Welcome back to Shitbox Showdown! Today’s matchup seems very lopsided, until you start to look at the details. I’ll give you a hint: one of these cars passed a smog test. We’ll dig into those details in a moment, after we look at yesterday’s truck results:
Looks like a narrow win for the Ford. Neither one seemed too popular, however; we weren’t exactly “swamped” with comments, or votes. So let’s move on to a little psychological experiment involving a pretty but ailing German sports coupe and a dowdy American sedan with a trick up its sleeve.
California, as our Editor-In-Chief is finding out, is a land of a great many rules and regulations surrounding automobiles. Sometimes the rules work out in your favor, but quite often they really, really don’t. And when they don’t where does that leave you? Sometimes it means ditching the problematic car in favor of something that already meets the letter of the law, which leads us to today’s contestants. Let’s check them out.
2001 Audi TT Quattro – $3,700
Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 1.8 liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, AWD
Location: Santee, CA
Odometer reading: 178,000 miles
Runs/drives? Runs great! But…
The Audi TT is a cool little car. Introduced in the late ’90s, it was sort of the Karmann-Ghia to VW’s New Beetle: a stylish, low-roofed 2+2 coupe with enough performance to back up its looks, and of course it’s available with Audi’s legendary Quattro all-wheel-drive system. The first-generation TT is another car with some history among the Autopian staff: Mercedes Streeter had a star-crossed ownership of a car almost exactly like this, in silver.
This TT features a 180 horsepower version of the VW/Audi 1.8T engine, driving all four wheels through a five-speed manual. Sounds good, right? Small car, decent power, tons of grip, three pedals on the floor – it’s a recipe for fun. Unfortunately, it’s also a turn-of-the-century Audi, which means it also has a fiendishly complex and notoriously finicky engine management and emissions control system. One sensor has a bad day, and the whole thing can go haywire. And that appears to be what has happened with this car: it won’t pass emissions because some sensor won’t reset. The solution suggested by the testing station was to drive the car a while and re-test, but that hasn’t worked. The next step would be to fire the parts cannon at it until the problem goes away, but the seller sounds unwilling or unable to pay for that, so they’ve bought a different car and are unloading this one as-is.
It’s too bad, because this car runs and drives beautifully, they say, and it is in nice condition for 178,000 miles. Everything works, including the air conditioning, and the registration is actually still current, so there’s a little time to work out the emissions issues.
Cosmetically, it’s not perfect, but it looks pretty damn good. These are not low-maintenance cars, but they are reportedly very good cars to drive (I’ve not had the pleasure myself). Plenty of them are available for less money than this, but they’re likely to have a lot more problems than a failed smog test. And if you live somewhere besides California, you can likely ignore the fault and drive it as-is.
1989 Chevrolet Corsica – $1,500
Engine/drivetrain: 2.8 liter overhead valve V6, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Lemon Grove, CA
Odometer reading: 153,000 miles
Runs/drives? Runs great!
But let’s suppose you don’t want to deal with all that, and just want something that’s ready to go as-is. You’re willing to sacrifice cool styling and leather seats for mechanical simplicity and reliability. And you’re intrigued by the idea of a once-common but now rare car, with an uncommon and desirable mechanical spec. Have I got the car for you! Feast your eyes on the 1989 Chevy Corsica, equipped with a 2.8 liter V6 and a five-speed stick.
Yep, that’s right; Chevy’s humble L-body sedan could be had with a manual. And it’s a good one: the Getrag 282 five-speed (yes, the ad calls it a four-speed, but it has a fifth gear). I’ve had two of these before, one in a Cavalier Type 10, and one in a Quad 4-powered Olds Calais. It’s not as precise as a Honda or Mazda gearbox, but it’s a damn sight better than the vague, rubbery messes that Mopar and Ford called manuals back then.
Now, even the best manual gearbox in the world couldn’t turn a Chevy Corsica into a performance car, but the alternative is a mushy three-speed automatic that soaks up the V6’s power like that one soggy French fry soaks up the pickle juice on the plate. With the manual, this car could almost be considered sprightly. It still handles like a Chevy Corsica, but you can’t have everything. The seller says this car runs and drives just fine, and has a new battery and a recent clutch replacement. It has been sitting for a while, and the registration is several years out of date, but it just passed a smog test.
Cosmetically, it looks like every other remaining Corsica: dreary. And why are they always maroon? These things did come in other colors, right? Once upon a time, this would have been the ultimate stealth car, but it’s such an uncommon sight these days that it might actually get noticed. Nah, who am I kidding? It’s still a Corsica. No one cares. But it’s cheap, it runs fine, and it’s ready to rock.
Yes, I know this is a silly comparison. But let’s just say you have your heart set on a manual, and you have a very limited budget. Are you going to choose the car that looks good and is fun to drive, but needs work to be able to drive legally, or the drab, uninspiring one that’s less than half the price, and ready to go right now?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
I like the first-gen TT more than I should, but I know it’s a piece of shit mechanically, and the 1.8T is one of the worst engines ever made.
So the Corsica wins by default. It’s also easier to swap in a bunch of other engines making much more power 😀
The 3.9L is a direct descendant of the 2.8 and has twice as much hp.
Possibly even the LS4 will fit
Possibly even the LS4 will fit
An LS4 Corsica would probably be the holiest of grails lol
it would also be lots of fun 😀
This is easy, I live in Florida, we don’t have inspections (yeeeee haaaaaw!). When I was looking for my first car in high school, I test drove a Beretta and Corsica, they were underpowered sloths. I ended up with an 88 Mazda MX-6 LX instead. Audi all the way for sure.
I also live in Kansas…..no emissions issues here but the 178K scares me, and I’m an Audi fan! Still, I’ll take the Audi over the dreary Chevy.
Yeah, they came in that 90s teal too 😀
Corsica was my first car, I had one in white. So I gotta go with the ‘member berries.
The Corsica for me. It may not be as exciting as the Audi, but it’ll likely run forever with little fuss and there’s just something honest about this example that calls to me.
Corsicas handle camp/fire/access kinda roads surprisingly well for that they are.
Speaking as someone who as a teenager had one when working at a Boy Scout camp.
I was surprised at how well an old gf’s Corsica handled dirt Forest Service roads. It did default to understeer, so you had you pitch it, then tap the brakes to get the rear to swing out. As the brakes were grabby, this had a bit of a learning curve.
In the spirit of Torch, I want to say something nice about the Corsica’s taillights: the way the sharp bevel at the top completes the character line that runs around the side is very nice, a detail I admired even as a callow high schooler when it came out. Not at all a flashy detail (and the units themselves are pretty dull), but tasteful and elegant, not words used to describe many of its heavily-cladded peers from the General in those years.
I went close to a decade nursing along my Passat’s oxygen sensor through annual PA emissions tests, I’d be happy to do the same with the TT. My dad had pretty much exactly this one, but convertible red. As my Chevy-wrenching friend’s dad said, admiringly, “How could you not get yourself killed in a car like this?” Just reeks of fun.
I live in Kansas where the Audi would be very welcome. Nuff said.
Absolutely the Chevy. Not that I want it, but I would not take a VW piece of garbage if you paid me…. I’m certainly not going to pay YOU for it. The only thing worse than american cars are german cars.
I had a 99 Volvo v70 wagon and one of the emissions sensors would not reset to ready for love or money. A mechanic from the Volvo dealer drove it for a week to get it to reset so I could register it and it just wouldn’t. California has a list of late 90’s cars with known sensor reset issues. To pass smog in California, you can take it to the smog referee (the auto shop at the community college). https://www.bar.ca.gov/industry/obd-test-reference#readiness
I have a soft spot for TTs for some reason. I have to go TT all the way here. I love that the Corsica is still around, but I want nothing to do with it.
On the color, my grandparents had a ’93 Lumina in the same maroon over gray color combo as the Corsica. There’s no nostalgia from that for me however.
This Corsica seems like an odd pairing – a base model (not the ‘sporty’ LT) with the V6/5MT but no tach. I wouldn’t have gone for it, but some of the comments here have me thinking it could be redeemed here – the interior is in decent shape, maybe it could be spruced up a bit for Radwood purposes with new wheels and a respray.
I’ll take the cheap cockroach, and beat the balls out of it. To hell with that overcomplicated German jibba-jabba.
Upvoted for excellent use of ‘jibba-jabba’. XD
If you happen to own VCDS, the TT is probably going to be easy fix. Pretty sure a 01 TT is an OBD2 car. And a TT is just a fancy Golf, not a particularly challenging car. Though VAG could of given you some more room. Price is pushing the top end. 3k seems more inline with where my local market is. Every TT owner I’ve ever meet is pretty Corvette owner-lite about these things though. So light preference towards Audi. But the Chevy seems like it could be fun for a few weeks
This is like the Voight-Kampff of car choices! “You see a slightly broken Audi TT on its back in the desert. Do you fix it, or do you drive the Corsica?” “What’s wrong with the Audi?” “It doesn’t matter what’s wrong, it’s purely hypothetical, and expensive”
“What do you mean I’m not fixing it!?”
You want to know about my mother. I’ll tell you about my mother!
A: “A TT? What’s that?”
B: “You know what a new Beetle is?”
A: “Of course”
B: “Same thing”
🙂
Chevy all day over here. Messing around with 20+ yr old VAG products is for masochists.
Wicked comparison choices today Mark- bravo!
Damn. When SWG himself says xxx is for masochists, that’s sayin’ somethin’ !
I’m currently fighting a fuel pump install in an ’07 Passat. The trauma is recent.
I live outside of the C.A.R.B. reach. the audi would pass here. I still have serious concerns about any Bavarian motor with a turbo. it really is too bad the black TT did not I suppose could not be spec’d with a 2.5 VW 5 cylinder. those are like true sportscars in their simplicity to work on, but they also have the reputation of not needing a lot of repairs. so boom, Miata Killer for those in the midwest that want sporty little car that can still make it to work in the winter (AWD).
In this case though, the GM price and rarity, kind of makes me want to see how much that Turd polishes up.
I love the 2.5. Had it in a Rabbit with a manual. Chugged up mountain grades without even trying hard. An absolute gem on the highway.
Just don’t ask about the fuel economy.
I love this metaphor! It describes most mechanic repair strategies in such a chaotically elegant manner.
“Cannon” sounds too precise. It’s more like a “parts shotgun”.
Maybe, but I’d rather take my chances with a shotgun blast at 100 yards versus a cannon firing a defensive round at 100 yards all day, every day.
Give me the TT!
May I suggest a Blunderbuss as an agreeable alternative? Pretty much a big ass shotgun that you load with black powder and then shove anything that will fit in it for ammo. Seriously you can use silverware for ammo.
Torch can load his with cut up battery parts and lead dust. That should fix it.
It is german. The parts will be much more expensive than some shot gun shells. Priced more like artilery shells. You can fire a parts shotgun at a Chevy. An Audi will indeed require a parts cannon.
I might be pretty petty for this, but the only reason I chose the Chevy is because the Audi is a cylinder short.
It didn’t get it until the next generation IIRC, and I even had quite the experience riding in the back of a similar vintage TT around a college campus years ago, but if I’m owning it? I want that 5-cylinder sound any day of the week. I won’t take anything less…. or even more to be honest.
You might be in luck with the Corsica, wouldn’t be surprised if it’s only running on 5 cylinders. A friend got a Beretta with the same engine new and after year 2 it was only on 5 cylinders. It actually ran okay. It was still a POS.
I don’t think the TT’s issues are fatal…although these cars are fussy, fickle, and always in need of something. VAG will always be VAG…and when it comes to a turbo VW 4 cylinder my rule is simple: stay away. They’ve literally never been able to make a reliable one. And before GTI Gang starts slamming their keyboards to tell me about how their EA888 is making 350 horsepower and hasn’t had any issues….my stock EA888 sent me to hell and back in the first friggin 10,000 miles and my mom’s turbo’d 4 popper Audi literally totaled itself at 60,000 miles.
Then there are the countless piles of stats you can quickly find on Google that definitively say VW reliability is gaping ass. Anyway…despite all of this I’d still do battle with the TT. It’s going to be an absolute money pit but I wouldn’t be buying it to daily. This is a weekend car and I’m sure it would give me countless opportunities to learn more about wrenching and maintenance. They’re also objectively gorgeous cars that are aging like fine wine.
Plus I live in DC which has nonexistent regulations and a local government that has been non functional for generations at this point. This may not pass in Cali but I’m sure the dude on his phone at the inspection station would slap a pass sticker on it without even blinking. Will I get rid of this car within a few years? Almost certainly. Will I have some fun along the way? Almost certainly. It’ll be a fun little car I can wring out and throw around on some backroads a couple of times a year.
This is a slam dunk for me. Live in a no-smog-test area, own a copy of VCDS with a few open VIN slots and am a glutton for VW/Audi punishment.
I wanted to go with the TT but I know my limits. Maintaining and keeping an Audi on the road is beyond my limits. Remember $3700 is just the price of admission. Corsica it is for me. But if I had plenty of money to burn the TT would be in my garage looking pretty while I waited for parts.
Corsica. It would probably be reasonably reliable, right up until the day I buy the biggest set of Boggers I can fit on it’s wheels, cut the fenders, and hit the Gambler 500.
Love the A/C assisting white paint on the roof also. It’s a winner!