Opinions - A8 4.2 Petrol or TDI?

[Mcobinad]

I think Autotrader and Pistonheads are comparable, they just tend to focus on different markets, pistonheads has loads of performance cars, less on luxury, Autotrader has less performance and more of everything else. It pays to check every source.

On the options, mine has the solar sunroof, which is an interesting option, in bright sunlight it powers the fans to keep the car cool. But I never find much reason to open the sunroof, it just messes up the AirCon.

Having the right options is important to me, I love toys in cars, but its less important to some people, I'd wait months to get the right one, because its really difficult to retrofit options that you want, but lots of people don't even know what their car has.

Some of the options you mention are probably standard on W12s, e.g. double glazing, folding mirrors, paddles. I'm not bothered about homelink, its very rare, and I just put my remote garage fob in the door pocket and press it there

Don't know that an Audi dealer is any better than any reputable dealer, I bought mine from Oscar Goldman, an audi specialist, but not a main dealer. He really knows his A8s, that seems to be all he sells. It was a 400 mile round trip to look at the car, but worth it.

Thanks for the quick reply. You have a good option regarding the solar sunroof which i didn't have on my previous A8. You see, i searched carefully to get an A8 with a solar sunroof but to no avail whereas the standard A8 D3 in France all come with solar sunroofs. I think because the weather in the UK is not as clement as the one in France. The reason people tend to go for cars without with the exception of fews who remember that summer exists.

There is no rush at the moment for a car. Disappointment was the result for being impatient with my previous A8. It's good news to know that some of the options i did mention above are mostly standard on W12s. Am someone who loves to retrofit gadgets, toys etc. They cost an arm and a leg to fit and waiting for the right spec one will be reasonable. My future projects will be to retrofit AMI if it hasn't got one, IPAD entertainment for my twin boys , Audi telephone conversion to bluetooth, MMI update to 3D(Bird-view), S8 06 front bumper + Foglight mesh (Aggressive look), 2008 Led rear light, W12 2009 horizontal frontal grill. I have actually priced up these items at an Audi ******* and they are quoting me £2000. But they will offer me 20% discount. I think Richter Sport does the AMI retrofit. I have the intention of keeping this car 4 to 5 years hence the reason for all the necessary toys. The more i wait, the more i dream and say but ONEDAY!

[Micha_elD]

I've done a few upgrades, and have a few more on their way. So far have installed MMI 5570, 3D maps, Reversing Camera, and towbar. Also removed the 155mph limit, and unlocked the TV to work at any speed up to 250mph!

Everything I use for upgrading is genuine Audi, but often using secondhand parts to keep the price manageable

These are really good cars to work on, everything is so well engineered

[Mcobinad]

I've done a few upgrades, and have a few more on their way. So far have installed MMI 5570, 3D maps, Reversing Camera, and towbar. Also removed the 155mph limit, and unlocked the TV to work at any speed up to 250mph!

Everything I use for upgrading is genuine Audi, but often using secondhand parts to keep the price manageable

These are really good cars to work on, everything is so well engineered

Did you add the reversing camera or is it the Audi parking system plus? For your MMI update, do you do it by yourself or do you pay a professional to do it for you? When i did the MMI update 3D map 5570, i travelled to Hatfield Audi to catch up with Craigby of Manchester for the update although i paid £160.00 for it. The thing is that most people who own an A8 will do most things for themselves to save money. Am not just that type of person. I prefer a professional who knows what he's doing to handle it than do it by myself and worsen matters. I would love to do these modifications by myself but am afraid of the later consequences if things go wrong. I have a friend who did a Cambelt change by himself whereas i paid MK Audi £1020 to do it for me. Audi will always exaggerate matters by telling you that it's a 3 hours job to dismantle the front end before gaining access to the interior. These are things i want to learn to do by myself in order to curtail expenses. This is why expenses become colossal in the long run.

[Micha_elD]

I added the genuine Audi reversing camera that became available from 2007 onwards, it involved a number of new modules and new rear handle etc. plus updating the MMI. Quite a big job

The MMI upgrade I did myself, the discs cost about £3.50 from Audi, ridiculously cheap, but the service engineer did bring them out to me to ask if I really knew what I was doing with the discs.

If CraigyB charged you £160, that would have been for the 3d Satnav disc, they are very expensive from Audi, mine was secondhand from ebay.

I'm an IT person, so understand what is involved in firmware upgrades, and feel comfortable doing all the electronics. I can do the mechanical stuff too, but don't bother, actually, the car has never needed anything apart from normal servicing, but if the job is likely to be cold and dirty, then someone else can do it!

[Mcobinad]

@Micha_elD,

Thank you for the precise piece of information. Please can you tell me the cost of a year's tax on the W12? Does it have a frugal consumption compared to it's younger brother the classic 4.2?

[Micha_elD]

The road tax is probably the same as the 4.2, which is £420. Seems a lot, but my 1st year tax on the Aston was £950! ouch

I don't know about the fuel consumption, but its likely to be very poor, which is why the W12 depreciates so fast. The 4.2 averages about 20 on a 8 mile trip to work, but its the accelerating that uses fuel on these heavy cars, so on a motorway its almost 30, the average since I bought the car is 22.

[Mcobinad]

The 4.2 averages about 20 on a 8 mile trip to work,

Is it pretty good to average 20MPG on a 8 mile trip to work or is it excessive? I noticed that when i travelled long distances on the the motor way Mk to Dover & Calais to Paris, i fill up the car once until i get to France and i still have petrol left. But when i use the car around town, i keep filling up every 3 days

[Micha_elD]

The worst it ever does is a cold start, 1.5 mile round trip to the shops. Then it show 8mpg! I try to walk for that journey now ...

Cold starts and acceleration are the thing that uses fuel on these cars, running at a steady speed, anywhere between about 50 - 80, it seems to do around 30mpg, but go into town and traffic lights, roundabouts, and slow drivers really cost.

Slow drivers are becoming a real problem, they go at 30mph in a 60 limit, because their car is economical at that speed, but the Audi won't go into 6th gear until it reaches about 45mph, so anything below 45 is wasting time and money.

[tonywilliams]

The road tax is probably the same as the 4.2, which is £420. Seems a lot, but my 1st year tax on the Aston was £950! ouch

I don't know about the fuel consumption, but its likely to be very poor, which is why the W12 depreciates so fast. The 4.2 averages about 20 on a 8 mile trip to work, but its the accelerating that uses fuel on these heavy cars, so on a motorway its almost 30, the average since I bought the car is 22.

That's pretty impressive, I average about 22-25mpg round town and about 40mpg on long runs with the 4.0tdi, makes me wonder if the tdi was worth the extra money, I've also had to sacrafice the nice petrol v8 pur.

Slow drivers are becoming a real problem, they go at 30mph in a 60 limit, because their car is economical at that speed, but the Audi won't go into 6th gear until it reaches about 45mph, so anything below 45 is wasting time and money.

I agree with you totally, I seem to spend so much time stuck behind them which means I spend more on fuel then I want to even in a tdi.

[fourwh33ldrive]

Hi I'm just wanting to let you know that we had a 2003 A8 4.2 petrol and was the best car I'd ever had. If I could afford another one I'd have the exact same but change colour. We took her all around Europe and she just purred like a kitten without missing a beat. As with most Audi's she did use a wee drop oil, but I'm told they're designed this way. I managed to average over 4500 miles journey a return of 25mpg, and I can tell you over there I wasn't hanging around!!! They a just beutiful cars to look at, and when she was all polished up an clean she turned heads too, coz you can't really miss them coz of the amount of presence on the road they have. As for power she could certainly move when asked and sounded superb too, although because of the double glazed side windows and all the rest of the sound proofing you really had to give gas to hear her too, which I'm sure is a better sound for those outside as your driving past them..! Overall tho we did encounter some electrical issues, which Audi sorted out under warranty back then, and this was a few years ago mind. Also because of the electric motorised handbrake I got into the habit of not using it too much, which resuted in it requiring rear discs, pads, caliper, and motor, so if you did eventually buy one top tip, use the handbrake all the time to keep it moving, more so in the summer when it's dry. Apart from all that she was an amazing motor, and well worth the pennies that cost to drive her around, in absolute sheer comfort and style. Hope this helps mate.