Decision time - Is quattro necessary for me on the Avant?

[uservii]

Hi there,

I'm one of the lurchers on this site who has found the site invaluable these past weeks and months as I have antagonised over what car to plump for in our quest for an upgrade. Thank you to you all for all of the incredible information you guys share with us, all of it so very useful.

Anyway, thanks to your help I have now reached a decision that it will be the A6 Avant SE for me with just a couple of extras to boot (Tech pack, lighting, advanced key and reversing camera), I am close to ordering however the last point I am trying to decide is, whether I can justify the extra spend onthe baseline quattro model, that would see me stretching my budget by a further c.£60 more per month

I appreciate there are lots of threads on the wonders of Audi's AWD and how many people's response will be "if it's not quattro, it's not a proper Audi" or that without it I just won't be safe. However, bare with me, my situation is this:

- I will be going for automatic transmission, but without quattro it would just be the 2.0 multitronic for me (though this is changing to s tronic with Ultra I believe), I would only stretch to 3.0 engine for quattro
- I live in the city centre but do a mix of urban and motorway driving, however the amount of motorway driving will drop over the next year and it will be mainly city driving
- I occasionally go up North to see family, however my current car (a FWD hatchback) has proved adequate in all conditions to date including in the winter for this without any real off road or treacherous driving required

Therefore my questions for you are:

1. Will a 3.0 204 quattro be an unnecessary expense that is wasted on me?
2. Is the s tronic gearbox worth holding out for over the multitronic, even on the 2.0 TDI?
3. MPG is purely individual, but seeing as though the 2.0 multitronic comes in for stick on this - Will shifting to a 3.0 quattro actually not diminish my fuel efficiency all that much v. a 2.0 multitronic?

If you have made it this far, well done! As you might tell, I am not really a connoisseur of driving and the subtleties of a quattro may well be lost on me, but with the multitronic seemingly on the way out and the added 'grip' that the quattro brings is it worth it?

Any insight hugely appreciated.
Thanks

[zollaf]

get the quattro.
you can justify this by this : do you want to tell your friends you own an 'audi', or an 'audi quattro' ?

[Wuffles]

I'd go for the quattro over the 2.0 Multitronic if I had my time again, was put off by the fuel economy figures in the brochure but as you know, that's written by someone with a more vivid imagination than Dan Brown.

The multitronic in real world is fine most of the time, delicate manoeuvres can be a trial, but that's perhaps just me (I don't drive it much any more, I have a habit of breaking bits of it). No experience of the S Tronic, but imagine it's more like the DSG boxes on the VW range.

I'm waffling now, suffice to say, why not go for the quattro?

[Whippy53]

This may come across as a biased view but I love the multitronic. It's smooth and responsive, and enables you to waft when you want to. The 2.0lt lump is quite quick, yes more power equals more fun but the smaller lump is adequate. Road holding? Mine never feels like It's gonna let go even when I push.

I know that a lot of responses will say Quattro or die but you pays yer money etc. It's all a bit of a trade off in the end. Drive both and make your own mind up.

[wja96]

I have the 204PS allroad and it's a great combination of engine and gearbox.

The Multitronic has had LOTS of issues in the past and the new S-tronic in the Ultra is actually the old 6-speed S-tronic which is the one everyone has all the problems with while the 7-speeder seems pretty bullet-proof. What's quattro worth? Every time I drive through standing water on the motorway I KNOW that the car will power through it. I know I can pull away at a junction and the car will GO with no drama or wheel spin. And on snowy or icy days I'll be moving where some others won't be (but that's probably more to do with winter tyres than quattro).

If you can afford the 204PS with the 7-speed S-tronic then I'd have to say go for it. It's also pretty economical. I get a genuine 42-45 on a tight engine and that's pretty close to the official 45MPG. I've yet to meet anyone with the 2.0 TDi who is happy with the fuel economy. I'm utterly convinced that the 2.0l is only just enough to move the A6 the way most A6 drivers want it to, whereas the 3.0l has just enough in reserve to do it and be economical with it.

[uservii]

I have the 204PS allroad and it's a great combination of engine and gearbox.

I'm utterly convinced that the 2.0l is only just enough to move the A6 the way most A6 drivers want it to, whereas the 3.0l has just enough in reserve to do it and be economical with it.

wja96, thanks for the input this point you make is one that I have pondered too - is 2.0 enough for a hunk of car like the A6?

Wuffles, Whippy - Thank you also - good to hear both sides. I know that the actual quoted figures are purely a benchmarker and not the real world - just thinking if the 3.0 quattro might actually manage to be closer to its official figure than the multitronic.

I've never driven a DSG before (due to go out in the s tronic quattro this week though) - Are they generally a bit more juddery than a multitronic, or for someone of my driving perception will I think them both equally smooth?

[Whippy53]

Huh? No drama here! and I can get 47mpg on a run without breaking into a sweat.

[uservii]

Fair dos! Glad to hear it can return decent figures.

[Whippy53]

One thing I would urge, and that is take a look at the spine, lots more bang for your buck, nicer interior and good handling. Just my two pennies worth.

[Wuffles]

wja96, thanks for the input this point you make is one that I have pondered too - is 2.0 enough for a hunk of car like the A6?

Wuffles, Whippy - Thank you also - good to hear both sides. I know that the actual quoted figures are purely a benchmarker and not the real world - just thinking if the 3.0 quattro might actually manage to be closer to its official figure than the multitronic.

The manuals can get reasonably close (give or take 10mpg) to the quoted figures, the multis are WAY out*, which was annoying as the comparison figures of the multi and manual put them about the same. Even more annoyingly the 3.0 figures were set much lower than the 2.0 and it seems in real life this is completely wrong. This was the brochure at the time we were buying which was some time ago now, no idea if they've fixed that error.

*apart from Whippy, he's driving his car jammed to the rafters with helium.