I was at that point abot 1.5 years ago, when I built an engine and went single...starts everytime, and is as reliable as anything else. Just likes gas...a LOT!

Now, I drive the **** out of her and she wants more.

 

Mark,

I was hoping that you'd offer to help me to do the swap... I appreciate the offer and I do have a garage, although, it's a little narrow. I'm not quite ready to cross over to the Dark Side just yet. I haven't determined if my motor is fried yet. It may just be an old coolant hose...I hope.

And to the rest of your guys who have responded. Thanks for the words of encouragement.

John

 

I vote N/A 20b all the way. contact GTORX7 via PM or PM me. He could build you a kit right now if you wanted to. there would be some back and forth shipping of stuff and some waiting for fabrication, but he could get started right away if you have the money. and trust me, the videos you've seen of his car do NOT do the sound justice. Everyone knows what a V8 sounds like, you can tell it doesnt sound as good on videos as it does in real life. Same thing goes for the 20b. That thing is freakin wicked, so i say go for it.

 

realy? you must have goten a crappy one then.. because they are very reliable cars. i know several people with 150K+ on there e36, and a few people with 200K+ on there e30... ane one with 300K on his e30... im not saying the dont have problems... but they are still more reliable then any FD

 

NA 20B or single

 

Hmmmm....my two cents worth:

Having an FD as a daily driver/only car you have would suck. They simply are getting too old and require too much maintenance for that (in my opinion). To really appreciate these cars and NOT have them drive you bat-****, you need:

1. at least one other car as a daily driver
2. a nice garage with plenty of tools and plenty of room to work so you are not working outside in the elements.
3. enough extra money available for repairs/improvements that won't affect your daily living budget.
4. the time and patience to withstand extended periods of disrepair and to effect repairs when required.

Without the above as a minimum, you WILL quickly become disenchanted with the car. I know how it goes, I had a Triumph TR7 that was just an absolute money-pit, I wasn't making diddly-squat at the time, all and I mean ALL of my money went into keeping that car running, and when it didn't I had to beg/borrow cars from friends and family.....I really grew to HATE that car, even though I loved it when all was well.

The perfect FD relationship is where you can drive it at your whim. Whether that be at a track event or just a blast thru the countryside on one of those awesome days, THAT is when you really love the car and can forgive it for just about anything.

 

350Z is pretty reliable however I heard something about that the car has a defect on the suspension somewhere so basically the tires get eaten up real quick.... my friend told me that... but i'm not sure its true or not.

 

And will always be as ugly as a cows ****...

Beaten in visual offensiveness only by a Volvo 740 Wagon IMO...

 

Two things:

1) An FD, or any car over 10 years old is not always the best daily driver because you are always going to have it down from time to time for repairs. Just swallow your price and drive beater when the FD is down. Or get an old Miata as a daily driver like I do. You can pick one up for around $3000 and cars do not get much more fun or reliable than the Miata.

2) Perhaps with the exception of the Z06 Vette I don't think you get a more reliable or cost effective sports car than the FD. I go to a lot of track events and it seems like everyone spends a LOT more on maintenance and repairs for their cars than I do. Particularly the Porsche guys. Sure the FD may be a pain at time and need a lot of repairs. But no more than almost any competitive car and at a much lower price.

 

I've been daily driving FDs for years and the solution to reliability is easy. Get more than one.

It's much cheaper than a z06 without the depreciation, insurance, tax cost, worry, etc....

However if you're well off then I would buy a Porsche GT3 which is the best driving street/track car made.

20b NA is something I've always wanted to do. Wouldn't Pettits parts work for this?

 

My FD is STILL being restored but the plan is to use it as a DD, I don't have a beater but I have survived this past year without it because of my GF's car (she lives in the townhouse next to me) that I use most of the time and I also have access to my brother's '05 Mustang GT as he is in the same townhouse as me.

 

Yeah, when you think about it, as much as we dick with these turbos (cost, time, etc) we could spend a little more ONE time and get a nice N/A 3 rotor cranking out an easy 300 hp, and drive the damned thing....well, FOREVER. I put 173,000 absolutely trouble free miles on my '86 FC, it was still running perfect when I sold it. THAT is what these engines will do when not tormented with the heat and pressures and detonations induced by turbocharging.
Look....there are a lot of us that will keep these cars until we are too old and fat to fit in them, then hand them down like a family jewel....lol! Why NOT make them a truly 'special' vehicle for the ages?

 

Mine has been sitting for about two years...I start it up every once in a while and let it idle. I'll get to it one day, maybe Febuary. It'll be like a new car...

 

I'm calling Pettit tomorrow LOL

 

^ You da man, Fritz!

 

NO, U da MAN!

 

These are definately "pay me now or pay me later" cars... invest up front to get it right and keep it that way, or be bled dry trying to "economize".

I'm not sure i'd WANT to daily drive my car anymore. It was OK when i was cruising 20 minutes on the highway in the suburbs to my job with a great big empty parking lot, but I wouldn't see the point sitting in an hours worth of bumper to bumper traffic into potholed DC to squeeze into a tight spot next to some door-dinging creep in his Escalade.

I'd RATHER drive my Prius for that, and spend QUALITY miles in my car. People don't daily drive their Ferraris either... and if they did, and then came home and parked them outside and scrimped on the maintainence, they'd run like crap too!

 

People in Florida daily drive their Ferraris and thats exactly how they treat them. And thats why you should never buy a Ferrari that has been registered in Florida!

 

Damn Pete,
I don't know how you guys can deal with those driving conditions on a daily basis. I'd need a vallium just to get in the car. The prius is the perfect car or maybe just a souped up electric wheelchair would do the trick.

 

Yeah mine was the BIGGEST waste of money. It broke down more than my FD. As a matter of fact my FD never left me stranded, ever! The S4 I can count on three hands and foot how many times it left me stranded. The best was in BFE West Va. (no Audi dealer around). It was a fun car to drive and had good power, but **** that thing. Waste of 40+K IMO.

Here is a little break down: 3 sets of turbos, endless diverter valves, O2 sensers, leaking fuel injectors. Took Audi a month to figure out why my car kept throwin the CEL --turns out they installed A4 injectors. 1 week later the starter went out @32K miles. 3 days after I get the car back battery had a bad cell.

2 months later drivers side turbo was leaking oil. New turbo. 44K miles outer tie rods shot. Not under warranty. Audi popped my pass. tire on the lift. They replaced the tire w/ a new one. Great now I have three old bald shitty Pirelli 6000's. Had to buy three new shitty pirellis. 50K miles O2 sensors again and the cat was clogged (under warranty). 1 week later CEL-- faulty O2 sensor.

Broke down on vacation at he beach. Faulty clutch switch, pushed started the car with the girlfriend. That was good times. We had planned on making several stops on the way home. That changed. Back to the dealer. Tried a new one this time. Rockville Audi. They fixed the clutch switch and looked over the car. Clean bill of health. HAHAHAHAH Yeah go **** yourself.

Alarm stopped working. Replaced the ECU and two new keys were programed. Do you know how expensive it is to replace those DAMN keys!!!!

The Bose sound system is great however, the drivers side rear speaker blew twice. I told them it was just the amp that went bad. Nope it's the speaker, my *** it always buzzed after they changed the speaker. The system also had a gremlin. The head unit will flash; it's like a blink of the eye and then it resets all your bass, tre, and mid settings to high. Audi never found this problem.

60k miles CEL throttle body boot split, again. 60K mile tuneup. Discovered that I was leaking antifreeze. New head gasket. Oh Mr. Harris while we're in there we should do the timing chain...this car has a LOT of play. I didn't trust HBL so I went to see. Sure enough it looked like used dental floss. Gee, sure here is another couple grand. That weekend it overheated going down to c-ville for a football game. Stranded on the side of 29 --missed the game. Audi didn't burp the system. All the boosting probably didn't help.

A few months later the fan belt broke after a downshift trying to pass someone before I went into the Harbor tunnel in b-more. Yeah you guessed it BROKE down in the tunnel. Another good time. Trying to to to AC for a bachelor party. I was very late.

Customer states check engine light on
BOSCH/IGN MODUL/BERU/IGN COILS/SMI/FUIL INJECTOR
FAULT CODE 16684, 16685, 16686, 16687
PERFORMED FAULT TEST 5051
CHECKED COMPRESSION FOR CYLINDER # 1,2, AND3
REPL IGN COILS FOR CYLINDER 1, 2, AND 3
REPL FUEL INJECTOR FOR CYLINDER 1,2 AND 3
REPL IGN CONTROL MODUL FOR BANK 1

C?S engine noisy
water pump
FW 58 minutes Mech DIAD found noisy water pump
R/I front bumper cover
move lock carrier into service position
R/I ribbed belt
REPL Timing belt (water on timing belt and out of spec)
REPL waterpump and Thermostat

Parts:
HALLSENDER
CONTROLUNIT
IGN COIL
CONNECTOR
INJECTOR
TOOTH BELT
TENSROLLER
TENSROLLER
WATER PUMP
A/FRZ 1 GAL
THERMOSTAT
SEAL

That was only one of 30 times I had been to the dealership. That was an expensive bill

There is more, but these are the major issues. Tuesday July 12 on my way to work stopped to get gas at Shell off Duke St. 3 blocks from my house. Fill up get in my car turn the key...nothing dead as a door nail. WTF I have an important meeting. Call up Audi roadside-- 90 minutes or more. Great it's hot as **** I'm in a suit and I'm going to be late. Car gets towed to Audi I get a rental and head to work. Call around noon Mr. Harris we found the problem it's your Alt. and you have a bad cell in your batt. AGAIN! Ok fix the Alt. several hundred bucks later. I pick up the car have the jump start the ****** due to the bad batt cell drive my *** home and clean the car out. Drive to the closest Carmax and sell that f'n pile of ****. Oh during the last week the brake sensor light came on, I had a cracked windsheild, and the tie rods are shot again. I didn't care anymore I hated that car so much.

Carmax gave me 13K for it. I paid over 40K in 2001 what a waste of money.

So, I would NEVER NEVER EVER BUY ANOTHER AUDI.

 

This was a recall issue that has been corrected, and anyone who had it got free tires if any were unevenly worn <most commonly cupped on the inside> on top of the suspension fix. Nissan does a pretty good job of taking care of people, now the quest minivan, thats a different story... one recall covered 13 problems including rear doors that would fall off due to faulty hinges...

 

WOW, what a frikken nightmare. I won't buy an Audi either that's like some kind of sick horror movie. That car is haunted.

 

The FD gets a bad name because of all the clowns doing mods without any idea of what they are doing. Do a tie wrap job, dp, catback and maybe a bigger radiator. You can drive the FD trouble free for a LONG time.

 

Amen, Brother!

 

For all the time you spent typing this, following this thread and responding... you should be under the car!

Just Kidding

But yes, everyone goes through it I think but when you are driving the car on a nice day, it's all worth it.

Anthony