Chat Changing from a tdi 75 to a 90 - impressions!!!

Birchall

Birchall

Dick Chown Award 2016
Hi,

After owning TDI 75s for over 13 years we now have a 90 in the family - my wife's latest A2

I managed to find one with a great spec, one owner, low mileage, but uncared for.

So I am having fun bring it up to top condition again.

But what a difference to the 75.
Don't get me wrong, I still love the 75 but I wasn't quite expecting the difference to be so large and so much of an improvement


The power difference is much bigger than I expected, 15 BHP doesn't sound a lot but it is the way that it delivers that power, very impressive.
The different gear ratios are another pleasant surprise, the car just seem totally sorted with perfect ratios/
Driving the 90 is a pleasure, it just seems to be "laid back" I can't describe it any other way.

The engine seems quieter (perhaps because of the lower revs.
The torque is very addictive! My wife's 75 was a quick little car (or at least it felt like it was) so much so that I suspected that it might have been remapped (it hadn't)
So the extra power and the way it is delivered is such a pleasant surprise.

I find that due to the ratios I don't get into 5th as often as I did in the 75, but the lower revs means that this is not a problem.

The only downside with the 90 has always been the extra complexity of the Dual Mass flywheel and the variable vane turbo set up.
But if they are ok I can't think of any negatives for it.

The car came from the factory "de-badged" and I like that look, but now I have a 90 I WANT the badge back on, that red "I" is important !!! :)

I hope I am not sounding like I am saying anything bad about the 75 (and the many owners on here) it is just my personal and honest opinion.

I am hooked!

The only problem I have now is that my own car (my special project) is a 75, BUT a Stealth remap will soon put that right and all I am hoping is that it brings the power up to a 90 (I know it will produce the BHP and more, but I am just hoping that it will deliver it in the same way as the 90 (at least!)
The 6 speed conversion I am having done on the project car should help with the ratios and driving experience.

So my love affair for the A2 just got even better. It is like having a stunning looking girlfriend and finding out that she can cook and likes cars !!!!!!!

Have fun now!

Steve B
 
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Get the 90 remapped too. You need to be careful with the right foot till you're in 3rd gear to avoid wheel spin and torque steer - but it's a total hoot of a drive in a wee package. It's not fast by any measure but ~ 120ps and 230lb of torque in a car weighing a tickle over a metric tonne scores pretty highly on the smileometer :cool:
 
murdo said:
Get the 90 remapped too. You need to be careful with the right foot till you're in 3rd gear to avoid wheel spin and torque steer - but it's a total hoot of a drive in a wee package. It's not fast by any measure but ~ 120ps and 230lb of torque in a car weighing a tickle over a metric tonne scores pretty highly on the smileometer :cool:
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Very tempted, but it is the wife's car, so I better not!!

Steve B
 
murdo said:
Our A2 is 'technically' the wife's car too. As a few regulars are aware - I remapped the car and have never told her about it! She's never mentioned noticing a difference. But when i 'borrow' the car I sure do!

Best 275 quid I've ever spent. Go for it. :eek:
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My wife actually surprised me, she has only done a few trips in the car and earlier tonight she said " My new car seems to go longer in each gear compared to my old car"

I was baffled for a second until I realised that what she was actually saying was that she had noticed the taller gearing. I was quite impressed!!!

Steve B
 
This might be the way forward for me in spending a little cash without the wife noticing....LOL :D

I Like that Murdo!


Shhhhhhhhhhh................
 
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The 75 will map to 100bhp without any issues with smoke. Was the first mod I did to my A2 in my first week of ownership.
 
dan_b said:
The 75 will map to 100bhp without any issues with smoke. Was the first mod I did to my A2 in my first week of ownership.
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I had my 75 remapped to 101hp and up from 195NM to 245NM. What that is in old money I'm not too sure but it makes helluva difference. Overtaking on motorways is a far more relaxed affair and when I eventually get round to fitting the taller 5th gear will be even more so!
 
Hi Dan,

when you say "with Smoke" is it a positive thing or negative one? As i am not familiar with this. I will read more on a Remap but didnt quite get that bit.

Nice1
 
AUDI2012 said:
Hi Dan,

when you say "with Smoke" is it a positive thing or negative one? As i am not familiar with this. I will read more on a Remap but didnt quite get that bit.

Nice1
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The extra power is by getting the right amount of fuel to match the air. If you burn more fuel you get more power, but if you get more fuel that the engine can burn, the car runs "rich" and you get black smoke (if you have ever seen truck racing you will know just how much black smoke you can get !!!)

So extra power after a remap and no black (or other colour ) snoke, is a good thing. It shows that the fuel air mixture is likely to be correct.

Steve B
 
Birchall said:
The extra power is by getting the right amount of fuel to match the air. If you burn more fuel you get more power, but if you get more fuel that the engine can burn, the car runs "rich" and you get black smoke (if you have ever seen truck racing you will know just how much black smoke you can get !!!)

So extra power after a remap and no black (or other colour ) snoke, is a good thing. It shows that the fuel air mixture is likely to be correct.

Steve B
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Ahh, Thanks for that Steve :) makes sense now. As wasn't fully aware on the technical side of things.

Nice1
 
Feels like I'm going slightly off topic but remap discussion is hand in hand with TDI 75 / 90 debate.

I had a 'library' remap on my 2004 A4 1.9 TDI quattro sport avant and it was terrible for black smoke - especially if you put the foot down when in too high a gear. It was like a 007 cloaking device at the back of the car. ( for clarity it was 18 months old and 8k miles when the remap was downloaded)
I did raise this with the guy who did the work who advised me to only use premium diesel. This made it slightly better but I was never really happy with the occasional smoke cloud the car produced. The remap up to 180bhp was fun, as the standard 130 with quattro drive gear was decidedly pedestrian.

The experience really punctuates the benefit of a rolling road and bespoke remapping service as provided by Stealth as every factor is considered to provide the optimum settings whilst keeping within safety tolerances for the car.
 
I had my first tdi90 remapped at Stealth. I think it produced about 116bhp and mid 200's torque. It pulled very well in standard form, but quickly ran out of steam.

With the map, it held power for longer and was very good for overtaking power.

I bet a mapped 75 would be just as quick.
 
Adding to the OP direction. I test drove x3 75's before our 90 sport se; totally different car, honestly... the 90 actually "feels" like a bigger car, less engine noise, heaps more pull which I agree seems disproportionate at only a 15bhp gain??

As for remapping, granted I'm old now (lat 40's) but I would not want any more power in a car of this dimension! I the wet it's all too easy to spin the wheels, ( an aspect that's appalling on two fronts- a) look like a boy racer and, b) rubber loss = ££££s.
Overtaking power; OK I've just had a new turbo which must help, but there's heaps and heaps of spare power. In fact, the closer you get to 70mph the easier it is due to the power delivery.

After the rebuild I took her up (only the once, I do not thrash my cars) to 110 for about 5 ish seconds just to be sure all was good, no warning lights etc. She had more to give but I did not feel safe at that speed at all, quite scary if I'm honest. I think they get a bit jittery over 85mph TBH, the steering is so responsive that all it would take would be an ill-timed sneeze and you'd be side-wards barrel-rolling down the motorway ;)

More power? You're all crazy, mad......

PS:
She's running like a well buttered buttery thing :) Fuel's up too, interestingly.
 
Richardu said:
Adding to the OP direction. I test drove x3 75's before our 90 sport se; totally different car, honestly... the 90 actually "feels" like a bigger car, less engine noise, heaps more pull which I agree seems disproportionate at only a 15bhp gain??

As for remapping, granted I'm old now (lat 40's) but I would not want any more power in a car of this dimension! I the wet it's all too easy to spin the wheels, ( an aspect that's appalling on two fronts- a) look like a boy racer and, b) rubber loss = ££££s.
Overtaking power; OK I've just had a new turbo which must help, but there's heaps and heaps of spare power. In fact, the closer you get to 70mph the easier it is due to the power delivery.

After the rebuild I took her up (only the once, I do not thrash my cars) to 110 for about 5 ish seconds just to be sure all was good, no warning lights etc. She had more to give but I did not feel safe at that speed at all, quite scary if I'm honest. I think they get a bit jittery over 85mph TBH, the steering is so responsive that all it would take would be an ill-timed sneeze and you'd be side-wards barrel-rolling down the motorway ;)

More power? You're all crazy, mad......

PS:
She's running like a well buttered buttery thing :) Fuel's up too, interestingly.
Click to expand...

You, no doubt, were confusing mph with kph weren't you;)
 
More Power?

More Power?

More Power?

Mo Farah?

(this is probably babble to anyone who hasn't seen the TV advert!)

Steve B
 
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