3.0L V6 Toyota ==> 1.8T VW??

[Compuwiz]

Hey guys, Im new to automotiveforums and I currently have a '96 Toyota Avalon XL. It is a V6 with 197HP and 210 Torque and its also really heavy with a loose suspension, and obviously, an extremely limited ammount of aftermarket parts (who wants to hookup a 4 door "luxary" sedan?). Oh yeah, it also turned 130,000 miles this weekend!

So I've been looking around at cars, scoping out some thigns here and there, and I want a "sporty" car, not too expensive, but not a shitty car. I also want good/great MPG. The Jetta matches all of this. (The Avalon gets 23 city and 30 highway MPG) which is decent for such a big car.

I am very interested in the '01 Jetta GLS TDi. I like how the Jetta isnt "luxary" but it is definatly better than many other cars out there, and it has that sporty feel to it as well, and certainly more aftermarket options out there. However, one of my main concerns is the power transition that I might have going from a pretty powerful 3.0L V6 (which definatly PUSHED you back in your seat if you kicked it hard) to a 1.8 turbo engine. Going by edmunds.com which shows a pretty good and basic specs sheet of all cars, I see that it has extremely low HP, but a decent ammount of low end torque which I like.

Do you guys that have the 1.8T's feel its "slow" or lacks power in some cases? I have done some research on aftermarket performance parts, and if I were to get my car chipped, intake, exhaust, headers, new cats, gasgets, and maybe some turbo work, it will certainly incrase the HP and Torque significantly (granted, for all that work, its going to be a lot of money)...but at the same time having better MPG than I have currently, and more performance.

Anyway, I think ya get the point where Im going at. Im trying to get some feedback, I still have yet to test drive the car. I am very interested in the manual, but yeah...I have yet to learn manual

Also, what performance additions would you suggest for the Jetta GLS TDi?

Thanks.

[danny_wdz]

test drive it and find out yourself.. thats the best advice I can give you


and uhmm.. you should difinetly learn to drive a stick before owning one.. its always good to be able to test drive a car before buying it

[Compuwiz]

Originally Posted by danny_wdz

test drive it and find out yourself.. thats the best advice I can give you

and uhmm.. you should difinetly learn to drive a stick before owning one.. its always good to be able to test drive a car before buying it

Hahaha, yeah I wasnt planning on buying without test driving, or without learning stick. The thing that sux is that I dont know any friends that have manual cars (or ones that they would let me learn on...my friend's dad isnt gonna let me learn one of his two new C6s... )

This is probably a stupid question, but if someone DID want to buy a manual car, but doesnt know how to drive it, but wants to test drive one at a dealer, will the dealer let that person learn on one of their cars (obviously not a NICE car)? I dont think so.

[danny_wdz]

heh... highly doubt it.. why dont you just get a friend, preferably one that knows about cars to go with you let him test drive it with you in it, that would kinda give you a feel for it I guess and then have that friend teach how to drive your car

[an204421]

the TDI and 1.8T are completly different engines. the tdi is a turbo diesel which gets really good gas mileage (40-50 mpg) but it is quite slow. the 1.8t gets 25-30 mpg but is probably faster than your toyota. oh and tha diesel is a 1.9L engine
1.8T=180 hp, a 500 dollar chip will give you another 50 horses & 70 ft/lb
1.9 disel=95-100 hp, dont really kow of any mods

i have a 2000 1.8t jetta

[ctuagent117]

lmao that avalon is sooo crappy, you will feel no transition ...promised. you see its how you get the hp that counts not how much you have. The jetta may be a 1.8 but its equipped with a turbo, so more or less hp. its probably gonna out power your family sedan. i myself have a 2.0 97 manual, but i have driven the 1.8T. 1.8s faster. if u dont know how to drive manual learn jetta has bad automatic trannys. i also have expierience with the avalon, camry corolla.... i have a hard core toyota family, from my expiereince toyotas have always been under powered. you can test drive a automatic jetta to see handling etc. but the manual is a whole diffrent breed, the shifting on auto. suks ... horribly, techtronic gets boring after a while 2, also if u want sum cool exhaust sounds get the manual

[thesparkster]

i've got an '02 1.8t. i love it. definitely a good all-around car. good gas milage even with the turbo, you've got a big back seat if you ever need it, and you've got a turbocharged engine! the only things i could say to you about it are that the torque on it stock is a little low, doesn't give you a huge kick in the butt while driving, and (my car is up in the mountains now after being at sealevel originally) if you live at a higher elevation, or take your car there, as is expected you will feel a MAJOR change in performance.
with the exception of that the 1.8 is a good choice. a friend of mine has a golf tdi, the thing is slower than hell but the torque gives you a kick and the gas milage is better than the 1.8. so really i guess it's more of a personal choice as to which you value more.

[travis712]

Well, manuals easy. In 5th grade I took off without stalling my first time and shifted from 1-2-3. Seriously, just let the clutch out very slow and don't hold the revs high when starting. Say if idle was 700, rev to 1300 and let the clutch out slowly.

[ctuagent117]

i learned on a pathfinder so stalling while learning was inevetable.i learned in 7tyh or 8th grade.

[ctuagent117]

if i were you i would learn on a civic or a older model nissan sentra. any dummy can learn a manual on a civic try those

[giddyup50]

WOW, I know I'm about a month late, but here it goes. Screw all that letting the clutch out slow at 1300rpm's. Just drive it like you stole it. When I was 17 and my Mom was out of town, I took her Escort out to teach myself how to learn stick and at almost every light I just gave it gas and dumped the clutch. After about 45 minutes of that I was able to get the hang of letting the clutch out easy. The only thing that took awhile to learn was taking off on hills, again, just give it alot of gas and dump the clutch (better than rolling back or stalling).