except the obvious difference in engine power and dash layout, is there any other advantage of buying a late model over the early one, I have been looking at later ones but don't mind the early headlight/indicator layout and it also widens my search ?
phase 1 or 2
- Thread starter vinny68
- Start date
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2008
- Messages
- 24,836
- Reaction score
- 6,076
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Wibbleton
- Website
- www.tuffty.co.uk
Facelift cars have better ECU's (wideband vs narrowband lambda control) especially if contemplating tuning...
Other than that its personal preference... I have a facelift and think the interior/exterior is a bit more modern looking than prefacelift... Ironically most people that have prefacelift cars change the front and rear lights to facelift ones as the older ones date the car a little..
Some early prefacelift didn't come with ESP which may or may not be a concern as most people turn it off especially on mapped cars...
Don't get sucked in with 'BAM' tax if you go for a later facelift though s they are mechanically the same as the AMK coded S3
Horsepower is actually PS so APY (prefacelift) is 210ps as is the early facelift AMK model... BAM engine codes are 225ps... all map up more or less the same though and power is subject to usual wear and tear which on 1.8t's is massively variable
<tuffty/>
Other than that its personal preference... I have a facelift and think the interior/exterior is a bit more modern looking than prefacelift... Ironically most people that have prefacelift cars change the front and rear lights to facelift ones as the older ones date the car a little..
Some early prefacelift didn't come with ESP which may or may not be a concern as most people turn it off especially on mapped cars...
Don't get sucked in with 'BAM' tax if you go for a later facelift though s they are mechanically the same as the AMK coded S3
Horsepower is actually PS so APY (prefacelift) is 210ps as is the early facelift AMK model... BAM engine codes are 225ps... all map up more or less the same though and power is subject to usual wear and tear which on 1.8t's is massively variable
<tuffty/>
Very early 1999 T plate models have an analogue clock built into the Rev counter which looks (IMO) a bit lame also, but they changed it from 2000 onwards. The facelift also have rubber touch sensitive pads to open the tailgate from outside, rather than a physical handle (built into the number plate surround). Be aware the facelift models from very late 2001 onwards can have very worn looking climate control and headlight switches due to a change in the coating of the buttons. Pre facelift and early facelift don't suffer from this. That's the only negative thing I can think of on the facelift really.
