RE: Shed of the Week: Audi TT Roadster
Discussion
bangerhoarder said:
If you can, buy a spare one to raid for parts (they're cheap enough).
I am looking at this, after I saw a quite nice '02 coupe go through H&H at Buxton last week for £850+premium. But I need a Roadster ideally, and a 225. Not that mine is particularly unreliable or costly to maintain, it's just that I like to have spares. When I do a job like swapping suspension bushes, I like to have a replacement arm, already cleaned and with new bushes in place, so the time for the job is shorter. When I did the front discs recently and saw the state of the caliper carrier brackets, it almost hurt to put them back on. With a spares car, I could have had a pair ready cleaned and painted.alanjohnlew said:
Check the rear window. The one on my wife's 2000 TT started to come away from the hood. The resultant ingress of water damaged the unit controlling doors, hood and God knows what else. Can't repair rear window, replacing hood only option.
Mine's doing that. I've tried all sorts to glue it back in place, but it's not perfect and it's really difficult to do a neat job. Access is the biggest problem. Same for the heated rear screen - the wires break due to fatigue through bending when the roof is opened and closed, and they're really neatly installed at the factory, which means they're a pig to get to afterwards. Best adhesive so far - after trying several relatively expensive ones - is the two-pack epoxy from Poundworld, at 70p for two pairs of tubes in the closing down sale. Nice to hear that replacement hoods are coming down in price, but it's a pretty long job to swap it over. Another reason I'd like a parts car - I could practice on that.droopsnoot said:
bangerhoarder said:
If you can, buy a spare one to raid for parts (they're cheap enough).
I am looking at this, after I saw a quite nice '02 coupe go through H&H at Buxton last week for £850+premium. But I need a Roadster ideally, and a 225. Not that mine is particularly unreliable or costly to maintain, it's just that I like to have spares. When I do a job like swapping suspension bushes, I like to have a replacement arm, already cleaned and with new bushes in place, so the time for the job is shorter. When I did the front discs recently and saw the state of the caliper carrier brackets, it almost hurt to put them back on. With a spares car, I could have had a pair ready cleaned and painted.alanjohnlew said:
Check the rear window. The one on my wife's 2000 TT started to come away from the hood. The resultant ingress of water damaged the unit controlling doors, hood and God knows what else. Can't repair rear window, replacing hood only option.
Mine's doing that. I've tried all sorts to glue it back in place, but it's not perfect and it's really difficult to do a neat job. Access is the biggest problem. Same for the heated rear screen - the wires break due to fatigue through bending when the roof is opened and closed, and they're really neatly installed at the factory, which means they're a pig to get to afterwards. Best adhesive so far - after trying several relatively expensive ones - is the two-pack epoxy from Poundworld, at 70p for two pairs of tubes in the closing down sale. Nice to hear that replacement hoods are coming down in price, but it's a pretty long job to swap it over. Another reason I'd like a parts car - I could practice on that.
I did wonder where I was going to put it, and I saw a front end damaged 225 coupe in black like mine for £700 or so, then I had the image of the bloke who lived my grandparents in Wythenshawe who used to run Ford Zephrys and Zodiacs which were old even then (late seventies/early eighties), he had a daily which he kept going with bits from his collection of similar ones that ran down the side of the house, 4 or 5 getting more dilapidated the further back they were, there was a slight him of that scrapyard smell as well, so I decided against it .
Agreed they are pretty cars to look at. And the baseball interior is a wonder to behold.
But - by heck! - they were lousy to drive! I've tried a few (both 2wd and the 4wd variety) and their hatchback underpinnings are impossible to hide. I know there are people who like them but for my taste they were a massive triumph of style over substance. If you want something cute and trendy and pretty to look at then I can understand why you would buy one but it stops there.
(The sad thing is that the Mk2 TT was no better, and wasn't as good to look at either. And the Mk3 is meant to be light years further on but utterly incapable of holding a candle to the competition from Porsche, Lotus etc).
Nice enough for a shed though. £1500, pose a bit, flog it on for not much loss. Prices will be low at this time of year and if you flog it in April you could even make a profit. Just don't try a road that is at all challenging and expect it to be a sensual delight!
But - by heck! - they were lousy to drive! I've tried a few (both 2wd and the 4wd variety) and their hatchback underpinnings are impossible to hide. I know there are people who like them but for my taste they were a massive triumph of style over substance. If you want something cute and trendy and pretty to look at then I can understand why you would buy one but it stops there.
(The sad thing is that the Mk2 TT was no better, and wasn't as good to look at either. And the Mk3 is meant to be light years further on but utterly incapable of holding a candle to the competition from Porsche, Lotus etc).
Nice enough for a shed though. £1500, pose a bit, flog it on for not much loss. Prices will be low at this time of year and if you flog it in April you could even make a profit. Just don't try a road that is at all challenging and expect it to be a sensual delight!
My current one was bought from an auction, it cost peanuts (plenty of change from £1000, including BP). I already had one and thought 'might as well', it was so cheap. Expected it to be a lemon. Spoke to a dealer there who breaks them, this would have gone that way if I hadn't outbid him.
It was much less of a lemon than my other one, so I swapped the good parts and sold that instead! Knowledge and parts stock acquired for the other car fixed this one up well - including a set of genuine later revision (D) coilpacks from a Golf. Cured the stutter at high boost, just made some fitting adaptors by cutting the bolt/flange mounts off the nasty cheap coilpacks on there.
It was much less of a lemon than my other one, so I swapped the good parts and sold that instead! Knowledge and parts stock acquired for the other car fixed this one up well - including a set of genuine later revision (D) coilpacks from a Golf. Cured the stutter at high boost, just made some fitting adaptors by cutting the bolt/flange mounts off the nasty cheap coilpacks on there.
2Btoo said:
Agreed they are pretty cars to look at. And the baseball interior is a wonder to behold.
But - by heck! - they were lousy to drive! I've tried a few (both 2wd and the 4wd variety) and their hatchback underpinnings are impossible to hide. I know there are people who like them but for my taste they were a massive triumph of style over substance. If you want something cute and trendy and pretty to look at then I can understand why you would buy one but it stops there.
(The sad thing is that the Mk2 TT was no better, and wasn't as good to look at either. And the Mk3 is meant to be light years further on but utterly incapable of holding a candle to the competition from Porsche, Lotus etc).
Nice enough for a shed though. £1500, pose a bit, flog it on for not much loss. Prices will be low at this time of year and if you flog it in April you could even make a profit. Just don't try a road that is at all challenging and expect it to be a sensual delight!
Hmm, I thought they drove quite nicely, depends on expectations I guess, Mk2 is meant to be a lot better but never tried one, would agree they werent as good looking as the MK1, MK3 is pretty sharp though, I did consider a TTS but too expensive really at the time and fancied being able to take passengers.But - by heck! - they were lousy to drive! I've tried a few (both 2wd and the 4wd variety) and their hatchback underpinnings are impossible to hide. I know there are people who like them but for my taste they were a massive triumph of style over substance. If you want something cute and trendy and pretty to look at then I can understand why you would buy one but it stops there.
(The sad thing is that the Mk2 TT was no better, and wasn't as good to look at either. And the Mk3 is meant to be light years further on but utterly incapable of holding a candle to the competition from Porsche, Lotus etc).
Nice enough for a shed though. £1500, pose a bit, flog it on for not much loss. Prices will be low at this time of year and if you flog it in April you could even make a profit. Just don't try a road that is at all challenging and expect it to be a sensual delight!
I punted mine across country and quite enjoyed it, but I had come from a massive V8 auto barge.
But any talk of buying, flogging and making a profit, they are cheap all year as there are loads about, and by the time you have taxed, insured, fueled, fixed niggles or been hit by a couple of faults you are into negative equity, profit is very unlikely, not losing anything is an achievement and not spending loads chasing boost faults and misfires is another.
I recently bought a Green Mk 1 Roadster with Baseball, it was the only colour combo for me, I have quite a few other cars but really enjoy the TT for what it is, a cheap bit of fun and I think the styling was so cutting edge at the time that it should become a future classic.
I notice a lot of the younger lads on facebook are modding them which generally leads to the future classic once most have been pulled apart etc.
I notice a lot of the younger lads on facebook are modding them which generally leads to the future classic once most have been pulled apart etc.
J4CKO said:
Hmm, I thought they drove quite nicely, depends on expectations I guess, Mk2 is meant to be a lot better but never tried one, would agree they werent as good looking as the MK1, MK3 is pretty sharp though, I did consider a TTS but too expensive really at the time and fancied being able to take passengers.
I punted mine across country and quite enjoyed it, but I had come from a massive V8 auto barge.
But any talk of buying, flogging and making a profit, they are cheap all year as there are loads about, and by the time you have taxed, insured, fueled, fixed niggles or been hit by a couple of faults you are into negative equity, profit is very unlikely, not losing anything is an achievement and not spending loads chasing boost faults and misfires is another.
Good point - expectations is probably the nub of it. My experience of cars is pretty VW-heavy and I thought that the TT was comparable to although duller than the MK3 Golf GTi I drove for a few years. Given that they are a very similar layout but the Golf was probably lighter and stiffer (someone will doubtless find the figures to prove me wrong on this) then this is not that surprising. I punted mine across country and quite enjoyed it, but I had come from a massive V8 auto barge.
But any talk of buying, flogging and making a profit, they are cheap all year as there are loads about, and by the time you have taxed, insured, fueled, fixed niggles or been hit by a couple of faults you are into negative equity, profit is very unlikely, not losing anything is an achievement and not spending loads chasing boost faults and misfires is another.
Compared to my current 944, any and every TT I have driven has left me utterly, utterly cold. They are supposedly comparable cars (2+2 coupes/softops) and it's amazing that the one that dates from the 1970's is so far ahead of the one with a design that is 20 years newer. And when I say 'so far ahead' I mean completely incomparable. A back to back drive with a 986 or 987 Boxster or a Cayman of any vintage leaves you wondering how Audi managed so shift so many TT's. OK, the Mk1 was indeed pretty but it stopped there - in every way.
Where was that PH review of the TT vs a current-gen Cayman vs a Lotus Evora? Didn't they say something like "By comparison, driving the TT feels like you are driving an SUV. And not a very good one." And that's the (supposedly much more advanced) Mk3.
However, kudos to Audi; they took an established platform and drivetrain and put it in a pretty frock so probably only spent a pittance on design and development. They then sold it by the million to people who were very happy to own such a thing.
Good point about prices and making a profit. Although you may get lucky; haggle hard when you buy and find someone happy to pay more when you sell!
I'll be honest I've never been a huge fan of the TT. Not because it's a bad car but it's never really done a lot for me.
I must admit though for the money, the MKI offers an absolute bargain and despite it's rumoured handling I suspect it's a perfect good car to drive.
I personally think they look better as a hard top though. The looks have held up surprisingly, crazy to think these are coming up to 20 years old when they don't look that age at all. Don't get me wrong, they're not entirely ageless but they certainly haven't gone from looking really fresh to suddenly looking old.
I must admit though for the money, the MKI offers an absolute bargain and despite it's rumoured handling I suspect it's a perfect good car to drive.
I personally think they look better as a hard top though. The looks have held up surprisingly, crazy to think these are coming up to 20 years old when they don't look that age at all. Don't get me wrong, they're not entirely ageless but they certainly haven't gone from looking really fresh to suddenly looking old.
1974foggy said:
Cripes! Are we looking at the same car? Its got to be one of the best looking small coupes ever, and the best looking TT to me.
I would agree, I clearly remember when they first came out and seeing my first one on the road, it really was a striking design and still looks classy today (in the right colour/wheel combo and not chavved up). In fairness, I do also remember being underwhelmed when I finally got behind the wheel of a 225.
The Mrs had a mk1 180 Quattro roadster for a couple of years. Was ok to drive, nothing sensational but we had issues with it. The standard alarm had a mind of its own until I disconnected the horn. The rear nearside suspension arm snapped due to a seized bearing. Luckily she wasn't driving at the time just came back to the car and the wheel was 90 degrees out to the side!! She fell out of love with it then so we got it fixed then sold on. Ok to own but never again for us.
Edited by wolfie28 on Friday 7th December 12:27
daveco said:
Interesting fact:
Despite having 20 more hp, 4WD, and weighing the same as the e46 330, the 3.2 litre version was over a half a second slower to 60, and a full second slower to 100mph from a standing start compared to the 330.
Shocker! Serial BMW fan finds a way to make an Audi look inferior!Despite having 20 more hp, 4WD, and weighing the same as the e46 330, the 3.2 litre version was over a half a second slower to 60, and a full second slower to 100mph from a standing start compared to the 330.
Were people genuinely worried about fractions of a second differences in acceleration when this was new?
2Btoo said:
J4CKO said:
Hmm, I thought they drove quite nicely, depends on expectations I guess, Mk2 is meant to be a lot better but never tried one, would agree they werent as good looking as the MK1, MK3 is pretty sharp though, I did consider a TTS but too expensive really at the time and fancied being able to take passengers.
I punted mine across country and quite enjoyed it, but I had come from a massive V8 auto barge.
But any talk of buying, flogging and making a profit, they are cheap all year as there are loads about, and by the time you have taxed, insured, fueled, fixed niggles or been hit by a couple of faults you are into negative equity, profit is very unlikely, not losing anything is an achievement and not spending loads chasing boost faults and misfires is another.
Good point - expectations is probably the nub of it. My experience of cars is pretty VW-heavy and I thought that the TT was comparable to although duller than the MK3 Golf GTi I drove for a few years. Given that they are a very similar layout but the Golf was probably lighter and stiffer (someone will doubtless find the figures to prove me wrong on this) then this is not that surprising. I punted mine across country and quite enjoyed it, but I had come from a massive V8 auto barge.
But any talk of buying, flogging and making a profit, they are cheap all year as there are loads about, and by the time you have taxed, insured, fueled, fixed niggles or been hit by a couple of faults you are into negative equity, profit is very unlikely, not losing anything is an achievement and not spending loads chasing boost faults and misfires is another.
Compared to my current 944, any and every TT I have driven has left me utterly, utterly cold. They are supposedly comparable cars (2+2 coupes/softops) and it's amazing that the one that dates from the 1970's is so far ahead of the one with a design that is 20 years newer. And when I say 'so far ahead' I mean completely incomparable. A back to back drive with a 986 or 987 Boxster or a Cayman of any vintage leaves you wondering how Audi managed so shift so many TT's. OK, the Mk1 was indeed pretty but it stopped there - in every way.
Where was that PH review of the TT vs a current-gen Cayman vs a Lotus Evora? Didn't they say something like "By comparison, driving the TT feels like you are driving an SUV. And not a very good one." And that's the (supposedly much more advanced) Mk3.
However, kudos to Audi; they took an established platform and drivetrain and put it in a pretty frock so probably only spent a pittance on design and development. They then sold it by the million to people who were very happy to own such a thing.
Good point about prices and making a profit. Although you may get lucky; haggle hard when you buy and find someone happy to pay more when you sell!
I think TT's are perhaps slagged off more than they deserve and 944's a bit over eulogised, I found that they were nearer in ability than I would have expected, 944 was more fun but they both majored on being a needy pain the arse
always thought the 944 felt faster than it had any right with 208 bhp.Nickp82 said:
1974foggy said:
Cripes! Are we looking at the same car? Its got to be one of the best looking small coupes ever, and the best looking TT to me.
I would agree, I clearly remember when they first came out and seeing my first one on the road, it really was a striking design and still looks classy today (in the right colour/wheel combo and not chavved up). In fairness, I do also remember being underwhelmed when I finally got behind the wheel of a 225.
J4CKO said:
I had a 944 S2 Cab and it was more engaging than the TT, a nicer engine but they did share a bit of a vibe, similar size 2+2 and a cosy interior.
I think TT's are perhaps slagged off more than they deserve and 944's a bit over eulogised, I found that they were nearer in ability than I would have expected, 944 was more fun but they both majored on being a needy pain the arse always thought the 944 felt faster than it had any right with 208 bhp.
Come on now lets not compare the TT to a 944 (I've owned several of each). The 944 is one of the most sublime handling rear wheel drive sports coupes ever designed, the TT is just a good looking trendy fwd coupe (with part time 4wd). TT, loads of grip, reasonably quick but gives the driver nothing, there is zero finesse to the TT, no steering feel, terrible ride over bumpy surfaces, and when you do try to push past 8/10ths the TT just does not deliver (in that respect its the polar opposite to a 944, even a ropey old 944!). I think TT's are perhaps slagged off more than they deserve and 944's a bit over eulogised, I found that they were nearer in ability than I would have expected, 944 was more fun but they both majored on being a needy pain the arse
always thought the 944 felt faster than it had any right with 208 bhp.J4CKO said:
I had a 944 S2 Cab and it was more engaging than the TT, a nicer engine but they did share a bit of a vibe, similar size 2+2 and a cosy interior.
I think TT's are perhaps slagged off more than they deserve and 944's a bit over eulogised, I found that they were nearer in ability than I would have expected, 944 was more fun but they both majored on being a needy pain the arse always thought the 944 felt faster than it had any right with 208 bhp.
Interesting - I've never driven a 944cab but they are reputed to be some way behind the hard-top ones in terms of rigidity. I think TT's are perhaps slagged off more than they deserve and 944's a bit over eulogised, I found that they were nearer in ability than I would have expected, 944 was more fun but they both majored on being a needy pain the arse
always thought the 944 felt faster than it had any right with 208 bhp.I'm more with Rallycross. I bought my S2 because of the reputation of the chassis and handling, and it hasn't failed to deliver at any point. And I've driven enough other 944's to know that mine is a good one. Perhaps that's the problem; the TT drives perfectly OK for a dull hatchback and that's all most people want but I am too much of a fussy git to settle for it.
Have to say though, if you've only ever tried a soft-top 944 then try a tin-top one sometime and you won't be disappointed. And you're spot on about them being a needy pain in the arse!
2Btoo said:
Interesting - I've never driven a 944cab but they are reputed to be some way behind the hard-top ones in terms of rigidity.
Have to say though, if you've only ever tried a soft-top 944 then try a tin-top one sometime and you won't be disappointed. And you're spot on about them being a needy pain in the arse!
The convertibles did have a lot of flex and nasty scuttle shake, I;ve had a couple of 944 turbo S cabs and turbo S coupes and the difference is very noticeable, the convertible loses a lot of the sharpness.Have to say though, if you've only ever tried a soft-top 944 then try a tin-top one sometime and you won't be disappointed. And you're spot on about them being a needy pain in the arse!
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