Newbie thinking of buying an A4 Cab.

[bodsaudi]

Hi all, im in the process of looking for an A4 Cabriolet for the summer. I figured its the best time to buy. Im thinking of a Manual 2.5 tdi sport. Could any one tell me of any things specific i should be looking out for , does anything common go wrong. in fairness i havent driven a manual v6 tdi yet only an auto which seen to strangle the engines power a bit. Are you guys happy with the performance of your tdis and has anyone upped the power with good results through chipping. Any advice is really appreciated cos i dont really want to get caught out . Cheers all:Blush:

[nanafagis]

I have the 2.5tdi v6 180bhp quattro sport saloon, performance wise the only thing you might notice on the manual is the short gear ratio in 1st and 2nd, but from 3rd upwards it's manageable and pulls well enough. It's no sports car but has plenty of power to get it moving, and smooth aswell. Would be a good choice of engine for a nice summer cruiser with enough poke for some fun.

Remaps are often discussed on here and you should see around 210bhp from a remapped 180. I haven't had a remap myself yet but plan to soon. They seem to respond pretty well to a remap. Fuel pump is apparently a weak point on the car, which is why tuners don't tend to remap beyond 210bhp. More serious tuners upgrade the fuel pump, clutch and turbo and so on for bigger power and torque.

I had all 4 tyres go at once being a quattro, which cost £800ish but now i'm aware then i suppose it's something i can prepare for in future.

On reading i can't see a common problem with the 2.5tdi. i've got a few fault codes on mine but there doesn't seem to be many real weak links on the standard engine.

[blackpool1974]

Had my 1994 A4 cab a couple of months now.

Things you should look for on a spec point of view are

Leather Seats
Cruise Control
Multi function steering Wheel
Sat Nav (Dvd version)
Rear parking sensors

Sport model has best compromise regarding comfort, you also get electric lumbar support

[randall977]

May I recommend the 1.8T quattro. It wasn't what I was after but a good one came up and I'm very pleased with it - especially as it generally returns 35mpg on my commute. Same power as the tdi but quiet and very smooth - also very tunable. Don't forget there's more than 10p per litre difference between petrol and diesel!