Changing my car

[Bowlerwell]

Hi folks.
Hope you all had a good Christmas.

I've been thinking about changing my car.
The BMW is nice, but I miss the Quattro.
It's a bit expensive too.

The only thing is, I've been looking at prices of Quattros:
The cheapest I have found is the S2, the next, an S8!!
I was hoping that I could get an A3 TDI Quattro, but they are even more expensive than an S8!

What should I do?

Also, How does an impreza 4x4 compare to quattro?

THanks folks,
JohnB

[vonbeck]

i would say depending on which scoobdoo[subaru] you are looking at they might be faster/lighter but thats because they are made out off bean tins, stick to the fourrings you know it makes sense, i would love an s8 but just tooo big for me but a great motor

[Skull]

A3 and TT dont have quattro btw.

[Bowlerwell]

Some A3s and TTs do.

[Jas11n]

I think what Skull means is that the system used in the A3/S3 and TT isn't what we call "proper" quattro.
By that I mean not what Audi set out in the onset to design, that being "permanent AWD"
The system used in the above cars is Haldex based, and isn't "permanent" drive to all four wheels. Its FWD until slip is detected, then is transfers power to the rear.
The S2 uses torsen based and is a 50/50 split in normal driving.

[disclaimer]I don't want to get into a debate on the tiny details of the haldex setup, it's just what I understand of the system and that it isn't AWD 100% of the time.[/disclaimer]

HTH's
Jas..

[topsparky]

I think what Skull means is that the system used in the A3/S3 and TT isn't what we call "proper" quattro.
By that I mean not what Audi set out in the onset to design, that being "permanent AWD"
The system used in the above cars is Haldex based, and isn't "permanent" drive to all four wheels. Its FWD until slip is detected, then is transfers power to the rear.
The S2 uses torsen based and is a 50/50 split in normal driving.

[disclaimer]I don't want to get into a debate on the tiny details of the haldex setup, it's just what I understand of the system and that it isn't AWD 100% of the time.[/disclaimer]

HTH's
Jas..

well said jas

[S2central.net]

I honestly can say that I would still struggle to find a more enjoyable car than the S2. Great for cruising, B-road blasts and even the odd school run ! Sure its heavy, but its built like a tank and is super reliable (as long as service upkeep is maintained).

The S4 and S6 are a bit big for my needs, but if I was shopping for a bigger Audi as a non-daily driver I would also pick the S8 - just looks fantastic with all the trimmings inside and that great V8 engine spurring you along. There are of coure variants of the S4 and S6 with V8 engines but they never came to the UK.

Prices for an S8 are mighty cheap nowadays - still outta my league but I do have notions for one. They just ooze something special like the S2 for me.

I wouldn't be assed with a beemer - boring soulless thing which everyone and their in-laws aspires to for some god-forsaken reason of alleged 'status'. Dull dull dull...

Paul

[dan_b]

I know I miss my S2, best bang for my buck since, eer, stop there Mr B!

[Bowlerwell]

Super-Reliable??!
The reason I sold my S2 is because I questioned its reliability.
I'm just not willing to pay £5000 per year for maintainance. And am not happy wondering what's gonna go wrong next, and when.
My BMW may be 'soulless' and 'boring', but it has cost me nothing in maintainance over the past 3 months. My S2 averaged about £500-£600 per month.

Yeah, I miss my S2, and i'd LOVE to have another one, but I just can't trust it's reliability.

[BRY]

£500 - £600 per month is very excessive, is the BMW looked after by the same garage?

[newsh]

Seems like you got rid of it after fixing everything

[s2dude]

Seems like you got rid of it after fixing everything

precisely my thoughts Newsh!!

I found that initially this car cost me a lot of £££ in new parts....
but now it has settled down to being a more steady upgrading of bits as all the "major" items have been done....
Car has never not started on me though...... (except once when it conked in hot weather as the fuel pump gave up!...but it restarted next morning) Fingers Crossed anyway.

[Jamo]

Super-Reliable??!
The reason I sold my S2 is because I questioned its reliability.
I'm just not willing to pay £5000 per year for maintainance. And am not happy wondering what's gonna go wrong next, and when.
My BMW may be 'soulless' and 'boring', but it has cost me nothing in maintainance over the past 3 months. My S2 averaged about £500-£600 per month.

Yeah, I miss my S2, and i'd LOVE to have another one, but I just can't trust it's reliability.

Yes but it seems your S2 was abused in a former life unfortunately.

The S2 wasn't that much more too run infact it was cheaper that the damn ovlov for some bits.

You were right to question it's reliability and in reality maybe it should have gone sooner to be swapped for another S2.

Other owners have run to good effect with nowhere near that cost of running.

Impreza's are tin can cars, no build quality what so ever, high performance and very very high maintenance. The engines are suspect and suffer from piston slap.

If you thought the S2 was bad wait till a Scoobie goes wrong and you have to get bits from Japan!

[4WheelDrifter]

My S2 has been the most reliable car I've ever owned.
It's only let me down once as far as I can recall, and that was when the alternator broke, but that was easy to fix and only cost £15.

[Bowlerwell]

So which cars have the Haldex, and which have the Torsen system?
Is it old cars that have the Torsen, and new ones have the Haldex?