How is the 2.8L V6? (not VR)

Hi Rob;

I work for an Audi dealer and we see quite a few of these V6s...both good and bad. First off, the V6 is a good engine. It has a decent track record in terms of reliability. It isn't the most fuel efficient engine in the world and maintenance is expensive. This is an interferance engine and if the timing belt breaks, you will have issues.

That being said, there isn't any realy problem that comes to mind with this engine, other than it's not the most inspiring to drive. It's not an A6 with FSI...but if the price is right, I would take it ANY day over a 1.8T.

I've got one, an '03 Passat GLX. Can't speak to maintenance/repair issues as I've only got 16K miles, but I'm happy with it. Fuel economy around town is not good - I average 15-16 mpg in stop/go traffic on short trips - but on the highway I can get up to 30 mpg if I drive sensibly. I would describe the power pretty much the way you did, although I think the "grunt off the line" comes more from a somewhat abrupt throttle tip-in than from any inherent characteristics of the engine. I agree, it's happier up above 3500 rpm or so than down in the midrange. And, for an only moderately powerful engine, it really does sound nice when it opens up. For the Passat or A4, I think it's a better choice than the 1.8T, whereas in a Golf or Jetta or A3 the 1.8T (or now 2.0T) is better due to the reduced weight/better balance.

-- Mike Smith

This part of your response is almost troll-like....

I don't understand...? That's what I observe. In town I tend to get worse mileage than the EPA rating, while on the highway I tend to do a little better than the EPA rating. What's the problem? I *said* I liked the engine, so how could I be trolling?

-- Mike Smith

Twice the city mileage? Something just doesn't add up.

D'ya think something could be wrong? I could slap my VAG-COM on 'er, but it's so *cold* today... :-/

-- Mike Smith

Why? It's realistic. He did write "stop/go traffic" and "short trips".

Thanks for your responce - maintenance is expensive on a TDI... mechanic went thru the run down of the 2.8L vs the TDI for common repaits and maintenance... they are both about the same in the end.

...... what engine nowadays isn't interference? I'm used to belt changes every 60k kms (and 45k kms on my parents Volvo, my family has plenty of experience with timing belt critical engines).... every 160k kms (or unless it looks like it would be prudent to do it before) won't be too bad :-)

And fishing for calling someone else a troll doesn't add up either. Heck, if he's in a town that's got a lot of hills and heavy traffic that might not be unusual. Maybe he's got a lead foot for gunning it off the line, racing from one stop light to another? But please, calling the response a troll? Hardly.