143 v 170 TDI

[pitch3110]

Hi Chaps,

First post here and the site looks great.

Presently I have an '06 A4 2.0TDI 140bhp S-Line which I have had from new and the wifey drives an ED30 Golf GTI, so therefore a bit of a VAG fan.

Mine is now up for a change and thinking it is going to be......

S-Line exercutive
Lava Grey Saloon
Parking plus
Folding mirrors
Tech Pack
Light pack
19" 7 spokes

Engine........had a 2.0T out last week and it is a swift car but it does drink the juice. I have the ED30 GTI which is 230bhp, so if I want to have some fun that comes out of the garage. As you would expect it is quite a bit more livelier than the A4.

I fancy the 170bhp TDI for a tad more poke over the 143. Has anyone tried them both?

Any 170 2WD owners out there??

Many thanks chaps and be warned this is the first of many....that I have no doubt.

ta

[eob]

FWIW
I was all set on getting the 170ps. I have a 140ps 2.0TDi passat at the moment and it is plenty quick and I get high MPGs.
When you look at the figures:
170 -
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/...px?deriv=43630
vs
140 -
http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/specs/...px?deriv=43628

there is not a lot between them and I wonder if you would really feel this on the road.
Plus, for me as a company car driver, the 140 is one whole tax band lower so it doesn't make any sense to go for the 170.
Also, there seem to be lot more lease deals on the 140 available.

I would still be interested to read 170 owners' comments though.

[jonathon555]

I have tried both cars & I ordered the 143 TDi, The 170 ps is noticabley faster especially in the higher revs.

I have a 143 S-line exec & the performance seems to be getting stronger by the day, it has now covered 1300 miles in 2 weeks.

If you want top end performance then deffo go for the 170 , the only other thing I can say is that I also managed to trya 14,000 miler 143 tdi & it felt very strong in gear not slow at all.

You can always remap either car for better performance.

[maisbitt]

Have had both the 140 and 170 PD in a Golf, and the 170 definitely is much quicker through the gears, but from a standstill there is nothing between them (due to the turbo lag and lack of grip) and I preferred the 140 for pulling away.

The 170 has a lot of noticeable turbo lag, which isn't a problem when you're running through the gears, but pulling away from a small gap on a busy roundabout can be an issue. If you do get away, then the enormous torque became a bigger issue - the Golf with 17" 225 tyres didn't have enough grip to stop violent wheelspin if you did give it more than 1/2 throttle from standstill, or if you gave it full throttle in any less than 3rd gear. There might be more grip on the A4 than the Golf, which could help the move off from standstill in a 170 A4.

The biggest advantage to the 170 for me was to not need to change down from 6th to get past someone doing 60mph on dual carriageway. The 170 has pull in every gear, you'd have to knock it down to 4th in the 140.

Now though, I have a 143CR Scirocco - what a difference the common rail makes - the engine has lost its excessive initial torque and has a much more uniform power delivery, and it feels slower than it actually is (but is so much smoother) as a result. I'm not sure if the 170CR has also been given a smoother torque curve too, but I don't miss the 170 Golf one bit.

With a very economic driving style you might get 46mpg trip average for the 170 (pushing 49mpg on a 200 mile journey), compared to 56mpg I recently got on an 80mph dual carriageway round trip of 80 miles in my Scirocco with less than 1000 miles on the clock (still tight).

[Niko]

Hi Chaps,

First post here and the site looks great.

Presently I have an '06 A4 2.0TDI 140bhp S-Line which I have had from new and the wifey drives an ED30 Golf GTI, so therefore a bit of a VAG fan.

Mine is now up for a change and thinking it is going to be......

S-Line exercutive
Lava Grey Saloon
Parking plus
Folding mirrors
Tech Pack
Light pack
19" 7 spokes


Engine........had a 2.0T out last week and it is a swift car but it does drink the juice. I have the ED30 GTI which is 230bhp, so if I want to have some fun that comes out of the garage. As you would expect it is quite a bit more livelier than the A4.

I fancy the 170bhp TDI for a tad more poke over the 143. Has anyone tried them both?

Any 170 2WD owners out there??

Many thanks chaps and be warned this is the first of many....that I have no doubt.

ta

Don't forget the Bang and Olufsen, listen to it first if you are undecided, worth every penny!

[danda]

Running a 2009 170sline avant

Tried both 140 & 170 and believe there is noticeable difference in the two engines/drive.

Firstly believe both are great engines, however imo more pull in the 170 especially as said before in 6th, great for overtaking with a load up, for example on one of those long hills with a lot of slow traffic behind a lorry or caravan.

During the week in stop start & around town driving we get 38mpg, on a motorway run at a quick pace will get 48mpg at the moment, expect more than this as only 2500ish on the clock

The 2nd car is a golf with a PD engine, so jumping between the two cars, the new 170 is quieter, smoother and has a power delivery/torque curve that is less instantaneous compared to the PD turbo kick in.

In the 170 don’t have a problem with pulling away from a stop, don’t get wheel spin and can get off the mark as quick as I need to no problem. I’m sure wheel spin could be achieved easily but hasn’t been necessary to blast it that much to get a quick pull away.

IMO the 170 in gear performance is good and the main feature over the 140, noticeable difference over a 140 if you jump straight into a 140 and do the same test route.

Agree with ‘Maisbitt’ the common rail feels slower than it actually is, compared to the PD unit.

At the end of the day likely to be happy with either, just down to personal preference and driving style.

The only minor criticism of the new avant compared to the previous model avant, passat estate and a C Class estate is the rear window slope doesn’t always allow a tall square object behind the rear seats without putting the back seats down. The cars have a more vertical rear window.

We are really pleased with ours, with a new family it manages to be flexible and cart the kit about no problem, works both as a family car and good when I’m on my own trying to get somewhere quickly across country.

[onemanparty]

I have a 170PS A5 and I have driven the 143PS A4. I would go for the 143PS unless you go quattro on the 170PS.

Torque Steer on the 170PS is a problem on both A4 & A5.

[danda]

"onemanparty"

Wasnt there a previous thread on torque steer with divided opinions ? Some suffered some didnt.

Is the A5 set up differently to the A4 front end ?

Do different tyres make a difference (size and make) ? I think Ive got Bridgestones - need to check.

Any minor changes between eary models and 2009 model ?

As although I dont floor it everywhere my 170 doesnt appear to suffer that baddly from Torque steer, no more so than other TDi's Ive had or driven or the 140/170's I drove before chossing the current car.

Saab 9-5 Aero was the worst i've had with 250bhp through the front wheels, albeit some years ago, last company car & petrol car I had.

Agree if you can afford it Quattro is a better power delivery method but personally in boring everyday driving dont miss the 4wheel traction.

[onemanparty]

"onemanparty"

Wasnt there a previous thread on torque steer with divided opinions ? Some suffered some didnt.

Is the A5 set up differently to the A4 front end ?

Do different tyres make a difference (size and make) ? I think Ive got Bridgestones - need to check.

Any minor changes between eary models and 2009 model ?

As although I dont floor it everywhere my 170 doesnt appear to suffer that baddly from Torque steer, no more so than other TDi's Ive had or driven or the 140/170's I drove before chossing the current car.

Saab 9-5 Aero was the worst i've had with 250bhp through the front wheels, albeit some years ago, last company car & petrol car I had.

Agree if you can afford it Quattro is a better power delivery method but personally in boring everyday driving dont miss the 4wheel traction.

Your right about a previous thread I started it and please always one persons opinion versus another

Both the A4 & A5 are on the LMP Platform but then so is Q5 and the New A5 Sportback all have different wheel tracks.

I'm on 19" Michelin's but I my problem is that I came from 5 years of driving quattro's

One Mans torque steer is another mans regular drive!!!

[danda]

“I'm on 19" Michelin's but I my problem is that I came from 5 years of driving quattro's”

Understand your feeling on the Quattro switch.

19" Is this standard ?

Going off at a tangent -

I read quite a few reports on the A4 with the belief that changing from a standard to a larger diameter wheel changed the driving characteristics for the worse, don’t personally know if this is true as didn’t get to drive two different setups, I also believe quite a few of the early Audi demo cars had optional larger wheels which got criticised in road tests.

I know when we did rallying wheel and tyre size changes made major differences to feel and handling on tarmac. Don’t know if its still the same but Michelins used to have a reputation as soft walled and could on certain cars change the drive/feel. Several of the cars I’ve had they were not manufacturer recommend for use in a particular size.

I expect its changed now though.