New common-rail 2.0 TDI-140 s-tronic

h5djr

h5djr

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I am having a test drive on Saturday in a new 2.0TDI-140 S-tronic with the new common-rail engine. It will interesting to see how it compares to my current 170 PD engine. My main reason for going to the 170 at the time was not the extra 30hp but that it seem a quieter and smoother engine. If it feels OK I may well consider going back to a 140 for the better mpg.
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Following the above post which I posted in the "Is my car really that slow" thread, I've had 2-hour test drive in a new 2.0TDI-140 CR Diesel today. It was in a Cabriolet which weighs 1495kg compared with a Sportback 140 which weighs 1385kg.

I must say it was very quiet when compared with my current 170 which was in turn a lot quieter than my previous 140 PD engine. It felt very smooth and to be honest, I never really noticed any less performance than my current 170.

One thing I did notice was when driving with the s-tronic in tiptronic mode is that it would take some corners and roundabouts quite happily in 4th gear where as the same corner in my 170 needed 3rd gear. I also noticed this when I changed from my previous 140 PD to my current 170. Perhaps although the 170 has the extra 30 bhp, the 140 provides better torque at lower revs. The figures suggest otherwise but it certainly seemed to be the case today. My previous 140 was also more economical (48-50 mpg) when compared with my 170 (40-42mpg).

So it looks like I may be going for a new Sportback 2.0 TDI-140 SE s-tronic with my usual load of options. Now all I need to do is negotiate a deal. One of the things that made me rather reluctant to change to the facelight model was I could no longer specify Xenon headlights. They are only available on the S-Line and S3, but Audi are now offering the Adaptive Xenon headlights on all models.
 
I like the offer for adaptives, they're very very good indeed as fully fitted mine weeks back in replacement for my xenons, cant say enough good things about them, going round corners is great & the bixenon now are also great.

I still wish they'd make the derv with a quattro stronic as per the S3, now that would suffice me for a long time.
 
It's interesting you say you didn't notice much performance difference between the CR-140 and your current PD170.

I came from a Golf PD150 which I had re-mapped. I have to say my CR-140 doesn't feel that much slower than the Golf. I wonder how much BHP the CR really puts out?
 
My Dads CR140 definately isn't as fast as my non CR 170 :)!

Like you say though the delivery is very different, his is quite smooth whereas mine is quite ballistic in comparison. Being a youngish driver that sort of delivery suits me and him being older the smoother CR engine suits him better.

The CR engine is quite noticeably quieter though isn't it! I think its quieter than the 2.0d BMW unit too.
 
Matt said:
My Dads CR140 definately isn't as fast as my non CR 170 :)!

Like you say though the delivery is very different, his is quite smooth whereas mine is quite ballistic in comparison. Being a youngish driver that sort of delivery suits me and him being older the smoother CR engine suits him better.

The CR engine is quite noticeably quieter though isn't it! I think its quieter than the 2.0d BMW unit too.
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Do you have any idea of the mpg figures for each of the cars.
 
Past 5k or so I've been driving my car harder so my average is down to 41MPG from 43. Dads 140 is averaging 46MPG but its only got a couple of thousand on the clock so thinking it will probably improve as the mileage goes up.

These are both with a manual gearbox.
 
Matt said:
Past 5k or so I've been driving my car harder so my average is down to 41MPG from 43. Dads 140 is averaging 46MPG but its only got a couple of thousand on the clock so thinking it will probably improve as the mileage goes up.

These are both with a manual gearbox.
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Thanks for that info. The figures are very similar to my own 170 (40-43) and the overall test figure for 140 in this month's Audi Driver magazine.
 
My CR-140 has averaged 47MPG over the last 4000 miles.
 
h5djr said:
One thing I did notice was when driving with the s-tronic in tiptronic mode is that it would take some corners and roundabouts quite happily in 4th gear where as the same corner in my 170 needed 3rd gear.
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Probably gearing.
If you look on the A4 thread, loads of people say the 143 engine has shorter gearing than they're used to, meaning lots more gearchanges.
Shorter gearing is usually used to disguise a lack of torque.
Makes the car feel 'livelier'.

I did read of people chipping the 143 up to around 170-180 bhp.
Can't recall who (maybe try the A4 forum).
I do recall reading it was £800, which is steep.
 
bowfer said:
Probably gearing.
If you look on the A4 thread, loads of people say the 143 engine has shorter gearing than they're used to, meaning lots more gearchanges.
Shorter gearing is usually used to disguise a lack of torque.
Makes the car feel 'livelier'.

I did read of people chipping the 143 up to around 170-180 bhp.
Can't recall who (maybe try the A4 forum).
I do recall reading it was £800, which is steep.
Click to expand...

It could be gearing, but when I checked the gearing between the DSG in my previous 140 and my current 170 they were exactly the same. Not to say that they have not done something with the new common-rail but the torque figures they give are the same 320/350 for 140/170 PD and for the new CR versions. More gear changes don't bother me because it will definitely be an S-tronic and I think I can cope with the odd extra click of the paddles. Certainly the 140 gives better mpg than the 170.

We shall see, because I have a 2.0TDI-170 s-tronic for a couple of hours tomorrow afternoon.

Apart from the tax issue which don't affect me, the additional cost for the 170 over the 140 is only £730 before any discount.
 
I took my PD140 (S line) in for a service today and got a CR140 (sport) as a courtesy car. Same colour too which confused the neighbours!

The CR was a lot quieter but it did only have 400 mile on the clock so how much of that is newness i dont know? It did feel a bit punchier than my car and seemed to pick up quicker at lower revs although hardly seemed any different when using the paddles.

Other than that the biggest suprise to me was that my 4.5 year old 59k miler drives just as well as a brand new one in virtually every other way.

I did prefer the Sport suspension to my S-Line though, definately smoother.
 
I've driven the 143 and 170 CR engines in the new A4 and was extremely impressed with how smooth and quiet they were. The power delivery is extremely linear although I suspect this is down to the ECU limiting the way the torque is delivered so you don't get that kick in the back like you do with the old 1.9 130.

I felt that the 143 was almost as quick as the 170 Quattro and handled just as well. I drove the same 30+ mile route in both cars back-to-back so it was a fair comparison. The only other difference in the cars was the 143 being a saloon and the 170 an Avant. The Quattro was only 4mpg down on the FWD car at the end of the route which was also quite impressive.

Didn't like the offset pedals in the A4 and the mirrors are so big they must have come off a truck!
 
Macduff, if I have this right, you were driving a;

143bhp A4 saloon v 170bhp A4 Avant quattro

The former weighs 1460 kgs
The latter weighs 1620 kgs

Not surprising the 143 saloon felt as lively as the much heavier 170 Avant!
 
This afternoon I spent a couple of hours driving a Sportback 2.0TDI-170 Sport S-tronic as a comparison to the Cabriolet 2.0TDI-140 Sport S-tronic I drove, again for a couple of hours on Sunday. The Sportback weighs 1395kg and the Cabriolet 1495kg.

I drove the Sportback on country roads, dual-carriageway and motorway and I must say I noticed very little difference between the two. The new common-rail 170 did take corners and roundabouts in the same gear as I would have used in 140 and, unlike my current 170 which seems to need a lower gear, it was much the same.

I think the 140 engine did seem a little quieter than the 170. Other than that both new cars seemed as they could almost have had the same engine.

I came away with a very reasonable trade-in offer for my car, better than the dealer offered on Sunday as well as a discounted figure for the new car of 10%. They matched the prices I had from Broadspeed on the internet. They also gave me a number of cash and 5.4% PCP options. They also agreed that if I place my order by Friday it will not include the 2% that will be added to Audi's prices on the 23rd.

Now all I have to do is meet with my usual dealer and see if he is prepared to match or better these prices.
 
h5djr said:
Other than that both new cars seemed as they could almost have had the same engine.
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They do! The 170 just uses a different turbo, DPF, boost hose and flywheel. Those were the main differences I found when checking part numbers in ETKA.

Nice review, I would like to test drive a CR 170 just to see how it really compares to mine.
 
Sem said:
They do! The 170 just uses a different turbo, DPF, boost hose and flywheel. Those were the main differences I found when checking part numbers in ETKA.

Nice review, I would like to test drive a CR 170 just to see how it really compares to mine.
Click to expand...

It could well be the different turbo thats gives the slight different in low down torque feel and the slight increase in noise level. The extra sound does sound exhaust-ish or turbo-ish if you see what I mean.
 
bowfer said:
Macduff, if I have this right, you were driving a;

143bhp A4 saloon v 170bhp A4 Avant quattro

The former weighs 1460 kgs
The latter weighs 1620 kgs

Not surprising the 143 saloon felt as lively as the much heavier 170 Avant!
Click to expand...

Where did you get those weights from Bowfer?

The A4 brochure I have has the 143 at 1520kg vs the 170Q at 1595kg.
 
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