Welcome back! Or should I say: Audi, partner! Today we’re looking at two cheap fast rides from Volkswagen’s fancy-pants brand. They’ve got twelve gears, three turbochargers, and eight driven wheels between them – enough complicated German engineering to make your mechanic lose his sense, his control, and his mind. But they could also be a lot of fun.
Yesterday’s problem children had quite a few of you reaching for the “Neither” button, but that’s not how this game is played. Among those of you who were good sports about it and voted, the Toyota was the favorite, but it was a narrow win. I do apologize for featuring a car that was already sold; I try not to do that, but sometimes it can’t be helped. I’m not at all surprised that van sold so quickly in Seattle; off-road vans are a huge thing in the Pacific Northwest.
For me, it would have to be the Isuzu. Yeah, the interior is a little scary, but I think once you cleaned off all the grime it wouldn’t be as bad as it seems, and I’ve always loved the styling of the Impulse. Hopefully it finds a home soon as well. That car definitely deserves to be back on the road.
I’ve long been a fan of turbocharged Audis. My dad had a couple of them once upon a time, and a poster of the original Group B Quattro adorned one wall of my bedroom for years. I hadn’t experienced a modern Audi turbo until this weekend, though, when my neighbor took me for a ride in his heavily modified S5. It’s terrifyingly fast, and yet utterly composed, even at some truly ill-advised speeds on twisty forest roads. German high-performance cars get a lot of bad press for being overcomplicated and unreliable, but those who love them keep coming back because they’re also really damn good at going fast.
In that spirit, I decided to show you a couple of fast Audis that fit within our meager budget, but can still deliver the goods. Let’s check them out.
2000 Audi S4 Quattro – $3,900
Engine/drivetrain: Twin-turbocharged, 2.7-liter dual overhead cam V6, six-speed manual, AWD
Location: Reseda, CA
Odometer reading: 164,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Audi as we know it now, as a purveyor of fun-to-drive luxury sedans, has really only existed since the 1970s. And it wasn’t until its signature five-cylinder engine gained a turbocharger that you could really call them performance cars. In 1980, that turbo five found its way into the nose of Audi’s Coupe, powering its new Quattro all-wheel-drive system, and from that point it was game on. Audi turbo Quattros just got faster and faster. In 2000, the king of the hill was the S4, a version of the A4 sedan with a wild twin-turbo V6 and a six-speed stick.
This engine is a fire-breather – 260 horsepower, in a car that typically has a hundred less than that – but it has a reputation for trouble that makes most enthusiasts speak of it only in hushed tones. Most of the reputation comes from the difficulties involved in servicing it. You’ve heard of the VW/Audi “service position,” with the entire front end of the car removed? That’s how you change the timing belt on this engine. Need to replace the turbos, which commonly self-destruct after a while? You’ll have to remove the engine entirely. This particular one is just about due for the turbos, unless they’ve already been replaced, but it sounds like it runs and drives just fine at the moment.
It looks pretty good inside; Volkswagens of this era seem to look old before their time, but the Audis must use higher-quality materials. It has that good-driver-focused feel that German cars tend to have, and as the top of the line, it has all the bells and whistles you could have asked for twenty-four years ago. I’m sure something is broken somewhere, but the seller doesn’t mention anything, and they do say the air conditioning works fine.
Now for the bad news: It has a salvage title. I’m not surprised a high-performance car like this found itself on the wrong end of a tow truck, but I’d like to know why, and how long ago it happened. It looks all right, but a careful inspection is in order.
2001 Audi TT Quattro – $3,000
Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 1.8-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, six-speed manual, AWD
Location: Fort Worth, TX
Odometer reading: 149,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives great
Audi’s small sporty TT doesn’t have much in common with the rest of the line; it’s more closely related to the VW Golf. Introduced around the same time as the VW New Beetle, you could sort of see the TT as a “New Karmann Ghia.” Of course, since it is an Audi, a Quattro all-wheel-drive version was available, as well as a turbocharged engine.
Two flavors of the VW-Audi Group’s 1.8-liter turbo four were available. This car, as far as I can tell, has the spicy version, with 222 horsepower and a six-speed manual. I’ve never had the pleasure of driving a TT so equipped, but I bet it’s a hoot. These engines aren’t without their problems either; the oil will sludge up if you don’t change it often enough, and timing belt failures were a problem early on, but this one is closing in on 150,000 miles, and the seller says it runs and drives great, which would seem to indicate it has been well-maintained.
We don’t get a great look at the interior, but it looks pretty good from what I can see. The seats are in decent condition, and nothing looks abused.
The outside, well… you either like it or you don’t. I don’t know if it’s paint or a wrap, but it definitely makes a statement. I don’t hate it, personally, but I’m not sure how I’d feel about seeing it in the driveway every morning. I’m less fond of the front end, with its giant mesh grille and tacky aftermarket headlights. All the cosmetic stuff can be undone, of course, but at a price. Luckily the car is cheap.
I know, I know: They’re unreliable, they’re too expensive to maintain, blah blah blah. They’re also quick, fun, finely engineered machines with a pedigree stretching all the way back to the heady days of Group B. And they’re cheap, on the dollar-per-horsepower scale. So which one will it be: the junior-executive sedan, or the zippy sports coupe?
(Image credits: sellers)
As somebody with a 2.7T swapped B7, my preference is obvious. B5 all day. I have always strongly believed that the unreliability is overhyped, fed by people who have either never owned one, or owned one that wasn’t taken care of. Sure, the engine bay is cramped, but if you can turn a wrench they’re really not hard to work on. If you fix the little issues that pop up they won’t turn into big issues.
the problem of course is most garages are not all that well equipped to handle the repairs/maintenance, nevermind the patience to deal with even minor front end off repairs. so the costs being what they are basically mechanically scrap these things prematurely
I wouldn’t touch that S4 with a 10-foot Piëch.
TT for me.
The TT would be very satisfying to un-ruin, and will also (I assume) be cheaper and easier to fix when it, too, inevitably breaks down.
B5 all the way. You won’t be surprised when it catastrophically fails and it looks nice enough that you may get a decent amount of borrowed time. It must have been in a front end smack; something doesn’t look right about how the hood and lights line up. But this car is on my all time timeless design list with the BMW E39 and E46 so I’ll roll the dice here.
I choose the TT if only to undo the blasphemy visited upon it it.
Sorry to be a bad sport, but neither. Both of these have been hooned within an inch of their lives and put away wet. Used turbocharged 2000-present VW is just begging for trouble. My uncle had that 2.7 in his A6 and the whole thing grenaded itself within 3 or 4 years of him buying it. Granted, he did an ECU tune, but still.
And don’t get me started on boosted VW 4 cylinders because I’ve given that spiel already-and yes, I know resident Golf diehard who’s reading this-yours has been fine and you love it/will only drive performance Golfs forever. Unfortunately neither me nor my family can say the same.
If I wanted to roll the dice on 2000s VW/Audi I’d do it on one of the V8 S4/S5s, one of the absurd V10 sedans, or an R32 Golf because the VR6 is rad. But on either of these? Oh hell no….
+1 for common sense here.
These things remind me of the Simpsons.
Crusty drives the clown car with the idiot looking appearance and boy racer mods.
Sideshow Bob (being a convicted felon and all) drives the S4.
And both wonder why their lives suck. No thanks….
God only knows what’s under the wrap on that TT, so let’s just keep it under wraps… I’ve been lucky enough with 2.7Ts in A6es that I’d almost willingly take on the even more space-constrained packaging with this A4. Worst case, it’s a manual gearbox donor for an A8 of the same vintage.
I’ll take the most stock and clean of the two. Despite the salvage title, it looks cared for.
I’m willing to bet that TT has very little life left in it, judging by the choice of mods. I’d be amazed if the clutch wasn’t toast.
Whoever chose the paint job for that TT should be banned from making any creative decisions in any capacity for the next 10 years, minimum.
I’d definitely smash the neither button if it was an option, but it’s not, so salvage title here I come! That TT is a fuggin’ horror show!
I like the first-gen TT more than I should, though that paint/warp sucks.
LOL even a clean title Audi is scary, let alone a salvage
The B5 platform is the BIGGEST pain in the butt to work on, starting with the aforementioned “service position” as well as VW/Audi trying to get fancier with the multi-link suspension and trying to cram everything into the same small space. In addition to the self-destructing turbos, you’ll also see coolant leaks and brittle or broken vacuum lines.
The 1.8T in the TT isn’t without its flaws, but it’s a damn sight easier to repair than the S4. Plus, the Mk1 would look good with my Mk2 VR6 after I peeled the wrap off.
the “paint” on the TT is almost guaranteed to be a wrap. and if so and the body panel colors match then it would be an easy fix. TT for me
Well, Monte, I’ll take the hidden door number 3.
Partial to the TT since my son and I picked up a bone stock well maintained mk1 quattro a month ago. I think the coupes look great inside and out, have aged well, and the performance is right on with the 1.8L turbo/manual. I don’t really get why they are underappreciated and haven’t become collectable. Maybe we’ll find out but so far, so good and it’s my new favorite car in the fleet.
Oh dear. Oh no. Not that TT.
Look, I get the salvage title on the S4 screams run away, but I’d much rather take my chances there than whatever awful decisions have been made with that TT.
Lets get real, both of these cars are likely to disappoint me mechanically, and probably not long after purchase. But I’m not going to take the chance that I never manage to get the TT’s appearance in order before it blows up on me.
Fixing that wrap and awful wheels is a lot less expensive and painful than 2.7 ownership, and general maintenance and upkeep far less daunting. TT for me.
I wanna be a boy racer, so I picked the TT.
I’ll leave it just how it is. Race around my neighborhood until it kills itself.
My dad owned one for a period in the early 2000s before realizing he couldn’t afford the payments. His was the 1.8 Quattro with 225 horsepower. They are very hoonable. Stock, he go it over 140 mph.
The front end on this example, especially that stupid grille and those headlights, have got to go.
The manual transmission and transfer case can supposedly take upwards of 600 lb-ft of torque, so should that be the case, an EV conversion would be the route to go, especially because of AWD.
S4. Whatever happened to it to merit the salvage title can’t be as bad as what appears to have happened to the TT.
I’d be going for the TT, but all that “personalization” makes me wonder whether the owner ever bothered to check the dipstick. That’s just my prejudice against tacky add-ons, but if it looks like a Roach Motel….
The S4 is absolutely my jam when it comes to preferred car styles: quick, stealthy, comfortable … but the salvage title and the nightmare-ish service bills to come put me into the TT, which appears to be red under what I hope is a wrap. We’ll bring it back to “normal” and enjoy the ride.
I’m betting that camo is a wrap and it’ll come off fairly easily, so I really wanted to vote TT. But then it occured to me that the wrap may be hiding something undesirable, so add in the cost of a new wrap. Plus those wheels are attrocious, so add in the cost of another set of wheels and tires and now I want the S4 instead.
I thought I would pick the S4 when I opened this article; I ended up going the other way because if I’m gonna take the dive on an uber-Audi, it will be one with a V8.
The TT really just needs a better wrap. Full-on murder-black carbon-fiber seems like the right choice.
A friend had that 2.7 twin turbo in an A6 and Audi ended up buying it back to avoid it being lemon lawed.
The 1.8 is way easier to work on and has less inherent problems. Throw in a cheaper price and today is a no-brainer for me.
I want the S4, but I went with the TT. This way U-boat captains will be unable to accurately estimate my speed and direction.
For 3900 get the S4, drive it until you can’t…profit. Look so nondescript while doing it, you potentially never see a single speeding ticket.