Faults:

Water pump had to be replaced after a few years, and few years later the gearbox at around 125000km, which is I guess more rare than common.

General Comments:

Being the fact that this was my first car, it will always be remembered as a tremendous time; my first car, a whole lot of freedom.

I still think about this car with great nostalgia.

It had no power steering, so if I think back it needed some more muscle to manoeuvre at very low speeds.

The 1.8 petrol liter engine was a very powerful and strong engine for that car at that time. I drag raced several younger cars with it who had similar engines; it was almost as fast as the Opel (Vauxhall) Calibra 2.0, which was a very sporty and much younger car that the Audi 80. The handbrake handling was superb... I could do a 180 degree turn on a 2 way dry tarmac road. I loved to drive that car; after some time I handled it as if it was an extension of my body... controlled it perfectly.

The gearbox broke apart, though I replaced it myself with a second hand one together with my brother, since we had a greasepit back home, and we had the tools; it was a great chore.

I had the GL that had velvet seats of good quality. It even had a roll-knop-button apart from the radio, which you can pan the sound of your radio-CD to the front speakers or to the back speakers or to both, which was superb. With two people in front, you could set it to only back speakers, which was comfortable for having conversation and music.

It is now considered an old timer. If I had the budget for it, I would import one from Germany... because there you can still find some in excellent condition for a reasonable price, although more expensive than what I paid at the time when I bought it. I bought it for 30000BEF = 750euro and drove with it for 6 years, and how, you don't want to know ;o)

Faults:

Leaking cooling liquid.

Turbo didn't engage when it should be.

Squeaking and crackling sounds after a half year of stillness and never seeing a freeway cause it originally came from an old man who didn't used it anymore after he got retired.

General Comments:

Generally if you're living in a country on the european mainland it's a very well price/quality car.

The engine is a standard V.A.G. Volkswagen golf diesel engine, but with an attached turbo and Audi replaced Audi parts what guarantees more power, smoothness and comfortable driving.

Very reliable which can be improved when following the general maintanance card.

The design edition is originally built for business people and executives and this you can see in the interior of the car. Well comfortable front and back seats. Even the rear bench has head-supports wich purpose serves as you're a business executive with a private chauffeur and that's why this car can also be used as a limo. Comfort in the Design Edition is the main engagement that the V.A.G manufacturers saw in building the perfect business automobile.

Also the diesel tank can officially take up to 70 litres of diesel, but practice shows you can add an extra 10 litres wich brings it to 80 litres, so you can easily drive from the port of Antwerp to the Pyrenees in Spain with no stop respecting the speed limits wich brings the diesel usage to a mere 5L/100km on freeways. But the downside of this tank is that it's part built in the trunk space, so if you're a trunk stacker you'd better consider this before buying this car or if you want the same model, but in Avant (station-wagon) model which has the same tank amount.

As for performance for a diesel it can seriously pull a reasonable drag when putting the pedal to the metal. When you put it to the metal your turbo also takes almost completely over and also the sound of this turbo is awesome with it sjeezing sound which is music to your ears.

This car has some tuning posibilities and is remarkably solid compared to other cars built in that year.