Trying to decide btw 1.8T and 2 Litre ...

c0y0te

I'm about to go a huntin' for a 03 VW passat saloon, petrol variety. Right now I'm thinking of either the 1.8T or the 2L version. Has anyone here got opinions on either model (from the perspective of owning, driving one). Good or bad stories or advice?

c0y0te

BogoBot

The 1.8T is the one I chose after trying both.

(never actually got it because the garage f*cked up the order and caused me to wait 6 months for delivery before telling me that it had been built with an autobox...fume)

Still, they are a lovely car. Powerful without being awkward to live with and seem to be holding there value very well.

Bogobot.

Chimaera

Well, from a tax pov, the 1.8T is a better bet.

Also, the 1.8T has 150bhp, which the 2.0l has just 115bhp (at least the last time I checked anyway).

Dunno about insurance - you should probably check it beforehand though.

My advice, if you didn't mind switching to diesel, is to go for the 150bhp TDi - in the Golf it's faster than the 1.8T, and you'll get far better fuel economy.

Or go for a Mondeo TDCi - far better to drive, as well built as the Passat these days, and will apparently hold it's value better than a Passat here as well. One dealer I was talking to said that Passat values fell IR£2000 within a month of the Mondeo going on sale here.

At the end of the day, the Passat is an old car at this stage, having been around since 96/97 iirc. The Mondeo is a far newer car, as is the Laguna, which has a very good diesel too.

Borzoi

Originally posted by c0y0te
I'm about to go a huntin' for a 03 VW passat saloon, petrol variety. Right now I'm thinking of either the 1.8T or the 2L version. Has anyone here got opinions on either model (from the perspective of owning, driving one). Good or bad stories or advice?

c0y0te

I'm assuming you mean what's the difference between the Turbo and non-Turbo. I've neen driving a SAAB 2.0T for the last two years. While the Turbo can develope the same BHP as a 2.3L 'normal' engine, you do suffer turbo-lag, that is the time delay to build up the power, usually just a matter of seconds, but that time can be critical when overtaking etc. The other time yI notice the lag is when just pulling off, the Turbo requires a little bit extra revs, to get the car moving, I wasn't used to this at the start, and consequently stalled a few times. The advantegs of the Turbo are lower fuel costs, lower tax, and I think lower insurance.

Really you should get a test drive, not necessarily in a VW, as most turbo characteristics are similar

speedfreak

I'd have to say the 1.8T is a better engine than the 2.0. But you gotta take into consideration how that will affect your insurance quote. Deffo go for the 130Bhp TDI is my advice, having test driven an Audi A4 at the w/end (same engines as Passat.) Its incredibly quiet and really powerful not to mention v. economical. Volkswagen group TDI's are v. well regarded

kayos

1.8T all the way if you want to try and tune the engine to give you more preformance.

The VAG group TDI's are hugely powerful and respected as well so dont shun them just cause they are diesel .

kayos

Bo Duke

Go for the 1.8T and forget about diesel.The diesel is quiet when warm but it`s a noisey fu*ker in the morning.As regards power go to westward engineering in Enfield and get the 1.8T chipped. This will increase the power by 15-20bhp and while there get an induction kit.This will give 5-10bhp.That will cost about 750 euros but will take the power up to 170-180bhp and won`t affect you insurance.Don`t worry about turbo lag.The turbo lag is like driving a naturally aspirated 1.8 so it just takes a while.If you want to eliminate the lag let the turbo spool up before taking off.This requires the revving of the engine.Hope I helped

c0y0te

Yeah - thanks for the info.

I took the 1.8T out for a test drive / spin the other day... man it was pure fun.

I think I'm in love!!

c0y0te

RicardoSmith

1.8T all the way. Borzoi - most modern turbo cars have very little lag these days. The Saab is a little out of date though. Some of them have rediculous boost settings.