Now you've actually got one....

[RichardCranium]

What do you think? What are your likes and dislikes?

Had mine for just over a week, done about 600 miles, washed it twice and waxed it. What do I think? Not a lot to fault to be honest.

Like the way it looks, drives, and handles. feels much bigger than my previous car, but soon got used to it. The pedal offset bothers me a bit, and the foot rest did for a while but used to it now. Missing cruise control but geting that fit on Tuesday. My main regret is not getting better wheels. The std SE ones are Ok, but others are nicer.

Stereo doesnt sound as good as the one in my Volvo but loving the SD card idea!

[moptisam2]

I am picking mine up on Saturday.

I have gone for the 6 spoke wheels at just £100 more.

I wanted the 5 spoke but refused to pay an extra 500 or 600.

[volmmer]

Had mine since Thursday. Compared to the Peugeot 207 I had before it's a dream machine. Absolutely silent, sits glued to the road, plenty of response from the "small" 1.8t engine. I had 150HP in the 207, and somehow it didn't feel nearly as powerful as the A4. This bearing in mind that I try to keep the rpms in the Audi under 3000 the first 1000km as the user manual states. I'm really looking forward to put the pedal to the metal after 1500km.

The multitronic is something very special. Can't imagine how I've lived without it in the past :Blush: Driving has just become so much more relaxing.

With the MMI there is almost no end to the customisation of the car. Very nice for gadget freaks.

With the 30mm drop the car sits extremely low. Being over 1.90 this needed some getting used to as you're almost sitting with your Xss on the asphalt. But the sporty stance, look of the car, and the driving with the harder suspension makes up for this

and another thing... the respect you get from your fellow drivers on the highways is another bonus. In the peugeot there was always someone looking to race you, or trying to pressure you away from the fastlane. In the Audi you're the one in charge. People keep their distance and when overtaking the only thing you get is admiring glances.

Guys (and girls) with S-lines on order... prepare to be amazed

[browellm]

A few from me:

The TDi 140 is deliciously smooth and quiet. Not rapid, but unhurried progress. Smooth gearchanges are easy too.

We all love the SD card function (of course). B&O is very nice.

The AC is as good as I had in my 5 series. Set and forget. Top marks.

Kudos to Audi, the standard 7-spoke 17" wheels on the SE look the part. Unlike the 16" equivalent on 3-Series which are a joke imo.

Big, fat wing mirrors. I like 'em!

Phone integration is a revelation. I love it.

Economy is good, I already average 47.8mpg from the first 1500 miles. I'd expect this to rise as I go, it has in the other diesels I've owned from new.


This would have been a perfect car if the sat-nav option wasn't such a daft price.

[alexcf]

Loving the car, just having to get used to the length, and basically the distances at which the sensors beep!

Does anyone find that their boot lid opens really violently? Mine seems to bounce at the top, and from it doing that, my sodding number plate is getting unstuck!

My colleagues Passat is really smooth, so is that a hydrolics issue do you think?

Also, I've noticed that the clutch on the 3.0tdi feels very jumpy and not very smooth when reversing...

[RichardCranium]

You are right about the boot lid Alex. It flies up, and then bounces at the top as you say. If you stand too close, you could get a nasty injury!

Another thing I've noticed recently is that I like to ahve the seat set fairly low, but by doing this the view of the very bottom of instrument panel is almost out of site, even for someone of average height like myself. Guess i'll have to get used to sitting a tad higher, thats all.

Enjoying the head turning of passers by though:D

[alexcf]

Heh, my dad took it out for a spin to Waitrose as he picked me up on the way... Just as we left, couple of girls clocked the car, looked away, then did a double take at the LED lights... Love it ;)

[AndyH123]

My number plate fell off too! :)


I have only one very minor niggle with my car now, and I think its to do with the electric lumbar in the sport seats. Occasionally when pulling away I can feel something 'click into place' behind my back.


Thanks to peeps here my only other grumble has been rectified - I now have my digital speedo when Sat Nav'ing (daft - 'reset' button for cycling round what the centre display shows) - I can't live without it now.


So, comments on the 2.0 TDI - its so smooth, that's the one thing everybody says - "very smooth". Gear changes are usually un-noticeable (driver error otherwise! :) ) and the pull through 2nd gear is so addictive. I suspect that's having a small impact on my mpg. Car says 44.8 average over 3,600 miles and my best tank is about 580miles to date. Still a little nervous about where 'fumes' is so I haven't pushed it.


I had cruise retro-fitted and that's an improvement over my previous Mazda (except Mazda had the controls on the wheel, the stick is a little awkward on the A4) - you can go down to 30 and do gear changes without it complaining / cancelling.

[kevspi]

My Audi B7 is in for service today so I have a B8 2.0TDI SE for the day. My initial impression was that it seemed a little slower and less torguey than my experiences with the last 2.0tdi in the old model, but after a few miles i realised that it was just much more refined so it appeared like it was going a lot slower than it actually was. The power delivery has been smoothed out over the rev range instead of all at very low revs. It feels like a car from several catagories higher to drive. You can really throw it around the corners.

A note on my service of my current car (final one before i pick up new B8 next month). Audi called me to ask if it was ok to proceed with £1200 worth of work, including a new timing belt, new brake pads and new tyres. Now without even trying hard I managed to get the lady to drop the price by £170. We have several Audi's here which are company owned. A collegue had 4 new tyres last week and was charged £71 each inc. vat. They tried to charge me £82 for the same tyre a week later. The belt change droped from £570 to £520, just becuase i said it was expensive! Audi need to get on top of their pricing structure as its coming across very unprofessional to companies and private buyers alike.

[browellm]

Good point about the cruise control. This is the first system I have ever used that will physically brake the car in order to maintain the set speed on steep downhills.

I have had a Merc (auto) that used engine braking, and a 5 series (auto), that didn't bother trying at all.

Very impressive overall.

[AndyH123]

Good point about the cruise control. This is the first system I have ever used that will physically brake the car in order to maintain the set speed on steep downhills.

I have had a Merc (auto) that used engine braking, and a 5 series (auto), that didn't bother trying at all.

Very impressive overall.


Took me a little by surprise too! You get the same effect if you rapidly drop the set speed with rapid down nudges.

Anyone know if the brake lights come on when this happens?

[HotChip]

Here's my two cents, in no particular order.

Foot pedals: took a bit of adjustment but amazing how quickly you get used to it.

Boot lid: automatic opening kicks like a mule!! Pre-warn your golfing buddies as they retrieve their golf clubs!!!

SD card: pure magic, although I look forward to being able to use an 8GB in my B9!!

Reversing sensors: I expected the solid tone to come when I was inches from the car behind, but it's a good two feet away!!

Sunglasses holder: impresses the kids every time! (Do it again daddy...again).

Phone prep low: Crap, didn't get it as an option! Wish I had though, sounds like a great feature.

Car overall: Fast, smooth, solid, gorgeous. A great buy.

Hope you all enjoy yours.

HotChip

[browellm]

Took me a little by surprise too! You get the same effect if you rapidly drop the set speed with rapid down nudges.

Anyone know if the brake lights come on when this happens?

I would bloody well hope so :biglaugh:

[alexcf]

I got the Phone Prep High, which is great... When there's two of us in the car who've got the phones paired, they seem to work it out...

Yeah, I hope the brake lights come on, otherwise I'd be mega worried! I do like the way if you hold the lever up and down it jumps 5mph up and 5mph down...

The electric memory seats are great, especially with advanced key. By the time I've opened the door and ready to sit down, the seats and mirrors have adjusted themselves.

Glove box is a bit small tho :(

[RichardCranium]

Glove box is a bit small tho :(

Small? Crikey, I take it you've never had a Volvo then? My last car was an 05 S40. The glove box was big enough to fit.... well a pair of gloves, and thats about it.

[Satch]

5000 miles up now, still loving it.

[BMWBig6]

5000 miles up now, still loving it.

Hi Satch, did you ever get any more high res photos hosted online?

[alexcf]

I've put some online of mine,

http://photos.cruz.co.uk/v/AudiA4-01/

[BMWBig6]

I've put some online of mine,

http://photos.cruz.co.uk/v/AudiA4-01/

Wow, that is definitely "high res." Your interior shots are life size on my monitor!

[B6Andy101]

This is really gonna bug people following you down hill when the brake lights keep going on and off. You know what its like following a HGV with speed govenor

[Chancerworld]

:mad: i have an A4 and after 1K miles its got an oil leak and has been off the road with the dealer for 14 days, because they cant find the fault. Anyone else had a similiar problem yet?

[stephenclark49]

:aargh4::aargh4:My wife and I just purchased an A4 2.0T S-Line. We love the way it handles and the sporty look. We are use to the 1991 Volvo 740 so the Audi seems like a space ship to us.

The minor gripe that we have is the lack of info. in the owners manual. We have been going crazy trying to get the SD card to play music. According to this site, we have been informed that SD cards work, not SDHC. (OOOPS)! We are curious to see if it will work tomorrow. I will get the 2 gig SD and give it a try!

Thanks for the info!

Stephenclark49

[stephenclark49]

:mad: i have an A4 and after 1K miles its got an oil leak and has been off the road with the dealer for 14 days, because they cant find the fault. Anyone else had a similiar problem yet?


I hope that this is the only problem that you encounter! My friend has a 2002 A4 1.8T with no problems.

My brother is a mechanic and told me that we should not encounter any problems with the engine. He told me that it will hold up like our 91 Volvo. We just gave that away 3 weeks ago and it still runs great!

You might want to check and see if your VIN starts with a W. If it does, it is 100% German. My sister in law works for a VW dealer and told me that there are some Chinese and Mexican made Audis. She would know as she is the parts manager.

stephenclark49

[onemanparty]

You might want to check and see if your VIN starts with a W. If it does, it is 100% German. My sister in law works for a VW dealer and told me that there are some Chinese and Mexican made Audis. She would know as she is the parts manager.

stephenclark49

You right about the Chinese and Mexican Audi's but not for the UK!!! Audi's for Europe are built in 4 Factories based on Europe 1 in Belgium (A3) , 2 in Germany (A3,,A4, A5, A6, A8, Q7, Q5 R8 & the shell of the TT) and 1 in Hungary (TT).

[Red 2]

And they're also making RH B8 A4s in India now.....but not for the UK.

[jakerade]

I love my new car but....

1. All windows creak when going over bumps on damp days - need to send the car in to get them adjusted

2. Boot struts failed on delivery - shot the Avant lid straight up with no damping - replaced under warranty

3. Engine fan went through a stage of staying on for a while

4. Only averaging 37mpg in a 170 TDi and i'm driving it relatively carefully. Got it up to 47 on one journey but that was really painful.

5. Drivers seat base sometime creaks

6. Clutch pedal sometimes creaks

7. Whats the fix for the digital speedo when on sat nav?

8. SDS is rubbish. Sometimes trys to store a name when you say "select name" and you try saving two people with similar first names! It just says the entry already exists.

I am also convinced that the build quality or materials used are not as good as on the B7. If I sit in the car while parked on a high street you can hear every word passing people say which makes me think there is not as much insulation in the doors or the glass is thinner! Its almost like the window is open.

I also find that anything left in the door pockets eg a roll of insulating tape, rattles which reinforces the above statement. I had tonnes of rubbish in my B7 and never noticed it.

On the fuel economy front I am also convinced that whilst the "combined" figures are rising and the CO2 emissions are falling, this is at the expense of real world fuel economy. I managed to massage 500 miles out of the tank which got it down to 5m until empty and it took 61 Litres (13.42 Gallons) making an average of 37.3 MPG which quite frankly is crap!

[markp306]

Approaching 3000 miles now: I really do like this car more and more everytime I drive it. Audi's engineers really seem to have created a well-sorted platform. It is so much better than the A4 cabriolet I had before this and also the awful A6 S-line I had whilst the B8 was off the road for a couple of weeks. My shortlist included pre facelift A6, Passat and Legacy. I think the B8 was the right choice! ;)

I haven't achieved any fantastic economy figures yet. I can just about get the urban figure (42mpg) as a journey average, but then I do more urban driving than motorway. The overall figure on computer 2 was mid-thirties last time I looked.

If I was ordering now? I would order quattro, which I do miss, and Xenons which weren't actually available on the SE at build time. Like others in the forum, I also missed out on phone prep in favour of a symphony radio (which I assume is just the 6-CD in dash changer), especially as I am making good use of the AUX input for the ipod! Everytime I look at the 'Tel' button....

[jon_iz]

I've now had mine a little over a month...
it's now done just under 3500 miles. It's been run in gently and is now loosening up nicely.
It's returning 44~47mpg on longer runs to work (Crewe to Accrington).
Can't fault it - very pleased...
:-)

[AndyH123]

7. Whats the fix for the digital speedo when on sat nav?




That one I can at least help with!

Push the 'reset' button under the right hand stalk a couple of times. That should cycle you through the various display options and get you back to digital speedo when nav'ing.

Strange, but I'm just happy it's possible!

[jakerade]

will give it a whirl - thanks!

Jake