Knackered Old Por... Hold On That's An....
Discussion
Audi A2 Actually 
I've always admired the A2 and the sheer lunacy of doing an all aluminium super mini. As crazy OEM decisions go this is right up there in the ways to lose thousands per car as a manufacturer but there's no denying they are a fantastic little thing.
I've been saying for the past few years that if the right one came up I'd add it to my collection of turn of the millennium German cars even though it wasn't a Porsche. At the weekend my e-bay alert pinged and would you believe it:
An A2 TDI Sport with dealer fit Votex kit and no glass roof of fail. It has moon mileage but any reasonably priced A2 does these days and they wear it pretty well.
This one has been fairly well looked after and has a fairly complete service history, it's also had the odd upgrade over the years:
There's a job list forming already but so far nothing too major:
- The shift tower needs replacing/rebuilding as the upper bearing is very oval!
- It currently has four random tyres so a wheel refurb in a darker anthracite (to match the 996 colour scheme) and a decent set of boots is high on the priority list.
- Spot of bodywork refurb, it's actually pretty good with no major dents or bits missing but there's the odd bumper scuff etc. that really should be attended to for the sake of a rattle can...
- Modern head unit, still single din but something with BT, USB for charging etc. on it.
- Fix the climate control, it has about 7 PSI left in the circuit so it may well be that it's just low on gas.
- Front brakes are well worn, I would immediately default to a brake upgrade here but as the caliper carrier is cast as part of the upright this is a little more involved than usual.
So how does it drive? Well Colin had it right decades ago "add lightness", you can tell it's a very light car by how it damps and how it goes with only 100bhp or so. It drives very much like any Audi of the early to mid 2000s, it's not the last word in dynamics but has a lot of charm to it and let's face it, you aren't buying one of these for outright performance! One thing that is ridiculous compared the rest of my fleet... the fuel economy. High 40's if you drive it like you stole it, high 50's if you don't.
All in all, it's a wonderful and hugely interesting little car
I've always admired the A2 and the sheer lunacy of doing an all aluminium super mini. As crazy OEM decisions go this is right up there in the ways to lose thousands per car as a manufacturer but there's no denying they are a fantastic little thing.
I've been saying for the past few years that if the right one came up I'd add it to my collection of turn of the millennium German cars even though it wasn't a Porsche. At the weekend my e-bay alert pinged and would you believe it:
An A2 TDI Sport with dealer fit Votex kit and no glass roof of fail. It has moon mileage but any reasonably priced A2 does these days and they wear it pretty well.
This one has been fairly well looked after and has a fairly complete service history, it's also had the odd upgrade over the years:
There's a job list forming already but so far nothing too major:
- The shift tower needs replacing/rebuilding as the upper bearing is very oval!
- It currently has four random tyres so a wheel refurb in a darker anthracite (to match the 996 colour scheme
) and a decent set of boots is high on the priority list.- Spot of bodywork refurb, it's actually pretty good with no major dents or bits missing but there's the odd bumper scuff etc. that really should be attended to for the sake of a rattle can...
- Modern head unit, still single din but something with BT, USB for charging etc. on it.
- Fix the climate control, it has about 7 PSI left in the circuit so it may well be that it's just low on gas.
- Front brakes are well worn, I would immediately default to a brake upgrade here but as the caliper carrier is cast as part of the upright this is a little more involved than usual.
So how does it drive? Well Colin had it right decades ago "add lightness", you can tell it's a very light car by how it damps and how it goes with only 100bhp or so. It drives very much like any Audi of the early to mid 2000s, it's not the last word in dynamics but has a lot of charm to it and let's face it, you aren't buying one of these for outright performance! One thing that is ridiculous compared the rest of my fleet... the fuel economy. High 40's if you drive it like you stole it, high 50's if you don't.
All in all, it's a wonderful and hugely interesting little car
the-norseman said:
What engine is in it? think they offered the little 1.4TDI , I had that in my SEAT Ibiza was a nice engine went well once remapped.
It's that one, 3 cylinders of pure compression ignition fury Currently making a sniff over 100bhp, assuming it's not lost anything since Stealth fettled it 12 years ago. It does go amazingly well for what it is!poppopbangbang said:
It's that one, 3 cylinders of pure compression ignition fury Currently making a sniff over 100bhp, assuming it's not lost anything since Stealth fettled it 12 years ago. It does go amazingly well for what it is!
Think mine made 110 on a set of rolling roads, it had "Custom Code" on it from JBS. Another lad ran a hybrid turbo at around 125bhp. Currently making a sniff over 100bhp, assuming it's not lost anything since Stealth fettled it 12 years ago. It does go amazingly well for what it is!So first job done.
You know when you buy a car and the seller says "Well the aircon used to work but it stopped a few years back, I think it needs regassing".....
Sometimes, rarely, just the once, that appears to actually be the case! I took a measure earlier and it still had 6.7PSI left in the system which ruled out a holed evaporator or condensor. So with some trepidation and filing it with a combination of a very Mickey Mouse gauge and what Audi says the vent temperature difference to ambient should be the aircon is now up and running!
These bodge canisters are a proper rough way of doing it but sometimes you just have to lick the stamp right!
9 degree vent exit temp.....
In a 28 degree ambient.
If the rest of it is this easy to fix then the A-Poo as it has been christened can stick around!
You know when you buy a car and the seller says "Well the aircon used to work but it stopped a few years back, I think it needs regassing".....
Sometimes, rarely, just the once, that appears to actually be the case! I took a measure earlier and it still had 6.7PSI left in the system which ruled out a holed evaporator or condensor. So with some trepidation and filing it with a combination of a very Mickey Mouse gauge and what Audi says the vent temperature difference to ambient should be the aircon is now up and running!
These bodge canisters are a proper rough way of doing it but sometimes you just have to lick the stamp right!
9 degree vent exit temp.....
In a 28 degree ambient.
If the rest of it is this easy to fix then the A-Poo as it has been christened can stick around!
This look fantastic.
Every time I see an A2 I kick myself that I've still never owned one. I really should have done by now. In the nicest possible way, I think these are real nerd's cars. They really appeal to me for the engineering effort that was poured in only to be completely shunned by most buyers (in the same vain, I also love the original insight, the BMW i3 and don't laugh, the original A-class). Feels like engineers won a coin toss with the accountants on this one. They seem like a car that was at least 10 years ahead of their time, maybe arguably even more. Frankly, they still look pretty modern to me and from a period when Audi styling was super clean and modern.
I'm actually still amazed that some of these are still relatively affordable. I have this down as an absolute bonafied future classic but they never seem to rocket in price. Maybe I still have a chance to pick one up before it's too late.
Lovely car OP, enjoy.
Every time I see an A2 I kick myself that I've still never owned one. I really should have done by now. In the nicest possible way, I think these are real nerd's cars. They really appeal to me for the engineering effort that was poured in only to be completely shunned by most buyers (in the same vain, I also love the original insight, the BMW i3 and don't laugh, the original A-class). Feels like engineers won a coin toss with the accountants on this one. They seem like a car that was at least 10 years ahead of their time, maybe arguably even more. Frankly, they still look pretty modern to me and from a period when Audi styling was super clean and modern.
I'm actually still amazed that some of these are still relatively affordable. I have this down as an absolute bonafied future classic but they never seem to rocket in price. Maybe I still have a chance to pick one up before it's too late.
Lovely car OP, enjoy.
Gad-Westy said:
This look fantastic.
Every time I see an A2 I kick myself that I've still never owned one.
Exactly my thoughts Every time I see an A2 I kick myself that I've still never owned one.
It's been on my list for a long while but it had to be a Votex kitted car and for me the TDI is the motor that really should have been in this for it's higher thermal efficency matching the ultra economy stance of the rest of the car. They really are ten years ahead of their time as some of the aero bits on them (like the flutes in the roof and kicks built into the rear lights) are what you see on current EVs not 20 year old Audis! You're absolutely correct that they are a car nerds car, there are bits of this small thing that are total engineering porn! Obviously as someone with a huge appreciation for that sort of thing they appeal greatly.
Values are a weird thing with these, mint, sub 50K mile cars appear to be as high as £8K whilst rough just scraped through an MOT unpopular spec ones are more like £800. This wasn't quite in the middle of those but was on the low side of that because of its moon mileage...... which I find rather appealing
Agreed it was a car ahead of its time and suffered at the box office for it. OP, if you’ve got a spare half hour and some popcorn, have a look here at a thread I started on it’s styling, Go on, I dare you…, contentious is putting it mildly.
agent006 said:
A set of Koni FSD dampers absolutely transform these.
In a handling, comfort or both kind of way? It's probably a sad reflection on the rest of my fleet but I've been quite impressed by how well this rides.... it's a millenium era Audi so it's certainly stiffly sprung but it's pretty composed and well behaved. It does have some very recent Bilsteins on it though so this may not be a reflection of how a 170K mile old one normally is!
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