Imagination? BiTdi exhaust sounding 'better' after 300 miles

[ukgroucho]

I set up the Drive Select on my Allroad BiTdi to be "Auto" everything except the engine sound - which I set to dynamic (V8 soundtrack )

I did notice that it did not seem as 'loud' or 'grumbly' as the A7 BiTdi that I test drove but put that down to me being a bit reserved with the throttle.

It's taken a while for me to get some miles on the car 'cos I was out of the country on business for 2 weeks after I took delivery, I managed 120 miles on the first day and have been adding 30 or 40 miles a day since I got back at the weekend. Anyway, I went out for a potter about at lunchtime and I think the exhaust note has 'improved'.. hard to explain. Car has just crossed over the 300 mile mark.

I'm wondering whether the speaker in the exhaust 'breaks in'. This is a phenomenon that is much debated but largely acknowledged as 'true' in the audiophile community. The basic idea is that the suspension parts of a speaker (the things which hold the driver etc.) loosen up a bit over the first hours / days of use resulting in crisper response, better bass tones and more defined high notes.
Now the heart of the active exhaust on the BiTDi is a speaker - although I've no idea how it is constructed or whether speaker 'break in' applies...

Anyone else with a BiTdi noticed any difference in exhaust sound after some time driving?

[EvilPostIt]

I think its really hard to tell to be honest as the sound is outside the car. I have noticed being in more enclosed environments makes a huge difference too. Like for example multi-storey car parks...

[ukgroucho]

Understand EvilPostIt but I do think I have noticed a bit of a difference, the exhaust sound seems a bit more noticeable inside the car - although still not intrusive. Maybe it is my imagination or maybe my hearing is better (I did bring back a nasty flu bug from my business trip to India and am only just getting over it).

Anyway just checking around to see what other folks have observed (or not).

A few side comments on the BiTdi engine.
My Audi dealer said "don't bother to run it in"... I can see the argument, in real terms even if you drive normally you're very very quickly at or above any speed limit (in the UK). However, I have always given my cars some running in time so I'm being a bit careful about not using full power or exceeding 2000 to 2500 RPM
I'm astonished how quick the car is even keeping it under 2000 RPM - either by careful throttle management (to prevent kickdown, lift off at 2000 a tad to upshift) or shifting manually to allow a little more throttle. Gonna definitely need to watch speeds and speed limits.

The 8 speed box is lovely, silky smooth - auto shifts you (mostly) hardly notice and manual shifts are streets ahead of my old C6 A6 Tiptronic - much faster smoother changes. The only minor grumble is that sometimes it's a little harsh dropping into 1st when pulling away at junctions after you have stopped... nothing I'd worry about and I suspect maybe something to do with the gearbox being able to engage a neutral of sorts when it needs to and having to drop out of that when you apply throttle.
EDIT: OK I just went for another drive... part of this jerkiness is the auto brake disengaging (I'd really like to switch that off if possible) but I also see it turning into side roads very slowly where it decides 1st is the right gear... not a biggie but an observation, maybe will smooth out with more miles on gearbox etc.

Economy looks good - although I've not driven any of the standard routes I used to use in my old car - I can see that it is still going to be significantly better than the old 3.0 TDi Quattro

[Bash D Bishop]

Unless you are planning on keeping the car until it has done more than 100k miles (or even more) then your gentleness is only likely to benefit a future owner. In saying that modern cars don't need running in. Enjoy your car and bury your right foot.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using Tapatalk 2

[ukgroucho]

Unless you are planning on keeping the car until it has done more than 100k miles (or even more) then your gentleness is only likely to benefit a future owner. In saying that modern cars don't need running in. Enjoy your car and bury your right foot.

Understood... and I have the same thoughts - although I do tend to keep my cars for a while but unlikely 100k. Enjoying getting used to it, aware that I need to adjust to the (much) greater performance than my old C6 3.0 TDi and also want to try to keep my clean driving license that way
I'm no newbie to fast machines (I rode 1000cc+ motorcycles for over 20 years) but also painfully aware of the prevalence of speed cameras that lack a sense of what is reasonable for the conditions.

[Steve Wagstaff]

I've noticed the jerkiness in changedown at low speed 3rd/2nd sometimes but definately from 2nd to 1st - quite noticeable at times, especially when you start waiting for it :-). Kickdown slow to engage - so as with everyone else I flick back lever into 'S' mode and then manual down one more if I need 'warp speed'. It's certaily a flying machine and I can still get 50mpg on my 65miles motorway trip to work. how good's that! I have all my car settings to 'Comfort' and the Exhaust on 'Dynamic'. I've not noticed any real change in exhaust tone, although people have commented that it's 'awesome' - one coming from a 5.0. RangeRoverSuperCharger driver!