A6 2.0 tdi or 3.0tdi Avant

[Chesterfield313]

I get about 470 miles out of a tank in my BiTdi. Admittedly there's quite a bit of motorway driving in that, but the rest I'm driving it like I should . In my previous 2 litre, doing similar miles I got round 540. So, even at 25,000 miles a year, filling up once a week it only costs me about £10 a week, or £500 a year. The cost of the car might come into it, but the fuel difference doesn't.

Hardly worth worrying about and with the quattro offering 60/40 power distribution to the rear against fwd I know what I'd choose.

[belly buster]

At risk of turning into another mpg thread, my 245PS gives me between 40 and 45 mpg and I rarely get less than 600 miles on a tank (75l). However this assumes a lot of motorway miles; around town on short hops the mpg drops quite a bit. The 2.0 multis seem to suffer from poor mpg although the Ultra is better.

So ignore the mpg and just look at the initial purchase cost differential of the 2l vs 3l (which is considerable btw) to judge your decision.

Then buy the 3L

[Whippy53]

If you can afford to buy and run it, buy a three ltr, you won't regret it.

[RobGriff]

Thanks guys. My journey is 14 miles each way. Into work is country roads for the first 7 and then belfast traffic. Coming home it's motorway. Because of this I reckon neither the 2.0 or 3.0 will give me huge mpg so I might as well drive what I like. As for car costs, I'm looking at an 2011/12 car so the difference is small.

[Whippy53]

Good man.

[asr]

I went from an A5 Coupe 3.0Tdi Quattro to an A6 Saloon. Being very impressed with the Quattro and winter tyres I knew that I wanted another quattro. With the A6 the mpg has increased getting an extra hundred miles per tank, the A6 is also a 3.0Tdi Quattro, both cars were automatic and the same age. The coupe was only run on BP Ultimate diesel, the saloon has every other tank of ultimate (Staff discount, I work for the oil company). My driving style hasn't changed and my commute is the same 28miles country roads and 7 miles dual carriage way.

For me the big factor was wanting Quattro as I live in the North East of Scotland but not wanting a large SUV. The 3.0Tdi is a cracking engine, quiet when cruising but sounds nice if booted and good responses. If I was commuting in a city down South, I am not sure I would go for the 3.0Tdi though. Would be hard to justify.

[ukgroucho]

I disagree, they are tested in identical conditions so are definitely relevant. What isn't relevant is you comparing your mpg to someone else's on here. You could live somewhere flat and he could live in the Pennines. You might drive sensibly, he might drive flat out everywhere. You might do half your mileage on the motorway, he might do all his in town in stop start traffic. Whatever the circumstances no two people on here will have the same driving style, drive the same places and at the same speed. In the manufacturers tests they do. So they might not be accurate, but they are relevant against each other.

It is the same argument as tyres. Tyre wear can range from 10,000 to 30,000 miles on the same car with the same tyres, depending on where and how you drive.

And just to reinforce... I am giving a direct comparison between what I got in my previous C6 3.0TDi quattro avant (~220 bhp) and my BiTdi allroad (309bhp). My driving 'mix' is very similar - quite a bit of country roads, shortish trips with occasional longer motorway runs. The outright power of the BiTdi when you want it is impressive - and the fact that it is 15% + more economical than my C6 is a big bonus.

My suggestion would be to find a 245 bhp quattro to test. Either that or a 204 bhp allroad - although there may not be any old enough for your budget but that is the 'oldest' 204 quattro you will find (S-tronic box and quattro, they released that for the non-allroads a bit later).

[Passatier3]

The way manufacturers report mpg has been done to death on here. All follow the same set of rules, tested in perfect conditions. You shouldn't expect to get what they report, no car does. They are still relevant though, as comparing reported figures from one car to another still works, as they are all tested in the same conditions.

I wish people would stop hammering manufacturers to get their mpg figures right and test in real driving conditions. If they do that you will also get real emmissions figures, much worse than now. You will then pay hundreds of pounds a year for the accuracy, through increased road tax and benefit in kind, if a company car, as they are all emmissions related. Be careful what you wish for!

Much of the discussion was though, as regards the 2.0 litre diesel, that when comparing real world use against the test results for the manual v Multitronic for which the test fuel consumption figures were very similar, the real world figures were found to be closer to the test figures for the manual whereas those for the Multitronic were significantly worse.

So manufacturers figures don't always provide a useful comparison.

Hence one of the reasons, and I guess the major one, for the change from Multitronic to S-tronic.

[Splash]

And just to reinforce... I am giving a direct comparison between what I got in my previous C6 3.0TDi quattro avant (~220 bhp) and my BiTdi allroad (309bhp). My driving 'mix' is very similar - quite a bit of country roads, shortish trips with occasional longer motorway runs. The outright power of the BiTdi when you want it is impressive - and the fact that it is 15% + more economical than my C6 is a big bonus.

My suggestion would be to find a 245 bhp quattro to test. Either that or a 204 bhp allroad - although there may not be any old enough for your budget but that is the 'oldest' 204 quattro you will find (S-tronic box and quattro, they released that for the non-allroads a bit later).

My C6 245 PS allroad Sp Ed. gets at least what you're getting on your C7 313 i.e. 37-40 MPG. I've suggested it as, like you have pointed out, the typical C7 candidates are not quite "in the sights" and I'm likely to be selling my C6 soon. It's not too far away from RobGriff to test, and I'm sure you can confirm it looked tidy when you (and, I think Passatier3?) last saw it. (Still is).

Just floating an idea before I take the plunge...

[ukgroucho]

I guess it depends on whether RobGriff is fixed on a C7 ... agreed your C6 allroad is in very nice condition.