Discussion
three or four months ago, the mrs decided she wanted something a bit more upbeat than her 2004 206 hdi. so went on the hunt for something that would fit the bill, having never really driven anything quick, it need to be fairly tame but safe and fun enough to get her learning to progress into something a bit faster. this ruled out the type r's and 182's. came to the decision of a tt based on interior quality, four wheel drive (winters up here are pretty severe), and safe. we decided on the 180 base model so she couldn't get herself into too much trouble and on the basis that once she learned the car, it wouldn't be to hard to add a bit more poke.
having looked at a few we ended up picking up a 2001 180 with 90000 mile (high but the car was very cheap). the week we got it i replaced all discs and pads, clutch master cylinder and the common clutch pedal. soon after i fitted 40mm apex springs and some bbs lm replica's (she wouldn't notice the difference!) with 12mm and 20mm wheel spacers.
after 7000 miles she is still smiling, and tbh so am i. its quick enough to progress well on backroads and is great fun in the wet where the haldex really looks after you. the only downside is the slightly numb steering. for the price, the interior is a lovely place to be, very comfy heated seats and a fantastic stereo for long journeys!
future plans are a 225 exhaust system and a 3 bar grill and adjustable rear tie arms to remove the camber from lowering but other than that it will just be routine maintenance and covering as many scottish b road miles as possible!
on to the pictures!!
and with my friends and my old mk2
bring on the hairdresser comments!
having looked at a few we ended up picking up a 2001 180 with 90000 mile (high but the car was very cheap). the week we got it i replaced all discs and pads, clutch master cylinder and the common clutch pedal. soon after i fitted 40mm apex springs and some bbs lm replica's (she wouldn't notice the difference!) with 12mm and 20mm wheel spacers.
after 7000 miles she is still smiling, and tbh so am i. its quick enough to progress well on backroads and is great fun in the wet where the haldex really looks after you. the only downside is the slightly numb steering. for the price, the interior is a lovely place to be, very comfy heated seats and a fantastic stereo for long journeys!
future plans are a 225 exhaust system and a 3 bar grill and adjustable rear tie arms to remove the camber from lowering but other than that it will just be routine maintenance and covering as many scottish b road miles as possible!
on to the pictures!!
and with my friends and my old mk2
bring on the hairdresser comments!
Hope the water pump and belt have been done. Also get yourself over to http://www.ttoc.co.uk and join the owners club. Very knowledgable and lovely bunch of chaps (+chappettes).
Gingernuts said:
it need to be fairly tame but safe and fun enough to get her learning to progress into something a bit faster. this ruled out the type r's and 182's. came to the decision of a tt based on interior quality, four wheel drive (winters up here are pretty severe), and safe. we decided on the 180 base model so she couldn't get herself into too much trouble and on the basis that once she learned the car, it wouldn't be to hard to add a bit more poke.
You sound like a modern man there mate — surprised you didn't get her something pink and frilly! 
Not a bad looking little car, though it sounds more like you bought it for yourself than her as I doubt the lowering, big wheels and 'I'm not a 180 — honest!' exhaust system won't exactly help her 'learn' the car.
ps, you'd be surprised what they can do these days you know — mine could drift a 3-series after half-a-day's instruction. They'll be bloody voting next
haha shes not really the pink and frilly type. as for the mods, shes a bit of a petrol head herself and had pre planned what she want the car to look like when she got it, i just put the parts on.
exhaust wise its the only way you can get anything a bit more free flowing easily!
the real lms are silly money but with these coming in at 1/6th of the price it was a no brainer!
exhaust wise its the only way you can get anything a bit more free flowing easily!
the real lms are silly money but with these coming in at 1/6th of the price it was a no brainer!
I believe the service schedule talks about getting the belt/pump done by about 120k but if it's over 70k or 5 years it'd definately worth getting done just for peace of mind. A full service + pump + belts done at an Audi dealer (Dundee) was £750 or so. But I would recommend that you go to a reputable independant instead.
My missus was gutted when we sold hers. As with you, steering is pretty numb but other than that a brilliant car to be inside. Ended up buying an A3 2.0 to replace ours and she's so set on it she's apparently going to run it until it falls apart.
My missus was gutted when we sold hers. As with you, steering is pretty numb but other than that a brilliant car to be inside. Ended up buying an A3 2.0 to replace ours and she's so set on it she's apparently going to run it until it falls apart.
Cheers for comments guys. It was between the lm's and the 240qs rims but she felt these looked a bit more special.
Price wise we got this one for under 4k and it's immaculate, have spend about 400 getting the underpinnings up to scratch plus my labour! So it was a bargain really.
Would have liked the 225 but didn't feel she was ready for that jump up but I get the feeling she may want to shift this one for a black 225 when she is ready to take it on the track. (have booked her lessons at knockhill, then eventually will let her out in the race car!)
Price wise we got this one for under 4k and it's immaculate, have spend about 400 getting the underpinnings up to scratch plus my labour! So it was a bargain really.
Would have liked the 225 but didn't feel she was ready for that jump up but I get the feeling she may want to shift this one for a black 225 when she is ready to take it on the track. (have booked her lessons at knockhill, then eventually will let her out in the race car!)
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