1993 Audi 80 2.0 E review from UK and Ireland

The fuel gauge reads erratically.

The coolant temperature gauge stopped working.

The Audi 80 is the car that preceded the A4 and shares many of its classic lines.

I was surprised at the basic engine in the car, being only an eight valve not a sixteen valve which came later.

The build however is the best I have seen on any car, including new cars I have owned. The incredible attention to detail is mind boggling and I have heard that little else is made better than pre 1995 Audi's.

Being tall, I find the headroom bad, whatever angle I have the seats I have my head on the ceiling all the time. the lack of steering adjustment does not help with this either.

Equipment levels are fairly basic in the E spec. It has manual windows, but electric mirrors and sunroof, but no A/C. Having said that though, the ventilation is excellent with no fewer than 8 vents on the dash and windscreen and footwell vents. The heater works incredibly well as I have found with all German cars (early VW's were my passion a few years back).

The performance of the car is hampered by the relatively weak (115 Bhp) engine and the heavy (1400Kg) body, but its not a slow car by any means. Don't expect to give any modern cars above 1.6 litres a run for their money in this, but I was pleasantly suprised at the performance, even with the 4 speed auto box fitted to mine, and my last car was a Leon Cupra R 225 so I can make a good comparison with a fast car.

Handling is actually one of the best points about this car, the other being the brakes. even compared with modern cars the handling is good. Ultimately the power steering is too light and the tyres too tall for really serious cornering, but it remains composed in all situations and rarely feels understeery, but with low power and all that weight pressing the tyres into the road the chassis is not overstressed.

I mentioned the brakes and I was genuinely surprised by them. Early VW and Audi cars had frankly rubbish brakes. Too small for the weight of the car, however the 80 has large discs all round (vented front, solid rear) which really do the job. There is a slight initial feeling that they are under servoed, but work them and they reward with powerful retardation for such a heavy car. You can easily coax the ABS into action in the wet such is the power of them. I doubt they would last after too many stops in succession, but then this is not a car for track days.

I do a lot of fast A-road and motorway driving and honestly I can't think of a car better for the job. It is quiet and reasonable, if not great on fuel. On the A Roads the Leon would have left it for dead (and anything else for that matter) but the cosseting ride and quality feel of the Audi means I rarely miss the fiery Spanish hatch.

To sum up I bought this car to replace my 1 year old Cupra R beacuse I wanted to run a cheaper car. I never expected it to be close to the R in any of the things cars do, but I remain impressed with the 80. I was lucky in that mine was a loved car having covered only 36k in 12 years with full Audi history and all Audi parts, but I hear that mileage is not a problem, the basic engine has less to go wrong and it's a doddle to work on with its engine being mounted longitudonally.

I would recommend one for cheap motoring with a bit of style.