Review Audi 80 2.8 Automatic 1992

Key strengths: Excellent acceleration

Areas for improvement: Cam belt / water pump

This car is the second Audi I've owned, and to be fair to it it's a fairly decent vehicle. If I'd known the amount of work and money needed to get the car up to a decent standard, I think I would have sold it right on the spot.

The 2.8 engine is very good and has excellent low down acceleration; 0-30mph especially. A great cruiser which will comfortably take you on long journeys. A large boot with plenty of space for shopping, although the back seats are surprisingly cramped for passengers.

This car came with an automatic gearbox and I often wondered why someone would spec this car with an automatic box instead of with a manual box and the quattro option. The automatic box is a pig, which holds onto gears for too long, spins the front wheels awfully in anything but dry conditions, and spoils the overall fuel economy of the car.

The economy from the box is quite bad, and you can expect 20-24 in town and 30-33 on the motorway if you're careful. I don't mind low economy, but only if I'm driving a car that makes you feel it's worth it. I'm sure the newer generation of autos nowadays are fantastic, but the 4 speed box in this car was/is dreadful.

In short, if you're looking for one of these cars, don't be tempted to buy an auto thinking you might enjoy it; if you're used to a manual then you won't. Well worth seeking out a quattro manual version which is brilliant in comparison to the car I had.

Definitely worth checking the car has had the cam-belt and water-pump changed, these should have been done at the same time. Check for a leaky PAS system as this can be expensive to fix; a groaning steering rack can be a sign of bad things to come.

I can't say I've enjoyed owning this car very much. If you can find a well sorted model with FSH, then you'll doubtless have years of happy motoring ahead of you.
The running costs for Audi 80 2.8 Automatic are normal