Not a 225, but the 180 Quattro it was my daughters not mine, but I drove and serviced it regularly, great bodywork ( no rust even on a 10 year old car unlike a merc. SLK of that period, which made a change for me ) quality interior well put together, and easy to service yourself. The trouble is its like being sat in your lounge, I think it would be a good weekday car, but not MY Sunday car, NOW the problem, this was about 4/5 years ago and the car was a low mileage 2001 car, although it never broke down the warning lights / engine management lights on the dash were on most of the 2 years my daughter own the car. it had been in AUDI Old Trafford numerous times ( lights off for one day then back on for a month ). Bought myself £150 diagnostic tool and turned the lights off myself,....Saying all that my daughter loved that car and would have another , ( an she's a real petrol head ).

 

My fiancé has the 225bhp that has been remapped to 260ish bhp. It's nothing but problems for her. A nice car when everything works though.

 

I have a 225 quatro which I have just given to my son after 8 yrs running it.

To put it simply, it`s one of the best cars I`ve ever owned. Buy it and you won`t regret it.

 

I have a 225 quatro which I have just given to my son after 8 yrs running it.

To put it simply, it`s one of the best cars I`ve ever owned. Buy it and you won`t regret it.

I'm really stuck what to do. when I haven't driven the 5 for a while I start looking at other cars and the tt is one of the few cars I have never tried but have always loved the looks and like the power. Then I give mine a wash and go for a drive and love it all over again. I'd hate to sell it and get the TT and find I've made a big mistake. Your comment has made the appeal even greater now though lol Dohhhhhhhhhhhh

 

I own a 2001 225. It's simply great to drive. I love the thing tbh. I'm replacing the bushes with polybushes. The fronts arm bushes where shot which is common.

sticks to the road like glue and is quick. Issues can be.... oil pickup get clogged and ruin the engine or low oil pressure so sump off cleaning is what most people do after buying one. The interior is nice and looks better then most new cars. I have a black car with blck leather. 155K. £2375 I paid 1 owner car with full audi service.

Only downside. My 3 year old is not happy as in a car seat in the rear and no room to kick her legs. She instead sticks her legs out to stop the seat tipping back and that with the seat pushed all way forwards. It's 2 seater really.

 

My other half runs a 150bhp cabriolet TT, so not entirely what you asked, but there are some issues to be aware of as with all cars.

Throttle pedal breaks - sod to fix

Dash pod fails with fuel gauge always reading half full, or problems with pixels on screen. £100 fix from bb reman.

Minor boost hoses wear - easy fix.

Coil packs fail - free upgrade by audi

Otherwise, easy to tune (hers is remapped +50bhp), comfortable, well built, quick, iconic classic looks.

I used to be a magazine roadtester so have experience of all the models. They are a step down in terms of feedback and involvement compared to mx5, as audi had to water the chassis down shortly after launch due to a few accidents from people running out of talent. It's possible to return the chassis to its original spec with some component changes, but most owners seem to be happy with the standard spec for day to day use. 240bhp 2 seat only quattro sport model was the best drive.

Ben

 

240bhp 2 seat only quattro sport model was the best drive.

That's the one I always fancied, but they seem to hold their price better than gold bullion.

 

Thanks for these comments guys, its making interesting and "compelling reading"

 

I've had two Audi TT first generation 225.

First when they were new which I had as a daily and enjoyed.

Second a couple of years ago, lots of mods remapped to 275bhp. Had this as a weekend car. Got rid of it as whilst a great looking car and cabin IMO I found it a bit boring. Went back to just mx5s.

 

What`s the insurance like on these, compared to a 5....I`m looking at either the 225 or the 3.2,

 

Had a couple of drives in the inlaws 225mk1 quattro. Nice car, quick and planted right until the understeer then the part time rear axle came to life, if its ESP didnt shit itself and cut power it just pressed straight on even harder. Could not live with that. Haldex controller to sort costs more than I paid for my mk2.5 sport

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk

 

My wife bought one a couple of months back. To be fair and honest, it's had a host of little problems, but we got it as a project so that's to be expected. If you get one with decent service history that has been cared for by it's previous owners then it should be fine. The Bose sound system is great - deep bass if that's your thing!

I love the power (when it's not stuttering through the turbo inlet pipe collapsing in on itself), and the ride isn't as hard as people make out (even on 18's).

They suffer from thermostat issues, but genuine stats sort this out.

Front suspension knocking is common due mostly to component age (top mount bushes, arb bushes and drop links most common).

Haldex oil changes for the 4wd system are easy diy, recommended, and well worth the effort.

Coil packs are a common failure point and can be changed by Audi if not been done already under recall. Plugs are very sensitive to being gapped correctly (ngk copper plugs are better than the platinums and a fraction of the cost).

Another common fault lies with the maf, but again genuine audi seems to be the way to go.

Dash pods are a weak area, leading to miss-reading fuel/temp guages, and the lcd screen can suffer from pixelation.

Most of these issues we are dealing with at the moment, and it seems as we sort one out another rears it's head. But ours was neglected badly by previous owners.. Despite all of that, she won't even think of selling him! Take your time and go for a good test drive and I'm sure you'll find the right one. The Audi TT forum is very friendly and full of plenty of info and guides, as is a private site run by a guy called Wak - google search should find him.

 

I've driven a friends 3.2 Mk1. Lovely looking thing, but pretty dull to drive.

Early DSG gearbox isn't great so I'd need a manual if I had to have the car...but with Golf like driving dynamics I'm not sure I'd bother.

If I had to have one it'd be the Quattro Sport with 240bhp and the Recaro Seats or a 3.2.

 

I own a 2001 225 quattro coupe. Love the thing.
minor problems as said above, all repaired DIY with the help of tips from the owners forum.
I own 2 bikes and a turbo'd mk1, somethings gotta go, I ain't selling a bike and the TT is really pushing my mk1 in the race to which stays. The interior is a really nice place to be, and Ive had an adults mountain bike in the back with the rear seats laid down.

 

Here's another im giving serious thought over, the Mazda RX8 231 and before anyone say's it, I know they drink fuel and I know about the compression issues, but I do think and always have that it's a lovely looking car with great performance and handling.

 

RX8....can pick one up very cheap....but for a very good reason too.

 

My Father in law has a 3.2 quattro. Sounds and looks ace but dull to drive with predictable understeer. He can't believe the difference in road holding to my 5. If I were after a similar car I'd go for a 350/370Z (poor man's Porker)

 

RX8 is a brilliant car if you can get a good one and much better than the TT in my opinion.

 

That may be true, and at a fraction of the price too....but for how long will it stay a good one.

I went to look at a mk2 3.2 roadster today, but just a quick look, so no test drive.....but it sounded glorious.

 

I had a TTS last year and it was shite. Coming from an MX5 I don't see how you will be anything but disappointed with it but each to their own.

RX8 success is pretty much down to luck but I bought my third one a year ago after flogging the TTS and have used it as a daily since then. I went with the following criteria:

Good compression test results

Good overall condition, quality tyres etc (as per any car)

Low mileage and very regular servicing (particular attention to ignition and oil changes)

I ended up with a 2006 car with 26K miles on it, serviced on average every 4K miles and with good comp results, and I paid 3K for it. It has been flawless for me and the compression is still the same as when I bought it, but I have spent about £800 on servicing (over and above the recommended schedule). It's averaged about 22MPG for me with lots of short trips which is about the same as the other two I had.

It was meant to be a short term stop gap until I found something else but I still love driving it every day and I can't find anything to make me want to replace it so far (Mk4 MX5 might relegate it to a shed however).

 

I had a TTS last year and it was shite. Coming from an MX5 I don't see how you will be anything but disappointed with it but each to their own.

RX8 success is pretty much down to luck but I bought my third one a year ago after flogging the TTS and have used it as a daily since then. I went with the following criteria:

Good compression test results

Good overall condition, quality tyres etc (as per any car)

Low mileage and very regular servicing (particular attention to ignition and oil changes)

I ended up with a 2006 car with 26K miles on it, serviced on average every 4K miles and with good comp results, and I paid 3K for it. It has been flawless for me and the compression is still the same as when I bought it, but I have spent about £800 on servicing (over and above the recommended schedule). It's averaged about 22MPG for me with lots of short trips which is about the same as the other two I had.

It was meant to be a short term stop gap until I found something else but I still love driving it every day and I can't find anything to make me want to replace it so far (Mk4 MX5 might relegate it to a shed however).

Nice one, I think if I change I'll probably go the route of RX8 as I love quirky cars, but think it will be either an 04 / 05 car to keep in the lower tax band. Plenty of RX8 specialists out there now selling cars with either fresh engine rebuilds or proof of compression with full absolute warranties.

http://rx8specialist.com/

http://hextablerotaries.webs.com/

 

Watch out for cheap rebuilds as they don't replace important bits as a rule. Have a look on the RX8 owners club for all the info.