1.8T v 2.8 30v

[Wylie Bean]

While I was at Audi, the techs experienced a number of 30v V6 cars with oil
leaks at the back of the head near one the oil channels that has what
appears to be a ball bearing pressed into it, instead of fitted with some
sort of threaded plug as some of the earlier 30v cars had (these were mostly
99-01) cars.  1.8T's on the other hand tend to leak at the VC gasket, a very
easy fix though.  99.5 is probably the best year due to all the other
refinements (updated TB tensioner, exterior/interior) etc, but no DBW engine
control.  Others would disagree about DBW's merits, and they're free to do
so.
If I were going to buy a car like an A4 or Passat, I'd have to examine my
priorities discriminately first

Do I want: FWD (4M passats are harder to find but out there) space, nominal
sportiness, good ride, near-luxury appointments?  - Passat is the car for
you

Do I want: less space, luxury appointments (leather, wood, etc), manual
tranny as an option, sport package option, good ride, AWD on more cars? - A4
30v V6 might be it.

Do I want; a car that I can readily tune and see results therefrom, a
lighter, more nimble car at the cost of some luxo stuff, cloth sport seat
option,  AWD, manual (trannies)-a-plenty, a reliable engine (if serviced
normally), then I'd look for a 1.8T.

Having seen and heard of both with well over 100K miles, I don't think
reliability will be much of an issue with either car as long as it's
serviced at the intervals suggested or sooner.  It's not until you start to
really tune a 1.8T that you run into longevity issues.  I'd venture to say
that most Stage I type setups will not seriously affect the longevity or
reliability of the 1.8T, but it depends on your base vehicle's mileage and
care by the previous owner too.

Wylie Bean
TheRingmeister at triad.rr.com
Greensboro NC
90 cq 20v
99.5 A4 Avant 1.8Tq