1.8t into older I-5 cars (was RE: generic A4 questions)

[Kevin Hoff]

So all this talk about the 1.8t makes me curious about why no one is
swapping them into the older cars.  Is the bolt pattern completely
incompatible?  Is it just too tall to fit under the hood on cars that
originally had the I-5?  The bolt pattern problem can be solved easily but
changing the motor to tilt isn't.

--Kevin H.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: quattro-bounces at audifans.com 
> [mailto:quattro-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of Taka Mizutani
> Sent: Sunday, February 04, 2007 4:29 PM
> To: Alex Cagann
> Cc: Q-list
> Subject: Re: generic A4 questions
> 
> I strongly disagree with your assessment that the 1.8T is a 
> bad engine- if maintained properly, the engine is fine. It's 
> the same basic engine that has powered VW/Audi cars for the 
> last 25 years!
> 
> Head gasket and main bearing issues are definitely the 
> exception rather than the rule.
> How do you know that the car hasn't been abused or maintained 
> properly? Was a full tear-down done to assess the extent of 
> the problem? Was there any sludge or significant build up in 
> the oil passages or elsewhere? What was the condition of the oil pump?
> What was the maintenance interval on the engine, what oil was 
> used, what filter, how was the car driven? Was it chipped?
> 
> There are a lot of issues that mechanics see on the 1.8T 
> because most people who aren't enthusiasts don't understand 
> why you would want to use synthetic oil in a turbo car (most 
> see that as unnecessary expense), as well as doing 5k oil 
> changes rather than 7.5k or 10k or whatever Audi recommended 
> initially. They also don't understand that with the tiny 
> little K03 turbo, you'd want to idle the car and cool the 
> engine down while it's running before shutting down, 
> considering there is no afterrun system on the 1.8T.
> 
> Same reason why people cheap out on tires, even though tires 
> are the only thing keeping you connected to the road- I'd 
> rather spend more (as long as I'm able to) on good tires than 
> get some el-cheapo Pep Boys specials.
> 
> Taka