S4 v's 2.8Q

S4_dan

S4_dan

Fire up the Quattro!
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sorry to go on......

i have some questions on the above vehicles, if people can give me their findings I'd really appreciate it.

I dont know which to buy...hence the questions...

1) What mpg do you get?

2) What are the servicing costs?

3) Insurance group / company do you use & rough cost?

4) Most common failures? (i know this can be lengthy!)

Cheers in advance.

Dan
 
Here is my experience of my old 2.8Q (tiptronic)

Mpg was about 26mpg but that was because it was:

1. it was an auto
2. the M25 to work was slow in the morning
3. the M25 was empty on the way home!

Insurance for me (26, no points, clean licence for 9 years) was £600 from Privilige with breakdown cover and Protected NCB.

A standard seriving with minor work done cost around £300. New discs and pads all round cost £500. Cambelt and water pump was under £300 (must be done before 80k)

£7000 will buy you a fully loaded 2000ish model and if you're lucky it might have Sat Nav...if you can find one!

IMO the car still looks very modern.

Engine sounded lovely and the fly-by-wire throttle was very responsive.
 
I can't speak for the S4, but I've run a 2.8 Quattro Tiptronic for three years now, and my experiences pretty much mirror what Chriswt says.

Mpg: Ranges from an around-town low of 18 to a motorway cruising high of 32

Insurance: At 43, with max NCB but 6 points, I pay £475 to Adrian Flux.

Service: No point taking one of these to a main dealer, find yourself a first-class local independent, or a non-franchised Audi specialist with a good rep. A standard annual service will be about £250-300 a year. I had the cambelt and water pump done at 67K, for £350.

N.B. Always gets the water pump replaced with the cambelt, even if there's nowt wrong with it. It only adds £35 to the bill for the part, but if you get it done separately, it's the same five hours of labour to strip down.

Like Chriswt says, the "old" B5 shape still looks modern. In fact, IMHO, it's a better looking car than either of the newer A4 models. Here's why:

P5110040.jpg


If you can find a good one with a drive-by-wire throttle (mid 99-onwards), you can get an OEM cruise control retro-fitted for about £350.

To sum up, it's smooth, powerful, fast & feels real good. The Quattro gives great traction in all conditions, and if you want auto, the Tiptronic is just fine.
 
Seeing your car there Jeff, makes me want to buy on again.

If only I could drive manuals (back problem, not an inability to drive!!!) I'd have an S4
 
In my case, it's dodgy knees that hastened the switch to auto. Mind you, ever since I was a teeanger, I always had a taste for big sixes mated to a slushbox. It started with my brother's 1968 Ford Zodiac, I think.
 
I have owned both...

Sold the 2.8q & bought the S4.

On the motorway I would get 20-25MPG out of the 2.8q & I get better results with the S4!!! Around town though less with the S4 - but nothing worth writing home about - thats with me giving it!

Insurance:

I am 24 - 5 years NCB with Tesco

Protected, Breakdown (Max cover), replacement car & legal cover - £200 excess

2.8q 890 for the year
S4 - 950 standard - chip it and it goes through the roof. Other insurers are then cheaper for mods.

Other general notes... the 2.8q bored me. yes it was lovely to drive blah blah, but really... it is not a drivers car. The S4 has so much to offer and if you get a facelift model can still look modern wtih a good set of alloys on.

S4 - all day long. Just make sure you check this out and consider all these points:

http://www.rs246.com/index.php?name=PNph...ght=boost+gauge
 
PS: Apart from the turbos - the common faults are the same on both cars. most common is noise from the front suspension. Be sure to have this sorted before buying the car. Cost me hours of time in and out of garages & 1k in bills to get mine sorted on the 2.8!!
 
[ QUOTE ]
yes it [the 2.8Q] was lovely to drive blah blah, but really... it is not a drivers car.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with you there. The two cars have completely different characters, and were essentially built to appeal to very different types of driver. If I had wanted an out-and-out sports saloon, I wouldn't choose the 2.8Q. (That said, I wouldn't have chosen a B5 generation S4 either, because it's manual only & as I mentioned above, I'm an auto-only man.)

What it boils down to, I guess, is two different cars, built to do two different jobs. Both are damned good cars that do their respective jobs very well. Which one to choose depends on what you want from your car.
 
The biggest thing to remember is that if you buy the 2.8Q you'll always hanker after the S4. If you buy an S4 you'll always hanker after an RS4 (which at twice the price isn't really a problem). My hankering for an S4 still hasn't abated even after 7 years with the 2.8Q.
The 2.8 just isn't fast enough and you really have to thrash it to get the performance, it has a kind of turbo lag until you get to 5k revs when you get some real pull (even though it has no turbos). I've done over 100k miles in mine and it's still a nice car to drive but in no way sporty and even on the motorway you have to change down to get anything out of it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
even on the motorway you have to change down to get anything out of it.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the problem is that it's overgeared. Mine pulls an indicated 32mph per 1000 rpm in fifth. I reckon it'd have been better if it had a 10% shorter diff
 
Yeah i would definetly get an S4 over a 2.8 quattro.

But i would also get a 1.8T quattro over a 2.8 quattro.

The 2.8 will be smooth etc etc but after a chip on the 1.8T it will have the same if not more power.
 
Absolutely... NEVER choose the 2.8q unless you needed the torque for towing a caravan or something. The 1.8t or the S4. The 2.8 I would never consider.
 
i wouldnt have thought the 2.8 would be much quicker than your chipped 2.5 tdi to be honest. certainly nowhere near as torquey.
go for the s4.
 
Well, just to ad dmy 2-cents worth...

I drive a 2000 (W-reg) 2.8Q Avant.. and love it. Admitedly i've never driven an S4 and would love to, but gove that i'm only 24 i just dont think it's a viable option at the moment.

Insurance is pretty reasonable for me, 24yrs old, full clean license, 6yrs protected NCB and breakdown (not quite full whack, but is pretty good cover) and my premium this year was £633 from privelige.com

I took my car on a driving holiday round europe which included a trip round the mighty nurburgring and it was spot on, the ultimate car fo rthe job, it was a joy to drive for 1800 miles in 8 days. I find the performance pretty good to be honest, i got 140mph out of it fairly easily and it was still pulling fairly well, i just ran out of road. On my first ever lap of the 'Ring, with 3 other adults and a boot full of camping gear i still managed a 12 minute lap. (i know, its not blistering, but was my first attempt at driving a track of any kind, let alone the 'green hell')

Servicing can be pricey, my last service (70k miles) with a small amount of fairly minor work cost £280 form a main d(st)ealer.

driving around europe i got pretty good economy out of it, prob 30 or so and i wasnt driving in econo-mode, but yes around town i'll be doing well to see 230miles from a full tank.

like i said, i've never driven an S4, but i really enjoy my 2.8Q, its got enough grunt to /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/swear.gif off every cheeky herbert i come accross at the lights... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Think im still gonna go S4....this car i have viewed is in mint condition. I've been offered a very good trade price on my car, only cos the trader has a buyer for my car already and he is willing to pay over the odds!!!!

Bigger fool him, and more money for my car!

lol
 
yeah if you can affor dthe insurance then i probably would too lol /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif i had a quick scout about and didn't realise how cheap S4's were... the only thing stopping me from trading up now is the insurance costs. Just out of interest, what are you other S4 drivers looking at each year for insurance?? anyone near to 24yrs with 6 yrs NCB especially :p

cheers guys, and good luck Tdi_Dan!
 
Ahh the magic number 25... I look forward to that next year!

I am currently £1650 per year - 24 w/ Protected 5yrs NCB w/ a chipped S4
 
[ QUOTE ]
Ahh the magic number 25... I look forward to that next year!

I am currently £1650 per year - 24 w/ Protected 5yrs NCB w/ a chipped S4

[/ QUOTE ]

Jeez - I guess there are advantages then of being an old fart... (well semi old) - 38 but 21 at heart.... Circa £400 f/comp and protected No claims...
 
I am with Tesco... for a standard S4 they quote me £900 protected legal court car & breakdown...

But chipped & Exhaust... £1650... go figure. In a war with them currently threatening to ditch tesco all together if they dont look at it... they have sent me a cheque for £50 so far... but the war continues...
 
I am 21 and its about £1k for my 1.8T

Its been about that since i was 19.

Is gutting though. One of my mates had am imprezza prodrive edition when he was 18 and his insurance was £800 then was £650 the next year and that was with a claim!!

Some people have all the luck.
 
Sounds like an error somewhere - lucky he got what he got!
 
ok, so after reading this i am now serisouly conemplating a swich to S4 power /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

am going to see a man about sourcing a car on saturday, and have had some reasonable quotes on the insurance front.. elephant quoted me 724 fully comp, which is winning so far, Tesco wanted 935, am awaiting a couple of others...

Where do you other S4 drivers get your insurance from ???

cheers guys,

JB7.
 
I also got a quote from Elephant for £602 fully comp so i will taking that policy out once my free 7 day full comp insurance runs out from norwich union!!!

Beats my other quote from BELL, which was £700!
 
Interesting - perhaps I should give Elephant a call!!
 
Good luck with the S4, wont let you down. Again as everyone says the b5 shape is stunning even today, and will, no doubt be a classic shape.

Currently pay about £1800 fully comp with direct line, all mods included. 19 -2.4v6
 
nice one Phantom, think i'm deffinitely gonna have to jump on the S4 bandwagon so to speak! i didnt realise such a brilliant car would be quite so affordable for me just yet so am well happy /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

insurance isn't a problem, elephant quoted 740, and today bell quoted me 720 including ncb protection so thats a result. Just gotta source a car now /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Just got my insurance down to 1200 a year & £50 cashback /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif - I love Tesco :p
 
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