I personally own a B7 quattro with the 3.2 V6 and I took an 07 Quattro 2.0T for an entire day and night when I was weighing my options - both 6 speed manuals so I can compare the differences.

Stock, the V6 is definitely faster and the torque delivery is far more linear. The 2.0T pulls a bit harder in the bottom end (when it hits full boost) but the V6 has a fantastic pull from about 3500 to 7150rpm (rev limiter). The sound of the V6 (in my opinion) is FAR superior to the 2.0T and was one of the biggest selling points for me. It does not drone at all on the highway but makes a fantastic borderline-italian sounding growl in the mid to upper RPM range on stock exhaust.

If you are looking at engine modding, don't buy the V6 as there aren't many options out there to improve its performance. Stock it's about 255hp and you can chip it with a unitronics tune to 268hp but that's about it. The 2.0T has an absolutely ridiculous amounts of mods available and just a simple stage one tune from APR gets you in the ~245hp range. However it sounds like you are more interested in reliability, so with that said...

As far as reliability and maintenence is concerned, I think the win clearly goes to the V6 for a few reasons... As reliable as the turbo on the 2.0T may be, it is by definition an additional failure point. There are a few turbo components on the 2.0T that are weak points on that engine (B7 Diverter valve anyone??). The 2.0T is also prone to accelerated wear on the cam follower for the high pressure fuel pump - change every 30,000-50,000km (depends on who you ask). If it fails on you, expect a pricey repair bill. The 2.0T will also require a pretty costly timing belt replacement, I forget at what mileage though (180,000km I think). The 3.2 V6 has timing chains and they should last for the life of the engine.

Both engines are FSI direct injected and will be prone to carbon buildup over time, at some point you will probably need the manifold pulled off either engine to have the carbon buildup removed. Again, depending on who you ask this could be at 50,000km or 200,000km. I've seen severe cases at as little as 25,000km and I've seen engines at 100,000km that don't look that bad. Jury is still out on why the delta in mileage is so huge, but the root cause is simple: The direct injection system does not bathe the intake manifold and valves with fuel, so buildup doesn't get washed away. You will have this issue on either engine though some think the buildup accumulates more quickly on the 3.2 - I don't think there is a whole hell of a lot of information out there to back up that claim though.

As far as fuel economy, the 2.0T is the clear winner. The 3.2 isn't that much worse on the highway (1.0L/100km to around 1.3L/100km worse than the 2.0T) but when you get on the power it is certainly more thirsty. Both engines should be run on 91 octane at a minimum.

Hope this helps.

-Dave.

 

Take care of your turbo and it will take care of you. If the proper oil is used and changed at reasonable intervals (which in my opinion is between 5,000 and 7,000km) and the turbo is warmed and cooled before and after driving, you will have very few issues.

The problem with buying a used turbo is that you don't know if the previous owner has taken proper care of it. If the owner isn't a young guy who has rat-bagged the car and can produce a good service history, I'd trust a used turbo.

 

I agree with these statements. Though driving a turbo lightly during daily driving doesn't require any cooling period before shutting down as it shouldn't be boosting very hard (aka: idling to let oil through the turbo for cooling). If you are throwing the car around it's best to never just shut it off without a minute or two for cooling.

With that said, the 3.2 V6 can take far more abuse and still be a solid and reliable engine - given you wont know how the previous owner has driven something, I'd say go with a V6 if you don't mind the mileage hit and the lack of performance enhancing mods. The only issue you may have is finding one as they aren't exactly common. There was a huge price difference for the V6 option when the car was new.

 

Thx for this very detailed feedback...even though I never hit the pedal to the metal, it looks like a lot more maintenance on the turbo, and items such as cam follower and timing belt kind of scare me as it implies doing a mandatory replacement upon purchase, given that you don't really know who drove the car...unfortunately, over the past 2 weeks, I only saw 1 3.2 compared to 23 2.0s, which leads me to believe that the 3.2 are much more reliable and people aren't selling - or was the 2.0 production so much higher than the 3.2?

BTW: do the same apply for B6 engines, V4 vs V6? - does the B6 V6 also use timing chains

Thx

 

A couple things:
1) 2.0T > 3.2 production by a large factor
2) The 4 cylinder engine is inline, not V
3) There is a service interval for the timing belt. If it's been done, you don't have to worry. Just make sure to get a car with a full service history so that you can verify these types of things. Don't be scared of a timing belt - this is standard maintenance.

 

As PS7 mentioned, the timing belt is not an "issue" - it is standard maintenence on that engine. You'll find that most inline-4 engines have belt driven camshafts. Though some (not sure which ones) of the new Audi 2.0T engines are chain driven, at least the one in the Q5 is.

The cam follower and diverter valve issues on the B7 2.0T are definitely issues though. You'll only need to replace and upgrade the diverter valve once but the cam follower is one of those things you'll just have to stay on top of every 50,000km to be safe. The part isn't very expensive and the repair isn't very hard to do if you're mechanically inclined.

Both the 2.0T and 3.2 suffer from faulty coilpacks and they are covered under a recall. You can check a VIN for a prospective car at an audi dealer to see if they have been replaced by the upgraded units. The recall is free, so make sure its done no matter what you buy.

There are way, way, WAY more 2.0T B7s out there than 3.2s. Finding a good 3.2 is going to be difficult, also most are avants or s-line cars... I don't think I've ever seen a standard B7 A4 with a 3.2 in the flesh.

I don't think it's that people aren't selling them, there are just way fewer out there - as I said, the upgraded engine was like 4 grand on top of the base MSRP back in 06-07 and it didn't offer a massive performance improvement so they didn't really sell a whole lot of them. This is the reason they don't offer the V6 in the A4 anymore.

Both B6 A4 engines [3.0L V6 (engine code is AVK or BGN) and [1.8L Turbo I4 (engine code AMB)] used timing belts. They are 115,000km service life belt systems.

 

2.0 T - I would never buy it. The reason is lack of performance compared with 6 cylinder 2.8l V6. I like this car to pass a stream of Fords and Dodges uphill in the mountains and without hesitation.
I raced turbos and the go quite well up to 160 km/hr but than they deflate and at 180 km/hr they are at their limits when my V6 keeps going and going and going up to 240 km/hr smooth and easy.

You said that you do not press to the bottom so you should be ok wit that.

 

This response is kind of lol... The 2.0T is no slouch, it will pull hard all the way to the limit, believe me I've done it. Saying it runs out of steam at 180km/h is simply false. All 07s are limited to 209km/h (not sure about 05.5, 06's, etc) and the V6 and 2.0T will both pull you there without any issue at all.

A stage 1 2.0T (a simple $550 upgrade) will pull pretty much exactly the same as the 3.2V6 and I'm assuming will take out a 2.8 V6 pretty easily.

 

I drive a 2004 B6 A4 1.8T CVT,

i have... get ready for this...

i have 189,000km on it now!!! Never have i had a turbo problem yet, i take care of my car and it takes care of me. ive done timing belt at 130km, had to fix a faulty TCU, coil pack recall and thats pretty much it, ive had the car for over 2years now.

And talking about the B5 V6 engine, ive raced a couple and my friend has one too in manual.

results: from standing start he got a head start on me(he has quattro, i dont, he has manual-i dont) but i cought up quick and passed him and outraced him past 180Kmh up to 220Kmh my turbo pulling nice and smooth the whole time.

from 20kmh rolling start i pulled away from him so fast that by the time i hit 100kmh he already gave up.

not to dis any V6 B5s but those were my results.

 

I agree with you hoeser!!! I ve been planning on doing stage 1 APR with injectors sometime in the future, this way they say my HP goes up to about 230 hp and torque to something like 270 with injectors, thats not bad!!!!! thats roughly a 60hp gain or 35% on my CVT