I agree with Matthew, if the 337 had a TEPO you could be in for some headaches.
If there are maintenance records for the vehicle check to make SURE TPO did
the
oil changes at the PROPER intervals using the PROPER oil. VW's 1.8Ts are
good engines
but not all that forgiving if the owner ignores oil changes or uses cheap
(ie non synthetic) oil.
Nice, shiny paint and a good body is great but that won't matter much if
the engine and mechanicals were not taken care of.
You might also want to familiarize yourself with the 337 model.
IIRC they were a limited edition with only a certain number produced.
Are there any parts of the vehicle that are unique and not shared with
other VW models?
If there are unique parts, are they just cosmetic things (seats, interior
bits, etc.) that
would not impact the operation of the vehicle? If the unique parts are
something that will
stop it dead on the side of the road are those parts still available from
VW or other sources?
If so, how much will they cost?
Have you checked on the cost of maintenance and parts for a 337?
One would have to think that keeping one on the road will cost more than a
16V VW.
Is it due for any expensive maintenance service? Might want to look into
those costs to avoid any surprises.
Remember this 337 is 8 years old now. Parts are going to need to be
replaced going forward.
You can pretty much count on being SOL when it comes to getting at least
some, if not most, 337 specific parts.
VW has a nasty habit of "Obsoleting" parts quicker than you might think.
Unfortunately, there is little or no
logic to what VW does Obsolete and when.
The best thing you can do before purchasing the 337 is to continue to ask
questions about it and learn
more about it like you have been doing. That way, you can make an informed
decision regarding purchasing it.
Sorry if the post above is stating the obvious. When it comes to late model
VWs sometimes it is better to be safe than sorry.
Good Luck.
Charlie
At 05:56 AM 9/2/2010 -0700, Matthew Yip wrote:
I wouldn't be so concerned about the chip as I would about TEPO (the evil
previous owner) - chip or no chip, if TEPO drove the car like a psycho, it
may
look nice but ridden hard and put away wet (I remember seeing lots of cars
like
that when I lived in NC - fancy wheels, shiny paint and enough slime under
the
hood to make the Gulf Oil Spill look like a rain drop).
APR makes several chip stages - each more aggressive than the other. That
having been said, I have a truck with 180K miles that's had a chip of some
sort
for the past 160K miles. It's still going strong, granted it's a diesel BUT
Navistar probably didn't intend for their turbos to push 30 psi (18 psi
stock,
IIRC). My antique M5 had a chip as well - a very aggressive chip from
Conforti
that the butt-dyno felt had more guts than the Dinan version. Ultimately,
while
it upped HP from 256 US to roughly 300 US (with a Euro cam gear), the most
noticeable difference was that it improved driveability so much that the
car was
actually enjoyable to drive after the chip.
Bear in mind that the manufacturer builds in some sort of a safety zone into
their factory tuning - some are more conservative than others and knowing the
Krauts, VW probably has a fairly broad safety zone. A chip that exploits
that
safety zone won't cause excessive wear - at least not in a measurable
degree.
It will result in a driver who gets on the power more frequently and more
aggressively but otherwise, it won't cause excessive internal engine wear.
My $.02...Matthew
----- Original Message ----
> From: Mark Stanton <[email protected]>
> To: Volkswagen a2 16v discussion list <[email protected]>
> Sent: Thu, September 2, 2010 3:09:00 AM
> Subject: Re: [a2-16v-list] chipping a 1.8T
>
> One of the reasons I'm asking is that I'm eyeing a 337 that has a Stage
1 APR
> chip on it already. The car has about 52K and looks to be in perfect
>condition
>
> but I wonder how much life has been taken out of the engine because of
the
>chip.
>
> Makes me a little nervous.
>
>
> Mark
>
> ----- Original Message ----
> From: Chad Rebuck <[email protected]>
> To: Volkswagen a2 16v discussion list <[email protected]>
> Sent: Wed, September 1, 2010 11:42:03 PM
> Subject: Re: [a2-16v-list] chipping a 1.8T
>
> I don't know anything about a 337, however ...
>
> If you can hear pinging its bad for sure, but it isn't the only
indicator of
> bad/over aggressive tuning. when purchasing a chip go with companies that
> have a good reputation with engine tuning. Don't necessarily go for the
> company claiming the most hp. Chip tuners should still need to be a bit
> conservative to have their chip work all over the world whether hot, cold,
> humid, dry, etc. A chip from a major tuner is probably cheaper than
paying
> someone in your area to tune your car on a dyno. Perhaps tuners even
offer
> chips that are more tolerant of extreme heat and humidity areas? I
haven't
> kept up with what oem computers can be easily programmed these
days. Honda,
> for example, was very easy to program for very little cost, and maybe
VW has
> computers that can be updated easily now?
>
> On a sidenote - a friend of mine purchased an inexpensive usb
cable, plugged
> it up to his wrx, and updated the stock ecu to give more boost, adjust the
> air/fuel, etc. You'd better trust the source of the data if you go that
> route :) Can this be done with vw systems these days?
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 2, 2010 at 1:18 AM, Mark Stanton <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > I guess if there's no pinging... no problem, right?
> > Anyone know what stock boost is on a 337?
> >
> > GTI 337 HP TQ BOOST
> > -------------------------------------------------
> > STOCK 180 173 ?
> > APR 215 242 ?
> > UNItronic 215 235 18PSI
> >
> > mmmm, that torque looks deeelicious!
> >
> >
> > Mark
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > [email protected]
> > http://mail.a2-16v.com/mailman/listinfo/a2-16v-list
> > For list archives, see listinfo link above.
> >
> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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