My S4 thread
- Thread starter scotty76
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So this week the car has been back to Reading Audi (the supplying dealer) to have a 2nd look at the coolant level declining and the very annoying boot panel (see 1st post for relevant threads). As a quick recap, I discovered back in October 2014 (at 4 months old) the coolant had dropped to about 1cm below the Min mark. The coolant warning light had not yet come on. I topped it back up to the Max mark as per the instructions in the user manual. The car went to Reading Audi at the end of October but a visual inspection and pressure test found no faults. Suspicion was an air lock from the factory working its way out.
By March 2015 the level was now 1/2 way between the min and max marks. Still in range but clearly more coolant has gone somewhere since end of October. Booked in again. And again no fault found. They still think air lock. Car has only done ~3400 miles so its possible. Keeping an ever closer eye on it now.
On the plus side the panel in the boot was fixed under warranty as one of the hooks was defective. Also as a keen detailer my "no wash" request was honoured by the dealer. Chatting to the staff, it seems this is an increasingly common request and they were genuinely interested in what coating the car has on (CQuartz Finest).
On the detailing side the car still beads water with vigour following a wash with CarPro Reset. The CQuartz Finest coating went on in July 2014 so it is working as designed at the moment and the 2 year claim seems possible. Wheels are wearing CarPro DLUX applied in October. Again this is top stuff. I'm not washing the wheels much at the moment, simply pressure washing them off as that shifts about 95% of the crud.
I've also been looking at MRC's Facebook page lately. Amazing to see the number of S4's that have been through their doors in the last few months. Even the stage 1 cars are making good numbers. Definitely one to look at post warranty.
I hope you're all enjoying your S4s and to those waiting, be patient, it'll be worth it.
By March 2015 the level was now 1/2 way between the min and max marks. Still in range but clearly more coolant has gone somewhere since end of October. Booked in again. And again no fault found. They still think air lock. Car has only done ~3400 miles so its possible. Keeping an ever closer eye on it now.
On the plus side the panel in the boot was fixed under warranty as one of the hooks was defective. Also as a keen detailer my "no wash" request was honoured by the dealer. Chatting to the staff, it seems this is an increasingly common request and they were genuinely interested in what coating the car has on (CQuartz Finest).
On the detailing side the car still beads water with vigour following a wash with CarPro Reset. The CQuartz Finest coating went on in July 2014 so it is working as designed at the moment and the 2 year claim seems possible. Wheels are wearing CarPro DLUX applied in October. Again this is top stuff. I'm not washing the wheels much at the moment, simply pressure washing them off as that shifts about 95% of the crud.
I've also been looking at MRC's Facebook page lately. Amazing to see the number of S4's that have been through their doors in the last few months. Even the stage 1 cars are making good numbers. Definitely one to look at post warranty.
I hope you're all enjoying your S4s and to those waiting, be patient, it'll be worth it.
Nice update, Scotty. Fingers crossed the coolant thing turns out to be a false positive.
Interesting thoughts Scotty 
Giving us soon to be new S4 owners things to watch out for
One of the lads on the A5/S5 forum who owns a S5 supercharger, say the 333hp is rather on the pessimistic side. Apparently the S4/S5 superchargers are putting out on or around 350hp on the dyno in standard trim
Giving us soon to be new S4 owners things to watch out for
One of the lads on the A5/S5 forum who owns a S5 supercharger, say the 333hp is rather on the pessimistic side. Apparently the S4/S5 superchargers are putting out on or around 350hp on the dyno in standard trim
Wow! Maybe I should get mine on Sanspeed's rolling road after it arrives.Interesting thoughts Scotty
Giving us soon to be new S4 owners things to watch out for
One of the lads on the A5/S5 forum who owns a S5 supercharger, say the 333hp is rather on the pessimistic side. Apparently the S4/S5 superchargers are putting out on or around 350hp on the dyno in standard trim
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Yes, the quoted 328 bhp (333 ps) is well under. I think it's something daft like the guaranteed minimum you will get at altitude, so where the air is thinner. In reality, most of us are seeing much higher real world bhp figures. My car was dyno'd at 358bhp stock.
Interesting thoughts Scotty
Giving us soon to be new S4 owners things to watch out for
One of the lads on the A5/S5 forum who owns a S5 supercharger, say the 333hp is rather on the pessimistic side. Apparently the S4/S5 superchargers are putting out on or around 350hp on the dyno in standard trim
Yep I've certainly heard that too BH. Nice to know, you don't often get extra for free from Audi.
The two most recent S4s I've seen on MRC's FB page did 339PS and 348PS as standard.
@opelfruit what fuel were you running as standard? I'm about to switch to VPower for a few tankfuls more to see it does to the mpg. If I was really scientific I'd get it dyno'd now to see what a stock S4 on 95 RON Shell does. But I'm not forking out for that just to entertain you lot!!
Just the normal unleaded (mainly from Texaco), none of that super nonsense. Not supermarket ***** though. There seems to be a bit of variation with the S4's, I remember seeing a dyno graph on another forum some time back where a B8.5 S4 was putting out around 380bhp, only mod was an exhaust. Luck of the draw I think.
Thanks for that. Mine is mostly Shell but sometimes Texaco and only standard unleaded so far.
Quick wash today with CarPro Reset.
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/quick-wash-with-carpro-reset.241891/
I'm now using filtered rain water as the water here in West Berkshire is so hard you can chew it and water spots are a major problem. The outside tap is on the house filtered supply, so no calcium carboate (hard water marks) but even then the water still reads high with other mineral content.
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/quick-wash-with-carpro-reset.241891/
I'm now using filtered rain water as the water here in West Berkshire is so hard you can chew it and water spots are a major problem. The outside tap is on the house filtered supply, so no calcium carboate (hard water marks) but even then the water still reads high with other mineral content.
Feel your pain Scotty, especially with a black car too
I suppose I'm lucky having soft water up North. Does wonders for my skin you know!
PS I'm sure we had a discussion about water before in the Derailing section
Edit : Here it is buddy
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/di-resin-vessel.230827/#post-2305123
Feel your pain Scotty, especially with a black car too
I suppose I'm lucky having soft water up North. Does wonders for my skin you know!
PS I'm sure we had a discussion about water before in the Derailing section
Edit : Here it is buddy
http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/di-resin-vessel.230827/#post-2305123
Yep you're right we did discuss this. DI Resin vessel would work but as the 11 litre ones are now ~£100 I decided to take advantage of the rain water. Already have two water butts in the garden, daisy chained together. The second has minimal residue in it as the water from the first overflows into it via a pipe at the top. So I bought a third mini 100 litre water butt and now pump water to it using a pump containg a filter. This takes the water to 30ppm or less. Finally I have a fine mesh filter on my Karcher to catch any leftover particles.
Amazon product
I have existing water spots to tackle at some point but you only really see them post wash, when drying the car. Once dry they are not visible.
Also found my first scratch today which I polished with Auto Finesse Tripple by hand. Not gone but you can only see it if you know where to look.
Didn't get the DA out, would probably have fixed it 100% but for now this will do. Still not used my Reload and probably won't now as read on Autogeek the problem with the 2014 batch was eventually found and fixed. 2015 batch onwards is working. Mine's a 2014 batch so have been avoiding it. Will probably try some Hydro2 Lite instead.
Sounds to me as tho' you have your hard water issues well and truly in hand. Nice one
Like you, I do like AF Tripple. Find it very versatile
Didn't know there was a problem with Reload 14. Suppose I'm lucky as all my stock of Reload is pre-Reload 14, so I should be alright. Thanks for info my friend
Like you, I do like AF Tripple. Find it very versatile
Didn't know there was a problem with Reload 14. Suppose I'm lucky as all my stock of Reload is pre-Reload 14, so I should be alright. Thanks for info my friend
So last fill up of standard Shell unleaded yielded 22.56mpg calculated, not DIS.
Tank is now full of VPower. This cost approx £4.50 more than the standard stuff for a tankful. Let's see what the figures are over the next few months.
Tank is now full of VPower. This cost approx £4.50 more than the standard stuff for a tankful. Let's see what the figures are over the next few months.
I definitely get a few more miles out of a tank of VPower
maybe 10 miles or so.
maybe 10 miles or so.
Standard Shell (top up original fuel on purchase) 27 mpg
Texaco 22.3 mpg - but mainly much shorter runs
BP 28.6 mpg
Shell VPower nitro 28.4 mpg
All measured fill to fill
On V power going to Bristol in economy mode 31.9 mpg on DIS, return individual mode 35.9 mpg on DIS, very similar speeds and traffic, figure that!
Probably 60-70% on dual carraigeways and motorways at sensible speeds.
Now at around 1300 miles it certainly goes well when I do put my foot down.
My S3 and other cars have seemed to be a little more economical on VPower, more expensive diesel didn't seem to make any difference to my 3.0 TDI
Texaco 22.3 mpg - but mainly much shorter runs
BP 28.6 mpg
Shell VPower nitro 28.4 mpg
All measured fill to fill
On V power going to Bristol in economy mode 31.9 mpg on DIS, return individual mode 35.9 mpg on DIS, very similar speeds and traffic, figure that!
Probably 60-70% on dual carraigeways and motorways at sensible speeds.
Now at around 1300 miles it certainly goes well when I do put my foot down.
My S3 and other cars have seemed to be a little more economical on VPower, more expensive diesel didn't seem to make any difference to my 3.0 TDI
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Thanks Razza but much as it pains me I'm sticking with Audi main dealer during the warranty. Just based on the cost of the car and the kind of shenanigans the TFSI guys have had. I realise the warranty should still be valid if the indie uses genuine Audi parts but I just don't want to give them any wriggle room.
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Get a quote on the basis of you providing the oil!
Saved me about £50 when i had the last oil service on my 3.0TDi
Saved me about £50 when i had the last oil service on my 3.0TDi
I'm contemplating the same, sadly. I have a great relationship with my indie, but I'm thinking I need to preserve the residuals during the finance period.
Going to try this though know quote has to be in writing for price match. Thanks for the suggestion.
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vagautoworks@hotmail.co.uk
Email them asking for price and whether it's genuine Audi parts...
Been using them for a while now and just did the cambelt and major service on her Qashqai, saving about £2-300 over Nissans quote...
Email them asking for price and whether it's genuine Audi parts...
Been using them for a while now and just did the cambelt and major service on her Qashqai, saving about £2-300 over Nissans quote...
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All services incl oil
Yeah but you know what Audi are going to say if I ask for a price match on an "oil change service".
longp2
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Both of my oil change services have cost £189, and I have always used the price match offer.
Yes, but it's the 'goodwill' that's been important for getting most of the 2.0's fixed.
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Yea but that's a widespread known public issue, their goodwill on anything else is next to useless...
I'd leave it
That's seriously unimpressive, considering they're still advertising it on the Sytner websites.
That's seriously unimpressive, considering they're still advertising it on the Sytner websites.
