1.8iS vs 1.8i

[cds195]

I'm seriously looking into buying a 7-9 yr old 1.8S. My question is: is the "s" really any quicker than the std 1.8?? Is it worth the premium?

Cheers,
Craig.

[lord summerisle]

hmm the engines the same. so should be no differance in performance

its just the S is weighted down with powersteering & electric windows, maybe an airbag & air con... so the extra creature comforts might be an advantage, but it aint going to help performance, neither the UK cars came with an LSD, only some Eunos models had a viscous LSD

[steve bowen]

a 7 year old car would be a mk2, so yes the S is worth it as you'll get a torsen LSD. No Mk1 UK cars had LSD's, Mk2s started to in sport spec so I believe.

[Fruitcake]

steve bowen said:

a 7 year old car would be a mk2, so yes the S is worth it as you'll get a torsen LSD. No Mk1 UK cars had LSD's, Mk2s started to in sport spec so I believe.

Mine was an iS and it had a Torsen diff. Great for doing doughnuts in the wet and probably a great thing to have on a trackday but the advantages in normal driving in the dry are negligable. Fantastic bit of kit in the wet though.

[Combover]

Worth it for the diff alone, Craig. Genuinely.

[otolith]

You can get the torsen diff without buying the iS, though, some special editions had it (ours does). The later iS also had wider, lower profile tyres on bigger rims. I quite like the combination of the diff and the narrower tyres, though. It's not as sharp or as grippy, but it's very progressive and forgiving.