Sport v's SE

R

rktec

Member
Hi,

Firstly, please be gentle, Im a newbie (so apologies if this has been covered before/or if it opens up old wounds?) . . . and am looking to buy an A2 by the end of the month.

Secondly, have been having a look at the FAQ section, re; buying an A2 and it has answered almost all my questions, so thanks to all for taking the time to compile that stuff, it has really helped.

Now to the dilema - I almost know the car I want, but am torn between the 2 camps of Sport or SE, but it needs to be a 2002/2003 plate TDi(90) in Silver with black leather (yes I know its boring but Im a purist) and with as many extras as I can get on it!!!

Can you pleeease give me your thoughts on the pro's and cons (ride/brakes/spec/resale/etc)?

All views greatly appreciated, thanks.

Also, Im in Edinburgh and the Audi Dealer there isnt the best as I found to my bank accounts horror with my old TT, so if anyone knows of such an A2 Id be v grateful if you could point me in the right direction.

Cheers,

Chris.
 
Hi there,

I looked at the SE and the sport over a number of weeks, when I was trying to decide which one to go for.

I found that in general, the SE had a greater amount of toys and trim, however I found the SPORT much more fun and enjoyable to drive.

The Breaks feel the same, but the suspention in the sport is much harder and I found the steering a little more direct as a result of the stiffer suspention and the larger wheels.

I think the key is the optional extras, although the SE will generally have a higher spec then the SPORT, Audi offered so many optional extras that it really depends on the preference of the person who originally ordered the car.

Im sure you could find a Sport with the extras you want, but it wont be easy.

With regards to the price, I found that the sports cost more to buy second hand, there are less of them to start with and due to the small numbers they were sold in compaired to other cars it has kept the values quite high.

If you are willing to give a little on the spec you want, then go for the sport, its more fun. If you are sure you want all the posh bits that go for an SE, you will have more luck in finding one.

Hope this may help

Blaine:D
 
Well my TDI Sport is up on Pistonheads - but it's a 75 in blue with grey jacquard interior so unfortunately it does not meet your criteria.

I would echo the comments previously made. The Sport is very nice to drive on decent A roads / motorways. On choppy B roads an SE would probably be better. I fitted SE 16" alloys in place of the 17" Sport alloys and I reckon it is a better ride for it.

I would agree also that you would be better off chipping a 75 - would probably give a better driving experience than the standard 90.

Mike
 
I agree that its very hard to buy the car you want with the right bits - I bought an SE with the bits I wanted then bought the 17" sport wheels so I get the good ride of the SE with the nicer wheels of the sport. As for the suspension, "sport" doesn't necessarily equal "sporty", even the ride on the SE is pretty hard, the sport can be pretty awful.
 
Just to add my tuppence-worth:

Consider the ease with which you can add any features not on the car you get:

Things like leather goodies, cd players and boot false floors are relatively easy to add to a sport. However, DIS (the driver information system) and sports seats (definitely worth having) are less easy (DIS is virtually impossible and certainly not at less than £1000) to add.

If the sport springs are not to your liking, have aftermarket dampers fitted, such as the Koni FSDs - not my cuppa, but a lot of folks on here like them. It's cheaper than getting sport wheels added to SE springs!

Whatever you choose, make sure the basics are there - things that cannot be added at reasonable cost later: that is air-con, DIS, double DIN dashboard (if you intend to upgrade to RNS-E). Other things to consider are OEM parking sensors (can be done, but not easily), headlamp washers and seat heating.

My advice, go for a sport with as much spec as you can get. The chances are that you won't get a 90PS model (no, you can't have mine and anyway, it's not the right colour!!), but a re-mapped 75PS isn't vastly different.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Hi rktec,

Perhaps worth bearing in mind that the roads tend to be in much worse condition up here than they are down south. This might make a Sport harder to live with for us northerners! I have just bought a TDi SE, after trying Both Sports and SEs. Two of the Sports I tried had bent wheels; None of the "standards" or SEs seemed to.

I obviously don't know if it is down to the wheels, the suspension, Or just coincidence!

I did not like the way the sport drove. although I preferred the seats, and liked the look of the wheels

ScotAlan
 
You really have to consider if you can with stand the hard ride of the sport suspension. I know I'm not driving a scooby or Elise but still, I find the SE ride quite harsh already; at least for the roads near where I live. As for handling, I reckon you're better off with Koni FSDs than super hard sports springs. The RS4 style wheels are very desirable, but you can get replicas.

Then consider the toys. Sports don't come with fog lamps and boot false floor for example. Get an idea of all the options you want, such as rear electric windows, you'll be surprise how many A2s don't have them! Then search the forum to see how much effort and money it will cost to retro fit. Then you should have a fair idea of how much the car is worth.

A chipped 75 Tdi is just as desirable, minus the rear disc breaks. The option to chip is there if you think 75bhp isn't enough and it doesn't cost the world. There is a revo remapped silver Tdi75 with grey leather on autotrader. It is desirable, except it doesn't have rear electric windows!

happy shopping!
 
Thanks for all your replys/views,

I have to admit being a bit more uncertain now, but at least I am much more informed.

The givens are that I have to have a silver Tdi with black interior, the extras I badly want are fog lights, leccy windows all round, dis, aircon, cd changer, and rear disc brakes.

If I am greedy/fortunate enough to get everything I want, then 90bhp, opensky, bose, sports seats and false floor would be perfect - but Im beginning to realise that this is not so easy to find in one car (as you lot probably have them :rolleyes: )

Im expecting my second wee one so I guess the SE is the best choice for ride, and imo an SE is probably more likely to have had a careful lady owner?

Only thing now is to find one with all the goodies I want, dont really care about the cost too much, but am reluctant to get too much aftermarket stuff done - however the chipping option seems worthwhile and REVO technic was a big hit with the TT forum (mind you if I don't get a 90 model I won't get rear discs it seems, am I right?)

Okay then, to try and cap all this off, can anyone encourage my laziness and confirm the standard 'extras' spec for a Sport as against an SE (I take it this is the same for the 90's?)

Failing this - I think Im best to just search for a Tdi(90) full stop and see what spec/extras I can get after that.

Thanks again

(why oh why did they ever stop making these wee beauties!?)

:eek:
 
Standard 'extras' on the Sport were:
DIS,
sports suspension,
17" RS4-style alloy wheels,
Sports front seats with lumbar support,
3-spoke sports steering wheel

You don't get the fogs, false boot floor, illuminated vanity mirrors or leather package of the SE.

Most A2s ordered from late 2003/early 2004 would have been ordered with metallic paint and air conditioning, as it was a £250 package, run until early 2005.

When I say that most things can be retro-fitted, I'm not talking aftermarket, but genuine Audi.

Front fogs for instance, are £170-ish for the full kit from VAGParts.com, plus fitting. Electric windows all round are quite rare, as are cd changers (unless incorporated into the Symphony 2). If you badly want DIS, then a sport will deffo have it, an SE might, depending on the original buyers spec.

If you want rear discs, it's TDi 90, 1.6FSi or nothing!

Cheers,

Mike
 
Cheers Mike for that,

Gutted that the SE didnt have dis as standard . . . but pleased to know that I can basically get most things like a CD changer retrofitted by a dealer or approved garage (not sure about isofix or DIS though?).

Anyway, I will have to trawl through the classifieds this weekend in depth and phone round a few garages (if it isnt for a new car they hardly want to know and never return your calls/emails)

Thanks ULP, I had previosuly disounted that Jaquard stuff as I though it was all diagonal patterned, but are you telling me that the later version doesnt have this? I would be grateful if you could send me a few pics of your cousins fiance's car - if indeed they still want to sell it, btw does the bench seat have 3 headrests/belts?

I guess its just a case of looking carefully at the fine print as there are a lot of A2's with their spec mis-represented by seller who are not 'in-the-know' (like me I suppose)

Oh and btw price isnt really that much of an issue, within reason though - especially with Dealers prices - I just want to find the right car :(
 
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As far as retro-fits go, dealers will tell you where to go for most things. Don't take any notice of them as anything is possible, but not necessarily at a decent and viable price.

DIS and ISOfix are two that are not economically viable (ISOfix on;y cost £30 as a factory option too), as are rear electric windows and aircon. Everything else is do-able - trust me, I've done most of them to my car!

Things such as heated seats, genuine parking sensors, cruise control, audio options (including BOSE), auto dimming rear view mirror, headlamp washers (quite pricey, but most of that is for the new bumper and painting), fogs etc etc.

Your approach is probably the best bet, but don't rule out a car just because it's the wrong colour either.

There are some bargains to be had, but generally, A2 prices are now firming up considerably.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Thanks Spike/Mike,

It appears that the diagonal-stripey-jacquard-satin cloth in that extract is 'not for sports seats', . . . ULP can you clarify what you meant by a non-diagonal Jaquard cloth in your cousins fiance's A2, or have I read this all wrong?

Im almost there guys cheers, so bascially I need to find a Tdi(90) Sport or SE with DIS/elec windows/air-con/isofix already, and my wish list for wee things like parking sensors/audio etc can be done at a price.

I hear what you're saying about colour options, and I wish (boy do I wish) that I wasnt so sad and anal in this regard, but all my cars have been silver/black - i know, I need some serious therapy, but there is a slight glimmer of hope that red leather could be the option for one of my future purchases???

Thanks again guys, really appreciate you input - a-hunting I will go, vastly more informed and wary than i was previously.

Will keep you all posted . . .

;)

(oops, one last thing - can you retro-fit the whole winter pack?)
 
manhattan$ said:
Mike,
Is it possible to retrofit open sky?
Click to expand...
Officially no - I've never seen it done and from the parts catalogue, it seems that the space frames differ between OpenSky and non-OpenSky.

Cheers,

Mike
 
rktec said:
(oops, one last thing - can you retro-fit the whole winter pack?)
Click to expand...
Again,
officially, no.

However, the heated mirrors are probably the easiest retrofit to do - many on this forum have already done it themselves. The wires are already in place and the parts (2 new mirror glasses) are about £50 for the pair.

The heated wiper jets are a little more tricky, but still do-able. However, they aren't that effective, as the tubes leading to the jets are not heated, nor is the reservoir.

In terms of colour, I've always insisted on black. However, Dolphin Gray is a great colour and I was torn when ordering my last A2!

Cheers,

Mike
 
Many thanks . . .

Thanks for clearing that up - think Im all set for my hunt . . . now just need to sort out a warranty - have posted a new thread for this (unfortunately I posted in the general section - rookie error - and not service/repair etc) so as not to stray off topic.

Thanks again to all for their input.

Chris.
 
I went for a sport because I wanted Sport seats and DIS. Next on my list was rear elec windows but I never found a car that had them. Otherwise I wanted split rear seat, isofix and anything else was a plus. Only thing I didnt get was elec rear windows. Took a while tho to find Colour and few spec items I did want.

Having looked at a fe wpics now, thinking maybe I should have looked for symphony as well for nav retrofit.........

Previous A2 was an SE and i did miss DIS, and I do prefer the sports seats.
 
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