MK1 Audit TT 225 advice

[epson661]

Hi all,

Looking to buy a MK1 TT 225 in the upcoming weeks. Have a budget of up to 4K but believe the market is usually around 2-3k for a good one. I will be dailying this car for around 5-7k miles a year. Is there anything specific to look out for? I'm told these are very bulletproof but unsure if due to age it would be viable for daily (mainly motorway) driving. Any help would be appreciated!

[aka_kerrly]

https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-buying-guides/...

Condition & service history are key, there are still enough TTs around to be able to look at a few and not have to rush into buying the first one you see.

Spec, the 225 should have a few options on it, one with xenon headlights, bose stereo are desirable.

Around 2003 ish is the facelift of the mk1 - main differences are the number of bars on the grill, the bottom of the bumpers, clear instead of blue tint wing mirror glass an the option of 18 and 19 inch wheels and few interior bits got leather coated if you spec'd leather seats.

Personally I'm a fan of the darker colours with a red interior , there are a LOT of silver with black interiors around which if you like it then you've already got 5x the choice haha.

Evidence of Cambelt+waterpump changes on schedule + Haldex oil changes + decent tyres and it's likely to be a good one:-)

Make sure you test everything electrical an check all the dash pixels display , the air con works, the electric windows work as these can be troublesome.

Upgrades - if you only change one thing a aftermarket rear anti roll bar followed by a geometry setup does wonders.

[epson661]

Do you know any other places (besides auto trader) that would be a good place to look? It feels like all the ones in the condition stated above are so overpriced (4-5k)

[pb8g09]

Gumtree and eBay seem to be where I spot these for cheap. Private sellers with a good service history are probably your best bet at this end of the market- in a similar boat myself looking.

[JCW-James]

Not considering the 3 litre engine?

Heard it’s expensive put the 1.8T engine right but I could be wrong.

[aka_kerrly]

JCW-James said:

Not considering the 3 litre engine?

Heard it’s expensive put the 1.8T engine right but I could be wrong.

It's all relative. On the vr6 engine you need to do the cam chain and tensioners around 100k ish or when there is signs of stretch. It's prudent to do the clutch an flywheel at the same time as the gearbox needs separating. This job can cost anything from £600 in parts if you DIY or around £1000-1500 at a garage.

On a 20vt the cambelt plus water pump need doing at a cost of £400 every 40-60k so you may do 2 to 3 in the time a vr6 owner does 1 cam chain . A rebuild turbo can be anything from £200 to £1000+ if you go hybrid.

Broadly speaking both engines have some expensive maintenance jobs and if driven the same way the 20vt might be marginally more fuel efficient.

Personally the 3.2vr6 is the more interesting engine .

[AJB88]

1.8T engine is good for tuning and reliable. The 3.2 isn't good for tuning unless you have deep pockets but obviously sounds a lot better.

[Drive it fix it repeat]

I bought a 53 plate one on 85k recently in good nic for around 2.5k, belts done, waterpump done, brake fluid pump done etc sadly it's been nothing but problems and obviously neglected badly mechanically. Dont let that put you off as I'm sure most are ok but it has put me off older audis for a while.

[joropug]

My 225 coupe (02) was very underwhelming on power I could never figure out why it was just lacklustre. There are lots of sensors that I changed to no effect. I remember a friend had a ropey early E46 323 and it absolutely smoked the TT - I supposedly had 45bhp on him.

I had a 225 convertible (03) though that ran better and got it remapped, it was wicked fun. The clutch didn't last 2 minutes though.

I would consider a remapped 180, my friend had one and it was more aggressive and better power delivery than a stock 225. A remapped 225 is obviously a lot faster.

Make sure it has xenons and Bose , I don't think there were many options other than those.

The dash 'pod' was an early issue , most will have been replaced under warranty both of mine had. Any gauges or LCD not working and you're looking at a fairly sizeable bill.

Edited by joropug on Thursday 22 October 00:23

[aka_kerrly]

AJB88 said:

1.8T engine is good for tuning and reliable. The 3.2 isn't good for tuning unless you have deep pockets but obviously sounds a lot better.

I don't agree with that. If you consider a BAM is 225hp standard, with a £500 remap it might make 260ish,. Then you spend money upgrading the clutch/flywheel to cope, then you buy all kinds of new sensors, new boost pipes, a suitable intercooler, new coilpacks,new plugs because these are all weak points following a map. Then you find that a KO4 turbo still feels like a TDI and considering most are on 100k+ you start looking at rebuilds/hybrid turbos at £1000+

Before you know it you've spent the same money as someone who got an off the shelf VF Vortech supercharger kit generating 350+hp. In my opinion a VR6 goes far better than it's peak power would suggest as it will make more torque than the puny 1.8 . Also I find the VR revs much cleaner allowing them to pull over 7000rpm where as I always feel that in less a 20vt has a Garret GTX or big boy Borg Warner it starts getting weedy at little over 6000rpm.

[AJB88]

your still going to need the new sensors, coilpacks, clutch etc on the 3.2 as well? thats part and parcel of upgrading power on any car.

Any idea how much a Supercharger kit is for that engine? I ask because I've been looking at R36 Passat estate as a replacement for my weekend car as I need something dog friendly.

Edited by AJB88 on Thursday 22 October 23:21

[aka_kerrly]

AJB88 said:

your still going to need the new sensors, coilpacks, clutch etc on the 3.2 as well? thats part and parcel of upgrading power on any car.

Any idea how much a Supercharger kit is for that engine? I ask because I've been looking at R36 Passat estate as a replacement for my weekend car as I need something dog friendly.

Edited by AJB88 on Thursday 22 October 23:21

Oh of course you're correct, those components take some abuse regardless of the engines, it's just from my experience the 20vt seems to eat coil packs an sensors once they have been played around with. Could be to do with the temperatures/pressure increases. That's not to say I haven't had one or two rather expensive VR6 mishaps, a snapped cam chain ended up doing 11 of my 12 valves. Lucky that wasn't a 20 valve because the valves were £15 each or around that. A snapped oil pump drive shaft was a unexpected surprise on a relatively low mileage VR6 but resulted in no terminal damage. Instead it became a fine opportunity to whip the bottom end off for more checks, do a chain/tensioner/ mk4 steel head gasket , ARP bolts and few other upgrades.

The supercharger kit costs, umm I've not looked at drive in drive out prices that much as I'd be keen to DIY.

At one stage a local company to me Turner Race Developments(trd) offered conversions on 24v VR engines , they were doing VF Engineering setups and Rotrex kits starting around £4000>£7000 drive in/out depending on the spec of your car when it arrived and how many ponies you are chasing. They are still playing around with VWs but have expanded into the crazy world of twin turbo Audi R8s an Porsche 911s!

I'm sure there are a couple of guys on PH with Rotrex'd R32s, one is a TRD car (they use a bracket to mount the charger above the gearbox rather than on the driver side) an another who had one built at Stealth with the charger mounted at the bottom of the engine in place of the AC compressor.

I would recommend speaking to Stealth Racing & Storm Developments as two of the UK's supercharging specialists.

You can get a suitable Rotrex charger kit new for around £2250 , then you'd then have to source a bracket to mount the charger to the block, tensioner/pulley/belt, intercooler setup + mapping. I'd search around for second hand bargains because I'm a tight ass. I've seen a few 24v VR6 specific setups going for around £2-3k second hand with all the bits or £1k for a Rotrex charger with oil supply an few other bits. If you're half about with spanners it would be possible to install DIY on the drive or if you are resourceful you could collect all the bits required an then take it somewhere to install it.

An R36 estate with a charger could be an EXCELLENT idea for a speedy dog wagon, a Rotrex C36 ought to be smashing 400+ HP on a otherwise largely standard engine which would make for an interesting alternative to a Audi S4/6 Avant.