Return to the green pump

[elan2s]

Just been to collect my new A6 Avant 40 TFSi Sport to replace my 40TDi Sport. It is in Vesuvius Grey, hard to tell from black to be honest and probably why Audi has just dropped it from their options.

Will post in a few days about differences both from a 2019 to 2021 spec perspective and also from a diesel to petrol point of view. Initial observations are:

• The map graphics are different
• In D, it no longer displays the gear in the DIS, just displays D
• No jack in the spare wheel well

Here are the obligatory pictures

 

[Donnythemanny]

Audi have a funny idea about colours. If that's grey then I'm a monkey's uncle. It will be fast though. Mine got me 3 points in 6 months.

 

[elan2s]

So I have had the car a few days and managed to travel about 130 miles in it, so thought I would give some insight into the car and also the changes between the old and the new.

Overall I would say, an it is early days, that the petrol is slightly smoother than the diesel. In particular when coming back on the power after coasting or indeed running with the engine off, there is less of jerk as the power kicks back in. I am assuming this is probably down to the easier spinning nature of a petrol engine over a diesel. I have also noticed that the car gets into 7th at about 60mph, whereas the diesels only really got into 7th on the motorway doing 70. On a 60 mile trip, mostly on motorway, I saw an overall consumption of 38.7mpg, whereas in the diesel I would have anticipated 50mpg+ so there is no doubt this will use more fuel. Hopefully once the engine has loosened up I will be seeing over 40mpg.

Other points of note:

• The map graphics are different
• In D, it no longer displays the gear in the DIS, just displays D
• No jack in the spare wheel well
• Lane Assist Deactivation switch is on the end of the Indictor Stalk, previously only there if you had Adaptive Cruise Control
• Drivers Manual now comes in a cardboard slide in wrapper rather than a leather effect folder
• No Personal Journey Assist in the sat nav
• Screen resolution seems higher on the lower screen. Font for shortcuts much crisper
• On filling up with Petrol (car only comes half full from dealer), Range is 400 miles compared to 700+ on the TDi. However the car has only done a very small number of miles so hopefully that will go up as it decides what the average mpg is
• Radio has lost the programme guide feature but has added a more sophisticated search function (unless it was always there I just hadn't noticed it!)
• Shortcut window on lower screen needs to be opened each time you start the car
• Car now comes with Wireless CarPlay
• There is no SIM or SD card slot
• Still unable to use WiFi to connect car to phone, you have to use the car data plan, at least with a non rSAP phone. Means that after 3 years all connectivity ceases unless you either pay for it or have a phone that supports rSAP. Strange as our Golf 8 allows the car to hotspot to a phone, as did the Golf 7 before it, and override the built in eSIM, which is much more logical
• Load bay cover now covers load bay once the tailgate has closed rather than covering as tailgate was closing. I also noticed that the sprung loaded clips at the borrow of the channel that the load cover runs down are gone. On my previous C8 one of these broke requiring the replacement of the D pillar trim
• Switch to turn off interior monitoring for alarm is now in the MMI, it pops up when you switch off engine, rather than physical switch on door pillar
• You get a registered user notification screen when you start the car, but driving away clears it so you do not need to press "continue" This screen also allows another driver to login to the car
• The car seems to be set up for Alexa, however I have not managed to login to it yet and I suspect this may only be possible if you buy a data plan from Audi. There is a screen that pops up for a fraction of a second which may say this but it is so quick there is no chance to read it
• The Ignition button is now gloss black
• The tailgate opening from the key is now 2 quick presses of the button rather than a single long press

So that is all after 5 days and 130 miles. If I find anything else, I'll add to this and also once the car has done a few more miles report back on the fuel consumption difference

 

[elan2s]

Audi have a funny idea about colours. If that's grey then I'm a monkey's uncle. It will be fast though. Mine got me 3 points in 6 months.

Having now parked the car next to our Deep Pearl Black Golf, the Audi is definitely Grey, it has a more smokey appearance to it than the Black. Int he sunlight it also has a lot of metallic "pop"

 

[screeched]

Nice write up, thanks. I've just done the same, switching from 2019 TDI Avant to 2021 TFSI Saloon and am still discovering some of these. Good to know what is actually new as my 2021 has the tech pack whereas 2019 didn't. I need to check the WiFi and what is provided with the tech pack option as I'd previously uses a sim in there with my own data plan. Also noticed the double tap to open the boot tonight. Will see what else I find this week.