1.4 TDI Sport

[Phantom TDI]

Hi everyone, A2's have always been on my radar from way back but the want or need to own one never really materialised until recently. June 2022 to be precise! There wasn't many A2's for sale in NI and at the time of looking there was only one other example at a two bob dealer who wanted close to £2700 for a 51 plate diesel. I took a punt on well used/neglected Brilliant Black 1.4 TDI Sport with over 160k miles on the clock from a private seller. Did I make the right choice? Time will tell but so far so good. I had been planning to retire my 8L S3 and needed something more economical and practical to fill the gap between buying a replacement for the 8L. The A2 ticks both those boxes and I was pleasantly surprised with how rev happy and nippy the little 1.4 TDI is . Sure its no S3 but I'm half tempted to remap it so it lives out it's remaining years with more power than it left the factory in.

Hold that thought, remap is all good in theory but I wouldn't go down that route without knowing mechanically all is well. I did buy it knowing it would need some TLC and I'm slowly but surely in the process of fixing issues as they arise. So far I have changed the front drop links, Oil, Air filter, Oil filter, Pollen filter and Thermostat. MPG has shot up from around 41 to 52. Temp gauge wasn't sitting at 90 when I bought the car and I did mention it needed a new stat to the previous owner but he wasn't too concerned and said it had been like that for ages.

Having owned it for a couple of months now and driving it daily I am fairly pleased with it but there are a few niggly things that are bugging me that I would like to replace, fix hence why I joined the forum for motivation and support when needed. In the meantime here's a few pics and no doubt I'll be back with a list of issues I need help with

 

[Sootywg]

Congratulations on your purchase. You have come to the right place for both inspiration and encouragement. There is nothing you can ask that won’t solicit a useful response, all delivered in a friendly and constructive way.
Good luck with your journey of A2 addiction!
Geoff

 

[Robin_Cox]

Welcome! Looks like a nice starting point for a project.

From the second photo I'd say that as well as the remap you should consider a decat.

 

[A2Z]

The first thing I would do is take the wheels off and have them spun up on a wheel balancer to make sure they're not square instead of round.

Pay particular attention to the inner rims which have little strength or ability to absorb pot hole damage as the 17" Sport wheels, as nice as they look are known to be very soft and prone to buckling/flat spotting which can cause terrible ride quality and is not helped by the 40 profile rubber band tyres they wear.

Good luck