My A4/B9 REVIEW AFTER 600 MILES...

[blackb9er]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum

I got my B9 2 weeks ago and done just over 600 miles in it so far (been going on random drives to get the miles up haha) thought id throw in my 10 cents in the hope that someone may find it useful.

It's a 3.0TDI (218) S-Tronic, Quattro in sport trim, Black, no other extras apart from tinted tinted/sound insulated side/rear windows & flat bottomed steering wheel. This is my first Audi coming from a BMW 1 series 2.0 twin turbo diesel.

Exterior - Nice enough! I have the sport (not sure what the visual difference is between SE&sport apart from the wheels) it doesn't jump out at you like a C class does but you can definitely tell thats it's an expensive motor. Looks much better in S-line trim though with those side skirts. Love the Quattro badging, the positioning of the wing mirrors and the way the door handles lift upwards, (makes perfect sense,) Audi seem to be the masters when it comes to the little touches.

Interior - love it! looks great, very well put together, everything's where it should be and buttons/switchgear all feel great. MMI works nicely, (i've yet to test apple car play/android auto) sports seats are very supportive but not overly comfortable (i'm 6'4) driving position was easy to find. Storage space could be a little better but no big deal.

The Drive - It's nice. Steering feel is a little lighter than what I'm used to but still feels well balanced. The engine is smooth and quiet (at idle & cruise speeds you don't hear anything from it.) doesn't sound like a diesel at all! Torque is there and its available way lower down and its a good thing really as this thing loves to get through the gears as quickly as possible especially in efficiency mode (5th gear @ 25mph). Engine never really revs beyond 2.5k revs unless you floor it or use the paddles. The gear shifts are rapid, power delivery is more seamless than exciting, not a bad thing but just never really feels that fast to me, has more than enough shove for most everyday situations though.
This cars clearly built for the motorway, sits at just under 2,000 rpm @ 90mph, not a sound from the engine and hardly any wind noise. However its not the super quiet cabin that all these online reviews lead you to believe. Even with the sound insulated glass I still find theres still a lot of tyre noise and external noise like traffic/cars passing etc. (anyone else experienced this??) On a better note this car handles FANTASTIC! sticks to the road like glue in any situation! We've had ice & heavy rain here over the last few weeks and the Quattro system does its job VERY well not an ounce of slip or traction lost.

Fuel economy - filled her up twice so far £66 to fill the tank from empty, averaged around 39 mpg with a mixture of city/motorway driving mostly in its comfort setting, could easily get low 40's in efficiency mode which is far from Audis claimed figure of 64 but still not bad at all for a 3litre v6!

Things I don't like:
- Suspension feels a little bit fidgety and unsettled sometimes, if I had the budget I would have added the adaptive suspension

- Still getting used to the dual clutch gearbox, not a massive fan of it so far, feels a bit laggy/jerky when pulling away and at slower speeds and it gives itself a lot to do on kickdown as it shuffles through the gears so quickly, would have preferred a standard ZF auto like you get in the bigger 3.0 272 and in most beamers.

-Air con is noisy. From fan speed setting 2 you can hear the fan motor and ruins the cars quiet demenor. I find myself turning it down to its lowest setting a lot of the time, (warms up very quickly though)

- The way the stop/start kicks in before the car completely stops, means you always stop quite abruptly very annoying!

- Sat nav sometimes takes a good 20 seconds to load up from start. Not a massive issue but can be annoying if you're in a bit of a rush.

- The sound system is TERRIBLE! The worst iv'e even experienced in a car of this calibre! distorts at higher volume, there's No bass and the sound never really fills the cabin, always sounds distant. This car has the upgraded version with 10 speakers would hate to hear what the standard one sounds like. Massive disappointment as I love my music! Again would of ticked the option for the B&O system if my budget allowed for it.

- Audi are stingy *******lol. Should get a LOT more standard equipment for near 40k car! Would of been nice to at least have a colour display in-between the dials (not monochrome) and adaptive cruise (which comes as standard in most Golfs)

Overall
A very nice car. Lacks the sparkle of the beamer despite its engine size but rides way more smoothly/quietly especially at higher speed. In hindsight I probably would have chose the 2.0TDI 190 with a few option boxes ticked or would have tested a BMW 5 series or a Jag XE against this before I made a decision but it is what it is! Only done 600+ miles so hopefully things will change.

Ok rant over Would love to hear your thoughts especially from those who have the same engine.

Thanks for reading

 

[NickGun]

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum

I got my B9 2 weeks ago and done just over 600 miles in it so far (been going on random drives to get the miles up haha) thought id throw in my 10 cents in the hope that someone may find it useful.

It's a 3.0TDI (218) S-Tronic, Quattro in sport trim, Black, no other extras apart from tinted tinted/sound insulated side/rear windows & flat bottomed steering wheel. This is my first Audi coming from a BMW 1 series 2.0 twin turbo diesel.

Exterior - Nice enough! I have the sport (not sure what the visual difference is between SE&sport apart from the wheels) it doesn't jump out at you like a C class does but you can definitely tell thats it's an expensive motor. Looks much better in S-line trim though with those side skirts. Love the Quattro badging, the positioning of the wing mirrors and the way the door handles lift upwards, (makes perfect sense,) Audi seem to be the masters when it comes to the little touches.

Interior - love it! looks great, very well put together, everything's where it should be and buttons/switchgear all feel great. MMI works nicely, (i've yet to test apple car play/android auto) sports seats are very supportive but not overly comfortable (i'm 6'4) driving position was easy to find. Storage space could be a little better but no big deal.

The Drive - It's nice. Steering feel is a little lighter than what I'm used to but still feels well balanced. The engine is smooth and quiet (at idle & cruise speeds you don't hear anything from it.) doesn't sound like a diesel at all! Torque is there and its available way lower down and its a good thing really as this thing loves to get through the gears as quickly as possible especially in efficiency mode (5th gear @ 25mph). Engine never really revs beyond 2.5k revs unless you floor it or use the paddles. The gear shifts are rapid, power delivery is more seamless than exciting, not a bad thing but just never really feels that fast to me, has more than enough shove for most everyday situations though.
This cars clearly built for the motorway, sits at just under 2,000 rpm @ 90mph, not a sound from the engine and hardly any wind noise. However its not the super quiet cabin that all these online reviews lead you to believe. Even with the sound insulated glass I still find theres still a lot of tyre noise and external noise like traffic/cars passing etc. (anyone else experienced this??) On a better note this car handles FANTASTIC! sticks to the road like glue in any situation! We've had ice & heavy rain here over the last few weeks and the Quattro system does its job VERY well not an ounce of slip or traction lost.

Fuel economy - filled her up twice so far £66 to fill the tank from empty, averaged around 39 mpg with a mixture of city/motorway driving mostly in its comfort setting, could easily get low 40's in efficiency mode which is far from Audis claimed figure of 64 but still not bad at all for a 3litre v6!

Things I don't like:
- Suspension feels a little bit fidgety and unsettled sometimes, if I had the budget I would have added the adaptive suspension

- Still getting used to the dual clutch gearbox, not a massive fan of it so far, feels a bit laggy/jerky when pulling away and at slower speeds and it gives itself a lot to do on kickdown as it shuffles through the gears so quickly, would have preferred a standard ZF auto like you get in the bigger 3.0 272 and in most beamers.

-Air con is noisy. From fan speed setting 2 you can hear the fan motor and ruins the cars quiet demenor. I find myself turning it down to its lowest setting a lot of the time, (warms up very quickly though)

- The way the stop/start kicks in before the car completely stops, means you always stop quite abruptly very annoying!

- Sat nav sometimes takes a good 20 seconds to load up from start. Not a massive issue but can be annoying if you're in a bit of a rush.

- The sound system is TERRIBLE! The worst iv'e even experienced in a car of this calibre! distorts at higher volume, there's No bass and the sound never really fills the cabin, always sounds distant. This car has the upgraded version with 10 speakers would hate to hear what the standard one sounds like. Massive disappointment as I love my music! Again would of ticked the option for the B&O system if my budget allowed for it.

- Audi are stingy ******* lol. Should get a LOT more standard equipment for near 40k car! Would of been nice to at least have a colour display in-between the dials (not monochrome) and adaptive cruise (which comes as standard in most Golfs)

Overall
A very nice car. Lacks the sparkle of the beamer despite its engine size but rides way more smoothly/quietly especially at higher speed. In hindsight I probably would have chose the 2.0TDI 190 with a few option boxes ticked or would have tested a BMW 5 series or a Jag XE against this before I made a decision but it is what it is! Only done 600+ miles so hopefully things will change.

Ok rant over Would love to hear your thoughts especially from those who have the same engine.

Thanks for reading

Morning and welcome, we've got the same car which is fast approaching 10k miles, when I'm going to do a full, considered, living with for 10k type review.

So won't go into too much detail here but just to say that, for us at least, we'd rather have the larger engined Quattro in Sport guise than a smaller engined S-Line with more extras (I know we'll be very much in the minority with that opinion though).

The 10 speaker sound system should start to sound better with use (ours did), but it does take some tweaking, some say they are more than happy with it over the B&O, others like yourself don't rate it - sound as with the way a car feels / drives is subjective I guess.

As for the 218Q feeling slow, ours definitely doesn't, so maybe yours needs some more miles under its belt first - in Dynamic mode it does noticeably tighten up its responses, suspension, gearing, steering and throttle - plus it'll hold on to gears soooooo much longer - trade off is economy naturally.

MPG wise we averaged over 50mpg on a 3k run across Europe in the summer, while using cruise on Autoroutes / Stradas etc but with some spirited driving in between - our regular urban commute is 39-44mpg.

Hope you enjoy it over time more than it sounds you are currently.

 

[Ricksta8]

Off to work again now ! Up to London and then to Hove - but I will try to find time later to offer just a little feedback on my experience so far.

 

[blackb9er]

@ Riksta8 Thanks and enjoy your day.

@ Nick Gun Yea I think a lot of the niggles I have with it will fade over time, still not had a decent enough run in it yet and I'm still yet to properly test Dynamic mode, Not sure if there's a "running in" period with these cars as Audi didn't tell me but think I'm going to wait until I'm over 1.5k miles at least before I start pushing it just to be on the safe side.

Appreciate the feedback and look forward to reading your 10k+ mile review

 

[Jcbmally]

Audi state "1500km running in period" it's in the manual page 91.
the

 

[Kestrel]

Audi state "1500km running in period" it's in the manual page 91.
the

That's 900 miles in real money.

 

[Jcbmally]

That's 900 miles in real money.

Haha, quoted the exact term in the manual in case someone pointed it out.

 

[blackb9er]

haha nice one lads, i'll look through it now, see what I've been doing wrong lol

 

[S.line]

Got my 218 v6 tdi last week. Could do with being Quattro with all that torque. B&O sounds way better than my previous B&O in b8. My niggles are hands free in apple play mode? Other than that it's a massive jump on the positive side over my b8 sline. Average fuel is 45+mpg. Insurance halved, tax £30, driver assist is panicky


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[blackb9er]

@S.line Glad your enjoying it. 45+mpg is good. How many miles are on it so far and which mode do you find yourself driving in mostly?

 

[NickGun]

Got my 218 v6 tdi last week. Could do with being Quattro with all that torque. B&O sounds way better than my previous B&O in b8. My niggles are hands free in apple play mode? Other than that it's a massive jump on the positive side over my b8 sline. Average fuel is 45+mpg. Insurance halved, tax £30, driver assist is panicky

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agree about 218V6 being better with Quattro (which we have) what specifically is troublesome with handsfree in CarPlay?

By Driver Assist do you mean Pre-Sense? we don't have any optional packs with Driver Assist (lane etc) but you can adjust the delay and thereby the sensitivity of Pre-Sense kicking in via the settings in MMI.

 

[Sandra]

@blackb9er welcome to Audi-sport.net. Sounds like a nice car. Could you please mind your language when writing your post. Some people find the swearing offensive and we have young members that read the forum. As you are a new member as of yesterday you should be familiar with the forums rules and regulations.

 

[blackb9er]

@blackb9er welcome to Audi-sport.net. Sounds like a nice car. Could you please mind your language when writing your post. Some people find the swearing offensive and we have young members that read the forum. As you are a new member as of yesterday you should be familiar with the forums rules and regulations.

Sorry Sandra, just thinking about those stupidly expensive Audi option packages brings out the worst in me lol. Wont happen again

 

[S.line]

CarPlay don't seem to work with the hands free? If my phone is connected to USB I can't use/make calls from the steering wheel.

Car has <3k on it. Drive in comfort/auto mostly. Tried manual today round bendy roads, I found it better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ricksta8]

So , another 158 miles today and 2000 is now very close!
Still not getting the mpg I would like, but I can't really complain as it is 3.0 and 4 wheel drive! And if mpg had been priority absolute, then i would have gone for the 2.0 190 tdi - as you say blackb9er - and I think to be honest 90% of the time (motorway) would never have noticed ..... But on the other 10% pulling away / junctions etc when you hear and feel the v6 i would have been kicking myself for not getting the 3.0 v6.

today was mostly m25 / M23 with about 50 miles of A and B roads scattered in for good measure - I mainly just use Efficiency, its fine like that unless i want to pull out, in which case there is a definite "lag" between me pushing the pedal, and the car receiving that information and then considering it and finally actually getting a move on! BMW was better for that with the mode switch next to the shift, it was quick to go from eco pro to comfort or sport and back - not yet worked out a quick way to do this on the A4

I was not keen on the stop/start either to begin with, but as you get used to it its not so bad - it does cut as you coast the last 2 or 3 mph and I think it almost makes you push the brake pedal instinctively, which makes it stop suddenly, when you get a bit more used to it, I find that I am now only pushing the brake pedal when the car actually stops moving - as with all stop/starts however, they cannot predict the traffic and it always seems to be the case that just as the engine stops, the traffic moves off again, or at least a few meters enough to need to power up again!

I cant make comment on the sound system, as I am very fortunate to have spec'd the B&O and it works perfectly, similarly I have the adaptive suspension, and all is good there - but I believe the standard set up to be pretty good now anyway.

I have been in an XE - my friend has quite a nice one - its quite nice, but for me the touch screen is not a good interface for the cars systems on the move, it requires too much attention to press in the right places - so only BMW or Audi would do - and as lovely as the 5 series is, it is more expensive once kitted out and too big really - that leaves the 3 - which I like but not as nice inside as the A4 - and that is where I spend most of my time.

Overall, I really love the car, and if the mpg picks up a bit more as she get some more miles, I will be more than happy for another 3 years - as long as there are no "problems" I will be disappointed if it has any breakdowns or faults, as the BMW did 88k miles without anything but servicing and tyres.

 

[The Saints]

I've had my manual 2.0 TFSI S-line for 2 weeks now and just hit 500 miles. So far I'm loving the car and having moved from a 2015 A3 1.4 S-line I can honestly say the step up to the A4 is huge. It does feel more comfortable, more refined.

I do have some small gripes though none of which are major.

Audi Sound System - I echo the original posters thoughts in that it seems poor. The A3 also had the Audi sound system and it was more punchy and seemed superior to the A4. I did not spec the B&O system as I was so happy with the A3 Audi system but have been left a little disappointed.

Steering - Can't find a setting that feels as good as the A3, just seems a bit vague, hopefully I'll get used to it.

Power - Now I am still taking it easy as it's still running in, but on the few occasions that I have opened her up a little, it does just not feel as fast as the A3 which was only a 1.4. I think part of the issue is the overall package, smooth power delivery, refined engine and noise insulation actually makes it feel slower than it actually is. I'm hoping once it's loosened up things may improve. If I remember rightly it did take the A3 a few 1000 miles before it was at its best.

Overall very glad I made the switch. I was also worried the standard sports suspension was going to be harsh and almost added adaptive suspension at the last minute after reading some review, but I have found no issue with the standard it copes very well with most road surfaces, absorbing the bumps much better than the A3.

 

[blackb9er]

very nice write ups guys and I concur with most of the points mentioned. Was Definitely worth getting the V6 just for the sound and all that low down grunt it has but I hear the 2.0 TFSI is equally as refined at speed.

@Ricksta8 I've found the best way to switch between the cars driving modes is to program that little button with the star looking icon on the steering wheel to drive select mode. It's much more easily accessible that way. I find comfort mode gives me the best overall feel much less lag on take off and better shift points (trade off being a slight dip in economy)

@The Saints try individual mode with the steering set to dynamic, it gives the steering a much more weighted and natural feel

Seems like we're all still waiting for things to loosen up a little before our cars true characters are unveiled.

Quick question. When I'm on the motorway a symbol sometimes appears its a foot with an arrow underneath any idea what's its asking of me? Would I be correct in saying that it's telling me to lift of the accelerator to activate coasting mode??

 

[S.line]

Blackb9er I've got the star button set on mine to change drive select. One thing I do like is by pressing the plus paddle you can put the engine into idle....reminds me of my teenage 2l sri days when my girlfriend lived miles away, rocking back and forth to see how far I could get with the engine off!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Pork]

The foot symbol is the predictive efficiency program telling you to take your foot off the gas.
When d/s is in efficiency, the symbol comes up more often to try to get you to drive as efficiently as possible, when in other d/s modes it only comes on as you approach a junction or speed limit change (to a lower speed)
Tried a long run in efficiency once and hated how it strangled the performance - gear changes were reluctant and sluggish. The return journey in auto was about 3 mpg less so I'm happy with that.

 

[NickGun]

So , another 158 miles today and 2000 is now very close!
Still not getting the mpg I would like, but I can't really complain as it is 3.0 and 4 wheel drive! And if mpg had been priority absolute, then i would have gone for the 2.0 190 tdi - as you say blackb9er - and I think to be honest 90% of the time (motorway) would never have noticed ..... But on the other 10% pulling away / junctions etc when you hear and feel the v6 i would have been kicking myself for not getting the 3.0 v6.

today was mostly m25 / M23 with about 50 miles of A and B roads scattered in for good measure - I mainly just use Efficiency, its fine like that unless i want to pull out, in which case there is a definite "lag" between me pushing the pedal, and the car receiving that information and then considering it and finally actually getting a move on! BMW was better for that with the mode switch next to the shift, it was quick to go from eco pro to comfort or sport and back - not yet worked out a quick way to do this on the A4

I was not keen on the stop/start either to begin with, but as you get used to it its not so bad - it does cut as you coast the last 2 or 3 mph and I think it almost makes you push the brake pedal instinctively, which makes it stop suddenly, when you get a bit more used to it, I find that I am now only pushing the brake pedal when the car actually stops moving - as with all stop/starts however, they cannot predict the traffic and it always seems to be the case that just as the engine stops, the traffic moves off again, or at least a few meters enough to need to power up again!

I cant make comment on the sound system, as I am very fortunate to have spec'd the B&O and it works perfectly, similarly I have the adaptive suspension, and all is good there - but I believe the standard set up to be pretty good now anyway.

I have been in an XE - my friend has quite a nice one - its quite nice, but for me the touch screen is not a good interface for the cars systems on the move, it requires too much attention to press in the right places - so only BMW or Audi would do - and as lovely as the 5 series is, it is more expensive once kitted out and too big really - that leaves the 3 - which I like but not as nice inside as the A4 - and that is where I spend most of my time.

Overall, I really love the car, and if the mpg picks up a bit more as she get some more miles, I will be more than happy for another 3 years - as long as there are no "problems" I will be disappointed if it has any breakdowns or faults, as the BMW did 88k miles without anything but servicing and tyres.

@Ricksta8 Your MPG should increase a little as you say once the engine has loosened up, we have same model and ours has, with what appears to be a full tank yours is showing a range of 560miles, ours now regularly shows 650miles (I know its based on previous driving style) but our MPG has improved the more miles we have covered, almost 10k now. If you look at your pic the average speed was only 38mph, which isn't optimum for mpg.

Across Europe in the summer we covered over 3k miles and averaged 51.6mpg, which its actual mpg based on miles covered and litres of fuel added, I've found the DIS to be optimistic by between 1-3mpg (see pic after 13hrs driving from Leeds to Bourges, France on a single tank of fuel).

We tend to drive in comfort as opposed to efficiency (to reduce the dulled response) and if spirited getaways are needed use the paddles / Dynamic.

Like you say though, even with a slight dip in MPG the V6 makes up for it when you press the pedal in anger / Dynamic.

 

[Fozzie1960]

I've just clocked a 1000 miles, the only gripe I have is I can't load special destinations.

Compared to the B8 I had previously this much more refined and the handling is far superior. Agree with @Pork re: efficiency mode. At first I wasn't sure about the B&O, felt it wasn't as good as the one in the B8. I'm sure now, it's much better, I guess the speakers had to bed in a bit.

All things said and done, it's a ****** great car!

 

[blackb9er]

Not a fan of efficiency mode either, personally I don't think you save that much fuel by using it as you find yourself squeezing the throttle just that little bit harder to get it to move a bit quicker. The lag on the with the S-Tronic gearbox is starting to annoy me a a little, seems to be a lot of hesitation before it gets going from standstill. I find myself having to plan my escape every-time i'm at a junction, never had that issue with the beamer. Guess its just one of them things i'll have to get used to. Complaints aside I'm loving this motor! massive thanks to everyone so far for the input, hope to hear more from others.

 

[Ricksta8]

Agreed on efficiency mode - it has a huge lag pulling away on roundabouts and junctions - but the bmw 520d F10 i had was exactly the same in eco pro mode! You had time to shout "come ON!" Between pressing the go pedal and the car processing that request into any sort of motion.. and this is the same.

As a result, I quickly came to the conclusion both on the 520d and now the a4, that efficiency or eco pro is good at fuel saving, BUT should only be used once on long open stretches/dual carriageways and motorways, where to be fair it does do quite a good job of saving fuel, by reducing energy use on electrical etc, ( I was returning 54mpg consistently in the 5 over mixed motorway and centra London driving) but as soon as I come down a slip road i would flick the switch by the gearstick up one to comfort, and back down to eco when the next long stretch came, which was a bit easier even than using the star button - which I am now doing, but it does require a few nore presses as unlike the bmw it cycles through modes rather than being able to go in either direction through modes.

The BMW had the 8 speed ZF, which was very good and probably partly responsible for the economy, as prior to that the manual gave better mpg.
I believe it is the same zf 8 speed as the 272 and the S4??? - I was worried the 7 speed may not be as good, but so far have no issues with it driving wise, but it may not be helping the fuel so much?

Yesterday I travelled about 75 miles around a lot of rubbish lanes in Kent and some smooth flowing A roads in between, but only managed 41mpg in comfort on the DIS, so possibly less? - and I am not heavy footed, I enjoy anticipating distances to avoid unnecessary breaking and keep a smooth progress the magic green foot on the DIS is quite good at that, surprisingly so sometimes, but others it may be assuming I don't mind doing 10mph for a few hundred metres, which just feels too slow in certain circumstances - the BMW would probably have returned 48mpg over the same journey the computer on that was surprisingly accurate, as I often checked litres each time against miles travelled.

Really hoping the mpg improves, BUT still really loving the V6 diesel and Quattro out of the corners....