Audi A4 2.5 180 Quattro Driving characteristics

[samuelt]

Hi All

I have recently purchased my fifth Audi this one being my third A4. This time i have gone for a 2003 A4 2.5 tdi 180 Quattro Avant replacing a 2002 a4 2.5 163 Multitronic Convertible and the first Quattro A4 (also had Quattro A3 and have a Quattro A5 Coupe) I have owned. the car has coverd 106k miles and has a full Audi service history backed up with piles of paperwork including a £1700 timing belt job in 2009.

I purchased this car yesterday in Ipswitch and have now driven the 500+ miles home to Perth. the car drove fantastic and gave great performance and a far nicer engine note thant the 3.0tdi A5! The one issue i have is that when negotiating tight corners and roundabouts the whole transmission feals tight a bit like my old agricultural Land Rover discovery did. Is this just a characteristic of the Quattro system on this car or is this a sign of troubles ahead?

Thank you
Toby

 

[ASHIHARA]

What do you mean feels tight?

 

[samuelt]

it feels slightly like the back is being dragged round as if the rear diff is locking and not letting the wheels turn at different speeds.

 

[mikeh126]

Hi,
I have a similar car to you, and the car drives 'normally' round corners - i.e. no feeling of being 'dragged round', nor a feeling of the diff locking.
When turning slowly on full lock, the tyres sometimes 'grab' slightly, but only on full lock at slow speeds on hard ground. I assume that's because of wide, low profile tyres.
But when driving round corners on the road, there shouldn't be any feeling of being dragged round, or diff locking.
Worth getting it checked out?

 

[samuelt]

Thank you foryour input Mike, I am going to take it to a gravel car park and try tight turns if the rear is locking it will show much more with less resistance under the wheels.

 

[fjtwelve]

On my 2.5TDI 180 hp A6 quattro the rear alignment is adjustable, and that did not appear to be commonly known. Not sure if yours is the same but when i discovered this and got it fixed it appeared to be the fiirst time it had been touched. If it is adjustable i recommend getting it done. At the time i was in Edinburgh and have the address somewhere for the bloke in Sighthill that did it.

 

[Mike B]

On my 2.5TDI 180 hp A6 quattro the rear alignment is adjustable, and that did not appear to be commonly known. Not sure if yours is the same but when i discovered this and got it fixed it appeared to be the fiirst time it had been touched. If it is adjustable i recommend getting it done. At the time i was in Edinburgh and have the address somewhere for the bloke in Sighthill that did it.

Had my A4 2.5tdi Quattro checked recently and the rear alignment was a lot out .It seemed to be causing wear on the inside tread of the tyres but I have never experienced any drag effect