[Didziks]

Hi!

I'm living in Latvia. That's Eastern Europe. A month ago I chqanged a car to A4 AVANT 1.8T Q from America. I'ts supposed to be a year 2000 model. Generaly speaking I'm very satisfied with it, but there are a couple of problems I was thinking somebody could advise me to solve correctly:
1) Fuel consumption. I don't have an owners manual but on the Net I found the information that in a combined run the consumption should be about 8.6 L/100 km. I have 10.2. Looks pretty high. Maybe the information I've found is wrong? Or there is something wrong with the car?
2) Chip tuning. I'm going to go for it. Maybe somebody knows if there is something specific about this year of make what has to be considered in choosing the Chip?
3) Tha audio system. I've got an original Audi Concert in my A4. Unfortunately it has some American Features - I can't get the radiostations tuned correctly because of frequency standarts differences. I'm wondering if this can be reprogrammed or do I have to buy a new stereo? Also I'm curios if it's possible to "learn" the Concert to play the MP3's?

Regards and thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[bhb399mm]

1) Not sure where you got those stats, but fuel consumption for your model is Fuel consumption City: 11.6 l/100 km (24 mpg) and Hwy: 7.6 l/100 km (37 mpg)

the number you have is probably an average of the two. You're car is fine. I've never heard of someone complaining about getting to many L/KG before

2)nothing really specific needed for your year. APR makes a good chip, as few as several other companies. chip is a great way to go.

3) buy a new stereo. as far as i know, it isnt possible to 'reprogram' the radio. even though it has a digital readout, the internal stuff is still mechanical. The factory head units arn't able to play MP3s. thats another advantage of buying an aftermarket stereo.

 

[Didziks]

Hi!

Thanks for advising. I don't remember where I found the mileage information but I guess it was some kind of Audi specs archieve...
Speaking about fuel consumption and the year of make, I'm wondering what are the differences here. As far as I have read, there were 3 generations of 1.8T in the time perion of intereset: (1) ... - 1999, (2) - 2000 and (3) 2001 and later. It looks like that with every generation the engine power was growing steadly, fuel economy at the same time was getting better and better but the very engine looks staying the same. Do you know what's the trick? Or there are just different 1.8T's ? If so, what would be the specifics for exact models in terms of reliability, servicing etc. (Maybe you can suggest some good reading to reccomend about the subject...)?
I was wondering if it's connected with ECU? If yes - will I get better fuel economy after rechiping?

About cip upgrades - was there some idea behind mentioning the APR? Or was it just the first one coming to mind?

If I buy a new head unit, how to choose the right one for my A4? Not loose anything and keep using the built-in CD changer? Or should I swap it also in order to play the MP3?

Ops! A lot of questions... Hopefully not too many to expect some answers...

Regards

 

[bhb399mm]

As far as the differences between 1.8T model years, there probably isnt that much difference, its probably all in the ecu. Generally, the stock chip is programed for effeciency, so chipping a car usually lowers the economy (in my experence). Fuel economy also depends alot on the way you drive. if you floor your car off the line everytime, you're obviously not going to get the same economy.

I mentioned APR becuase i've had APR chips in both my A6 2.7t and my allroad. I've never had a problem with them. There are other companies which you should (and i engourage) you to look into. I'll post some links a bit later.

As far as the head unit goes, please post what you mean by 'mp3s'. i'm not sure if you want to play mp3 cds, or you want to hook up an mp3 player?

 

[Didziks]

Hi!

About head unit - curently I'd like to listen to MP3 CDs, but in in fact it just did not have come to my mind that I could use the MP3 player as well. Acordingly I'd say that this is not a goal for today, but I would't exclude that.
I'm not sure if I have understood correctly, but I remember reading some information about some kind of Audi Concert's bus, connecting to car's electronics, AC or something like that. Probably the question could be - are there features in Audi Concert, somehow dependant on the car itself (and the opposite way).

About chips again. Today I talked to my service station's people and they told me that chiping in Latvia is used by some sportsmans only and there is no official representatives of any tuned chip vendor. They were not very eager to undertake the installation of the chip - they don't feel comfortable with the idea to be blamed if something goes wrong. Does that mean that I'd better forget about chiping?

Regards

 

[bhb399mm]

Chip: forget about it or oder one from the US/England/Germany and install it yourself. It isnt very hard.

Stereo: There are several ways to connect your MP3 player to your audi. The best way is to use the Blitzsafe AUDI/AUX DMX V.1B.

if you want to just play MP3 cds, buy a new head unit. :huh: