-belt, of course. later models had more frequent coil pack failure as well. also take a gander at where the cat bolts up to the turbo....rarely the flange will develop a stress crack and snap off.
lemme know if you have any more questions. check out audiworld.com, audizine.com, and many replacement parts are available through ECStuning.com. thank you come again.
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