Enthusiasts Blogging Our Favorite Classifieds
Wagons are the GCFSB car of choice, if you haven’t noticed. Only our resident Volkswagen/Audi guru Carter is flying the five-door flag, however, with his 2002 Volkswagen Passat 1.8T Variant 5-speed manual. While I sit here and wait for the perfect 1995 Audi S6 Avant to come along, I’ll admire this 2002 BMW 540i Touring for sale in Portland, Oregon. It looks like a real beast, and with Dinan engine mods and a worked over suspension, it’s almost like the M5 Touring that never was.
It’s been nearly a year since I did the introductory piece to my 2002 Volkswagen Passat GLS 1.8T Variant. Too much of that year was filled with snow in New England, which allowed me to get one more season out of my pretty tired Blizzaks and dream of warmer climates while pondering what to do. One thing that kept coming to mind was that even though the Passat still feels relatively new to me, the reality is that it’s a 13 year old car already. That’s older than both of my B2 Audis were when I originally bought them – something that I still find pretty staggering. As such, there’s a length list of minor things that could be refreshed on the cars, and unlike the lack of aftermarket support for the Type 85 Audis the Passat still has lots of parts available to buy on the open market. Thus, sitting through one of the many snowfalls this year, I crafted some minor upgrade plans to address a few trim items that annoyed me.
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At the end of the Z3-based M Roadster’s life, it was given a horsepower treat in the form of the S54 inline-6, finally bringing the performance potential of the E36-based US market cars up to level of their European market cousins. With 315 horsepower on tap, this was a serious little beast and a far cry from the Z3 we first saw in the mid-1990s with it’s 1.9 liter inline-4. This 2002 M Roadster for sale in Florida has under 30,000 miles on the clock and sports a great look in silver with its contrasting red canvas top and black and red leather interior.
It’s been a while since I wrote up a 10K Friday article; they take some time both in determining the thread, finding the car and then writing them all up. Sometimes all it takes is a bit of inspiration though, and Wagon Week was just that for me. While we’ve covered many of the most popular fast and practical wagons this week, again I’m going to do a bit of an unusual comparison to cover some unloved models that are potential deals: automatic Audi S Avants. So, in today’s comparison we have a B5 S4, a B6 S4, a C5 S4 and to compare values a C4 S6 (the only row-your-own here). Which is the right choice for a fast Audi wagon?
Akin to the modern day M3, the BMW 2002 has become a bit of a blank canvas for enthusiasts looking to try their hand at improving what already is an impressive package. BMW made their sport sedan bones with the 2002, helping the company emerge from financial crisis post World War II. The 2002 would also break new ground, becoming the first European turbocharged production car with the 2002 Turbo. With 170 horsepower and flared fenders, this car was all business and proved to be a popular template for tuners. This 2002 for sale in California is built in such a way for the new owner to enjoy it on the street or track, with turbo look flares, Momo seats and a worked over engine linked up to a 5-speed gearbox.
