RickiTT

This is my first post but I have been reading the forum for the last 4 months religiously. Boy, this is like a soap opera with a side of Crack. Absolutely addictive! My wife thinks I’m nuts but thankfully she enjoys the banter and sometimes even the flaming that goes on in the strings too.

You guys have, albeit unknowingly, taken me through the steps of TT infatuation to TT owner. I took delivery of my Nimbus Gray and Baseball roadster about a month ago and I have been in heaven ever since. What a piece of art. The car is a statement in personal style and taste. Which I can confidently say is evident in the people in this forum. I can sit here and type away for hours about this car, but I would just be reiterating everything said on the forum. Thankfully I did not have to wait for delivery as many of you have. I made my decision and found a great dealer with the car I wanted in stock near NYC, actually most of the work was done over the Internet. I was very lucky. After reading the forum I thought I would have to wait for months.

Now to the point, I have broken my silence to ask a question. After driving the 180 TTR FWD for a month I feel the car could have a little more “*****”. Don’t get me wrong the car is quick, capable and perfectly balanced. But I would like to have the ability to blow some doors off the competitors if I had too. I could only imagine the let down of my baby loosing to a boxter or equivalent. I Initially wanted the 225 but It only comes in Quattro which in my opinion makes the trunk space too small for a getaway weekend. Furthermore I own a Jeep GC Limited so the car will never need Quattro for treks in foul weather. Performance improvements aside. Those were my reasons for getting the 180. I leased the car with the intention of buying it if it turns out to be a good car. So far so GREAT. I am looking into chipping the car to give it more “hair on it’s chest”. I wanted to get opinions on what would be the best ALL AROUND choice. Keep in mind I have to occasionally drive in city traffic and having a car that has too much torque could be a hassle. I am looking for something smooth that increases the performance evenly. Basically I don’t want to know its there, until I want to know its there. I have been looking at MTM, which I like because of there close ties to Audi, this is a leased car after all. Wetterauer, The ability to swap the chip for service, etc. and not have to buy a second ECU is nice. Garrett and APR. So, what are your opinions? I would like to know.

In the future I will try to keep my comments shorter. Sorry! I am happy to be participating, finally. Maybe I can give back some of what I have received from the forum.

Oh, and by the way, Yes I do use Zaino. But I’ll save that for another time.lol

Rick-
180 TTR FWD
Nimbus / baseball
ZAINO

DocTTor

I am curious which NYC dealer?<p> gautam
180TTQC, 00'Raven /ebony

(oO.(==oooo==).Oo)

RickiTT

Hey Doc you are the first response. Thanks!

I got my car from Bellavia Audi In NJ. Many people I have spoken to had good experiences with them. They are a small / eager dealership just on the other side of the Lincoln Tunnel. (5-min) Speak to David Bersen. I can’t tell you how great they were. Everything went off with out a hitch. The car was in stock. I purchased the car over the phone for $850+/- under sticker, (The cost of the power top option) which I said I didn’t want. “Right!” (Sorry, to those of you who have been paying 5k – 10k over)

I was told that they would not sell a car over sticker because Audi frowns on the practice. The service department seams very good too. I was very impressed with the way they handled me.

P.S. I used to sell cars in a past life so I was looking for the catch. I found none; David was a Prince among dealers. Boy if this doesn’t sound like an ad.

All this and they have a great website that shows stock. I have already referred two people to them.
I think the site is bellaviaaudi.com

Rick-
180 TTR FWD
Nimbus / baseball
ZAINO

Larrytt

then you know where I stand when it comes to which chip to get!

I have a Garrett Stage II, along with a Borla exhaust. I updated the Garrett from Stage I after I got the Borla.

I live on Long Island and have put 18,000+ miles on my TTQ since November 3rd. I put most of my miles on the car driving between Long Island and Connecticut. The car drives just as well, if not better with the Garrett chip than it did with the stock chip. I got a second ECU because it is far easier to swap ECU's than to swap chips.

Your reasoning for leaing towards MTM is a very good one, except when it comes to the lease or any other work, it makes no difference what chip you have in the car. The MTM closeness is to Audi of Germany . . .NOT AoA!

So long as the dealer is "chip friendly" is makes no difference, besides most dealers don't even know how fast a TT is! They now are driving the 180's and 225's. A chipped 180 won't faze them in the least! If you are worried, then just swap out the chip/ECU. It takes under 10 minutes after you do it the first time.

I hope this helped.

What part of NY/NJ do you live in? I would like to plan a NY/NJ/CT Audi TT get-together very soon as quite a few people in the area are finally picking up their cars.<p><a href="http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=3285"><img SRC="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/ttsig.jpg" BORDER=0 alt="Click for Mods"></a>
<a HREF="http://larrytt.tripod.com">Larry's TTQ WebSite

RickiTT

Thanks for the comments Larry. The point you make with the dealer not being able to tell the difference is a good one. My dealer is “chip friendly”. That being the case would I ever really need the 2nd ECU?

I think it would be premature for me to place an exhaust system in the car. But your experiences with the stage I do interest me. Obviously you went further with your mods, but did you like the chip. Were there any quirky problems? Did everything work as it did before i.e. cruise control etc?

I live in Manhattan, but I grew up in L.I. and I am out there often. I would love to have a get together. Let me know how I can help. By the way I have heard great things about your car from David our Zaino Rep.

Rick-

180 TTR FWD
Nimbus / baseball
ZAINO

BrunoTT

He customized a chip for my on my 1996 GTI VR6 with a Schrick Manifold, 268 Cams, Port and Polished Head and 94 Octane that BLEW away all the other chips I had (Autotek, Neuspeed, AMS)

UnspoilTT

I very strongly recommend the Borla exhaust. I chose a Garrett 2, but APR's also seems excellent.