PDA

View Full Version : 2.0 TFSI - Brief thoughts and ramblings



spellsinger
07-06-2016, 12:17 PM
Sorry if this meanders! I've returned to Audi after 7 years, with a pretty much loaded A4 (of interest however is the fact that if I'd specified the B9 to match my 2009 B8, the new car would have been approx. £3k cheaper - and that includes a 5% increase in VAT). Went for petrol as we don't do the mileage of old (7-8k). Impressed that compared to my previous - A4 3.0 Diesel - the car is quicker and more economical - I managed 43mpg @ 65mph motorway average - worked out pump to pump).

The Good: very refined (the petrol engine is smooth around town), very well built (although I had to have the centre-dash top B&O speaker grill re-packed as it resonated on a certain type of road.) The tech (goes without saying) is excellent and a crowd pleaser, I've always liked Audi's side assist (although on the B8 it could be specced as a stand-alone - I had to spec it this time with some tech-package or other). The auto-stop took some getting used to; but is better (than previous Audis) once you learn that feathering the throttle to a stop you can pretty much control if it comes on or not - also, unlike older Audis, putting on the parking brake doesn't automatically re-start the engine.

The Bad: Can't believe they "cheaped-out" on the spare key, plastic button and no fancy trim on the rear (not good to nickel and dime - as the Americans say) - Album art on iPod MMI just does not work properly unlike every car I've had since 2005, Audi blame Apple, no doubt Apple would blame Audi! Finally, it would be nice to spec the car without all the "packages" my wife certainly thought so!

Musings: I don't find the centre screen as annoying as I thought it would be. Google Earth is more eye-candy than useful. Some of the connect features are useful, traffic, petrol prices. I find the radar cruise control better calibrated than before. The matrix LEDs are amazing when first used - I found them no better or no worse for maximum illumination than other xenon cars I've driven, however dipped performance is much improved (your mileage may vary). Of all the "recent" cars I've driven this car's gearbox has the biggest difference between "sport" and "normal", the gearbox is very relaxed in normal mode, noticeably aggressive in sport-mode.

Off the Wall: I love that it tells you you have left the phone in the car and I like the one-hit button to silence (superfluous or over-running) traffic announcements. Had trouble finding a dash cam that is unobtrusive (the windscreen rake and position of mirror made it difficult). However for the first time I hard-wired a dash cam, which turned out easier than I thought - hands-off Halfords. Audi's on-line portal needs a major re-work, it is not intuitive whether you are tech inclined or not.

Over-all a thumbs-up

30919

Kestrel
07-06-2016, 02:24 PM
Very useful...thank you.
A couple of questions for you:
1. Is it possible to stop the car on the brake (Traffic lights etc) and remove your foot from the brake without the engine restarting?
2. Are you saying there isn't a spare key? What `plastic button` are you referring to? What `rear` are you referring to?
Many thanks.
Mike.

xtremist
07-06-2016, 04:12 PM
Very useful...thank you.
A couple of questions for you:
1. Is it possible to stop the car on the brake (Traffic lights etc) and remove your foot from the brake without the engine restarting?

Yes, put the handbrake on.

Kestrel
07-06-2016, 04:32 PM
Yes, put the handbrake on. And the gear lever...Neutral? / Park? (It'll be an automatic.)

xtremist
07-06-2016, 04:35 PM
And the gear lever...Neutral? / Park? (It'll be an automatic.)

It can be left in drive (auto), can't comment on the manual gearbox, however, i would expect it would need to be in neutral.

Kestrel
07-06-2016, 05:16 PM
It can be left in drive (auto), can't comment on the manual gearbox, however, i would expect it would need to be in neutral.
It'll be an automatic (taking delivery in September)...so...let me make sure I understand you...I come to a stop on the foot-brake, the engine stops, I leave it in drive, I put the handbrake on, I take my foot off the foot-brake, and the engine remains off. Is that how it works?

spellsinger
07-06-2016, 05:37 PM
Hi Mike, I think the engine re-start has been answered, but in answer to your question - you can remove your foot from the foot-brake without the engine starting as long as the parking/hand-brake has been engaged.

Regarding the key(s) one key is better finished than the other:

30920


One key has all-metal etched buttons and the reverse side is painted glossy with silver trim - the spare key has a plastic boot-release button and no trim, just seemed like a cost-cutting effort.

Mike

Kestrel
07-06-2016, 05:58 PM
Hi Mike, I think the engine re-start has been answered, but in answer to your question - you can remove your foot from the foot-brake without the engine starting as long as the parking/hand-brake has been engaged.

Regarding the key(s) one key is better finished than the other:

30920


One key has all-metal etched buttons and the reverse side is painted glossy with silver trim - the spare key has a plastic boot-release button and no trim, just seemed like a cost-cutting effort.

Mike

Thanks for the clarification, Mike.
Regards
Mike.

veltror
07-06-2016, 09:33 PM
Both my keys are the El Cheapo ones

spellsinger
07-06-2016, 10:34 PM
Both my keys are the El Cheapo ones

That is interesting... If I was paranoid I would say that one car from your dealership is running around with the two "better" keys.

iambu
08-06-2016, 10:49 AM
I also had my B9 supplied with two of the 'cheaper' keys as you refer to them. I have never seen the gloss-black backed keys anywhere before. I love my keys, I'm glad they match and I feel that the gloss black would show scratches easily anyway. Maybe you're the odd one out with the mis-matching keys?! Lol. I do like the silver boot release button on yours though

spellsinger
08-06-2016, 11:44 AM
I also had my B9 supplied with two of the 'cheaper' keys as you refer to them. I have never seen the gloss-black backed keys anywhere before. I love my keys, I'm glad they match and I feel that the gloss black would show scratches easily anyway. Maybe you're the odd one out with the mis-matching keys?! Lol. I do like the silver boot release button on yours though

Yep - beginning to regret mentioning the keys!! Oh well...

ILikeJam
08-06-2016, 01:50 PM
Yep - beginning to regret mentioning the keys!! Oh well...


Is it maybe the case that you got one better key with one of the options you ticked that others haven't? Keyless entry or something maybe?

I took one key and chucked the other in a drawer without checking so I'm now desperate to get home and compare them!

jangles
11-06-2016, 06:33 AM
@spellsinger good to read your post and what you had to say about your new A4. I've just (two days ago) got a new A4 TFSI S-Line S Tronic. Overall delight! Major learning experience ongoing is Audi Connect :) My previous Audi was a 2006 TDI S-Line Multitronic - truly amazing how everything has moved on in a decade, from automotive design and build to the tech.

I'll be sharing some thoughts and opinions here as I get to know the car. One neat thing - voice commands to send text messages and have Twitter posts read out to me. Very cool!

Interesting re your dashcam. I'm looking for one, too, that's unobtrusive. Which one did you get?

spellsinger
11-06-2016, 12:55 PM
...

Interesting re your dashcam. I'm looking for one, too, that's unobtrusive. Which one did you get?...

The short answer: a Rexing V1 - quite common if Googled.

The long answer: The Rexing is a cheap-brand unit, so might not appeal to some, I find the image quality more than adequate for the job it does. I primarily chose the Rexing for its shape, being wedge shaped it fits close to the top of the screen and is unobtrusive. I tried the "better" brands from a well-known accessory shop (no, don't worry I wouldn't let them install one) but the brackets meant that not only was the unit below the level of the rear-view mirror it would also sit forward of the mirror (towards the interior of the car), just looked too much in your face for my liking.

NOTE: although the unit has sockets for a GPS module, there appears to be some debate as to if these are "working" so if you want speed/GPS location don't get this - I also had to download VLC media player to playback footage, for some reason my other players image quality was poor (probably a .MOV file issue).

Regarding the wedge-shape, this pretty much has to go central as there is no left-right adjustment, height isn't a problem as the lens swivels vertically. Finally, I used my own USB cable to power it, I had lying around a power-only cable (no data-transfer) this meant the overall diameter of cable was smaller and easier to tuck behind the trim - I used a piggy-back fuse holder in the passenger-footwell fuses, if I remember it was the bank fourth from the top, it was definitely the physically smaller fuse size, I found a switched live unused socket, because the circuit was unused you need to make sure the circuit is dead when an un-fused piggy-back is in place, if not take the piggy-back out and reverse it, then replace the fuse. To tidy the cable at the camera end I bought a 90 degree Mini-USB plug so that the cable runs vertically and close to the side of the camera body.

I've attached a (not very good) picture of the cam from outside and an interior shot - the cable only looks grey because of the camera-flash:

30949

30950

Mike

jangles
12-06-2016, 08:20 AM
The short answer: a Rexing V1 - quite common if Googled

That's terrific, Mike, thanks for such a detailed note plus the pics. Looks just the job. I see a listing on Amazon UK, good reviews.

jimihat
04-07-2016, 03:07 PM
How is the fuel economy on the 2.0 Petrol auto? any teething troubles at all?
Also, and this is a serious question, why does everyone suddenly want a dashcam and what is their purpose? I'm seeing ads everywhere for them but I'm not sure what the point is. Is it just for insurance purposes?
I see bikers using them (usually whilst weaving in and out of traffic) at high speed, and most of the cyclists in London who are attempt to throw themselves under the wheels of a taxi seem to have them.

Kestrel
04-07-2016, 05:56 PM
How is the fuel economy on the 2.0 Petrol auto? any teething troubles at all?
Also, and this is a serious question, why does everyone suddenly want a dashcam and what is their purpose? I'm seeing ads everywhere for them but I'm not sure what the point is. Is it just for insurance purposes?
I see bikers using them (usually whilst weaving in and out of traffic) at high speed, and most of the cyclists in London who are attempt to throw themselves under the wheels of a taxi seem to have them.

Well, Auto Express has just added a 2.0 TFSI 190 S Line S tronic to their fleet. They reckon they're only getting 34.4 mpg. Make of that what you will!
Regarding the Dashcam, I've been toying with the idea for ages...but cant find a reason to go for it...especially as I hate trailing wires, I'm not competent to `plumb it in` and they dont seem to make one battery powered. So I expect I'll just do without!

spellsinger
04-07-2016, 10:10 PM
Dashcam - Well I agree about no trailing wires, urghh - the only visible wires I have are from the cam to the start of the roof-lining, about 8cm and not noticable, then connected to the fusebox in the footwell. Do I need it probably not, but cheap enough and might be the difference between a "he-said, she-said" type argument.

I got about 43mpg from London to Devon @ 63mph/225 miles, typical M25/M4/M5 etc. - around town probably mid to high twenties mpg (for what it is worth - mine is the more powerful of the two 2.0 petrol engines and on 18" wheels), I am happy but I don't do a great mileage (around 7k per year) - I haven't yet checked the accuracy of the fuel computer, the 43mpg was calculated the old-fashioned way.

Teething troubles - no, other than iPod album art is flaky, has a tendency to display generic or from (and usually wrong) the Gracenote database - the database can be pulled from online but apparently is also built into the car and can't be switched off. Ironically the best iPod for working is the Classic. I complained to Audi they blamed Apple!

Mike

bluebarchetta
05-07-2016, 09:29 PM
How is the fuel economy on the 2.0 Petrol auto? any teething troubles at all?
Also, and this is a serious question, why does everyone suddenly want a dashcam and what is their purpose? I'm seeing ads everywhere for them but I'm not sure what the point is. Is it just for insurance purposes?
I see bikers using them (usually whilst weaving in and out of traffic) at high speed, and most of the cyclists in London who are attempt to throw themselves under the wheels of a taxi seem to have them.

41.7MPG from my 2.0 TFSI S ironic over 2,100 miles

jimihat
06-07-2016, 08:11 AM
41.7MPG from my 2.0 TFSI S ironic over 2,100 miles

Thanks, that's pretty decent!

spellsinger
06-07-2016, 11:56 AM
41.7MPG from my 2.0 TFSI S ironic over 2,100 miles

Is that the 190 or 252 engine? Pretty good though.

bluebarchetta
16-07-2016, 04:41 PM
Sorry for the delay - it's the 190.