turbo510

I'll second that- the 2.8 series doesn't need much attention. I changed the oil pressure sender once, and yes that was tough because I didn't use service positon like I should have. Had to do the EGR passage once, and just tedious, but not hard. But for what its worth, that 90 degree V6 just looks like more motor when you open the hood!

george1955

2.8 - i had a 99 1.8 and still have my 2.8 '01. to e its a different car. expensive repairs and you need a good tech. but the car just won't wear out. Bought it as a CPO in '04 with 39k - have 132 on it now. just follow the rules and it will last forever. Currently have a 4.2 A6 from '06 which I upgraded from a3.2 '05 A6 recemntly - I couldn't part with the 2.8 - its my daily driver.

mtroxel

I used the service position.....if that made it easier its news to me. That is an awful job. I think I ended up unbolting the AC compressor just to get clearance to do it.

Corrado_Guy

The 2000 and 2001 are very close with the 1.8T, the biggest difference is with the engine and engine management. The 2000 1.8T is a ATW motor based off of the older 058 block with an external coolant pump. This means it has the bigger wrist pins for the pistons but it also has the smaller port head like the newer motors. The ATW also uses ME 5.1 with narrow-band so it is kind of a mix of both the early and late motors. The ATW is a DBW motor like the later motors so you can swap the engine management over to this motor. The 2001 and later motors used the 06A block with smaller wrist pins and an internal coolant pump but they used ME 7.1 with a wide band O2 sensor which is better for tunes if you want more power. The 2000 made 150 hp stock and the 2001 made 170 hp stock but you don't really feel that difference driving it nor do the 0 - 60 numbers show it. Otherwise the two cars are nearly identical and you would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the two of them.

Personally, I would not bother with the V6 simply because I am more into the power end of things and that is the only place the V6 really lacks other than the extra weight over the front wheels. I have a 2000 1.8T with a mild BT set-up that consists of a GT28RS with a Uni 440cc tune and a FMIC with all of the associated parts. This puts down about 250 hp to the ground @ 18 PSI which is about what the same year S4 puts to the crank so you can imagine it moves. Great you think, everyone likes power and those seem like great numbers but understand those upgrades go for around the asking price of the car itself so it is not cheap. Those upgrades do not include items such as engine/transmission/diff mounts, bigger brakes to stop it, and all of the associated upgrades to correct any other weak parts that the upgrades will find and cause to fail. If you have any worn or damaged parts lots of extra power is a great way to find it and break it.

Once you get everything replaced and the car is reliable then you have to live with it on daily basis. If I have the boost set to 18 psi the car will haul past most things shy of a gas station. As it sits I can just get past 300 kms (yes kms, I live in Canada so you would need to adjust this to your distance) before the tank is pretty much empty and the low fuel light is on. If I dial it back to about 12 psi it will see maybe 370 kms so more power equals more fuel. My car has a stage 3 clutch which is more like a switch so this can be a lot of fun but you need it for the extra power as the stock clutch would die quickly. The GT28RS doesn't really come alive until it is getting near 3,000 rpm so it is kind of a dog in the bottom end which can be easy enough to live with. Now, take this same car and throw it on a nice steep hill and try to get it moving which can be a real challenge.

Most importantly, is it reliable? I beat on this car and it is my daily and to date I have had the coils fail once and that is it. It starts every time, it passes emissions testing some how, it goes great, it looks low-key, and has never let me down. If I really beat on it the only I get is some clutch chatter but once it cools down it is all good again. My current setup is using the ME5 and I have no complaints although ME7 with the wide-band would work better but what I have works well enough.