Which engine/transmission?

NicoS85

NicoS85

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Greetings everybody. New member here hoping for some wisdom from yourselves.

A little introduction about me. My wife and I are expecting our first baby in a few months, so it's time that I got rid of my Honda S2000 for something more practical. I've considered the options, watched and read reviews, had a test drive and I've decided that the new A4 is the perfect car for my families needs.

The car I test drove was a S line 2.0 TDI S tronic. Most reviewers say this is the one to get and I'm fine with that. The thing is in the second hand market which is where I'm looking at, you can find 2.0 TDI, 2.0 TFSI and 3.0 TDI all similarly priced. Now I'm sure most people would want to get the most out of their money so the 3.0 TDI would make the most sense since it's the same price. However I don't know how the Tiptronic gearbox compares with a S tronic.

One of my mates who used to work at a Audi dealership told me that S tronic is dual clutch and Tiptronic is single. I know that dual clutch transmissions are very smooth, so does that mean the Tiptronic isn't? Also are there any reliability issues with either of them? My cousin who is a petrol head tells me that the most recent iterations of both transmissions are the best they've ever been and I shouldn't worry, but I'd like the opinion of people such as you who drive their A4's daily.

Regarding the engines I've always bought petrol cars but I'm willing to get a TDI this time for the fuel savings. (Having a baby really changes a man...) The claimed mpg figures from Audi there's not much difference between 2.0 and 3.0. What I'm more concerned with is again reliability between the two. Also should I expect servicing costs for a 3.0 to be a lot more expensive than a 2.0 due to the extra spark plugs etc?

Look forward to seeing what you all think.

Regards,

Nico
 
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The stronic is in a sense an automated manual and the step tronic is a traditional torque auto converter. Both in the new cars work very well at what they do and should have no worries. The 3.0 diesel prob had the auto due to higher torque.

Do you do many miles?

I don't know how you finance the car it's your business but if you pcp one a new one may be cheaper as decent discounts on the go plus very low Apr on the a4 just now.

Servicing I'm not sure but remember a diesel doesn't have spark plugs so no worries there. I wouldn't think too much init few litres more oil I guess
 
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audi upgrades
Thanks Spaceman. I do about 7000 miles a year, only 2 of the 4 miles that I commute are dual carriageway so I don't know if this will cause me any issues with the dpf. The cars I'm looking at are just under £30k. I think if i were to spec a car with the same options new it would be over £40k. I did not know diesels don't have spark plugs... kinda embarrassed now...

Gazwould - any particular reason for that choice? lol

aprillia dude - That looks like a nice car but I'm after a b9 which is why I only posted in here :)
 
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Personally, with your mileage and driving conditions being similar to mine, I'd get a petrol...
 
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At 7000 miles a year with daily short journeys I'd stick with the petrol over a diesel.

I had a diesel (Seat Leon mk3 184 TDI) with short commute to work (and similar annual mileage) and several times a month I'd have to take a detour to let the DPF run through a cycle, I never had the warning light but the car would idle at a higher rpm when it was trying to purge. At first I thought I could live with it but it was so unintelligent that you'd go and do a 150 mile journey, come home, then drive down the road to Tesco and there it is trying to run a cycle...

I swapped back to petrol with the A4 (first since my '00 Seat Ibiza) and went with the S-Tronic to (always driven manual) I did take the 4 year warranty just because I'd seen the complexity of the S-Tronic/DSG gearboxes and knew if it went wrong out of warranty it would be expensive!

Plus side is with petrol in the cold weather you actually get some heat on those short journeys as it heats up much faster.
 
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Hey got to agree with PR. I had a VAG 2.0TDI for 4 years and recently swapped to petrol. I was fed-up with hardly any heating on the run to my work in the winter, what a difference with the petrol and I'm getting 40 mpg and so quiet. By the way do not discount the 1.4 TFSI. Now its run in I can drive it like a diesel rarely above 3000 rpm and did I mention the heater.....
 
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Thanks for the sound advice guys. I think I'll consider a s tronic quattro 2.0 TFSI first then other options second.

I think I probably wasn't specific enough. I'm actually after a S line quattro and I don't think the 1.4 is an option. The configurator only gives the two 2.0 and 3.0 options.
 
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My B8 was a 2.0 TFSI Quattro and so is my B9. They're like chalk and cheese, the B9 is much more refined. You can be driving along serenely one minute, then dip the accelerator and it becomes an animal.
 
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If you want petrol and Quattro you have to get the 252 2.0 TFSI.

I've got the 190 2.0 TFSI Stronic.
Wouldn't change it for anything :)
 
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Def get a petrol with your mileage

Have you spec up a new one on coast to coast get idea of cost
 
There's around 7500 quid discounts roughly to be had takes a well specced a4 2.0 tfsi 252 brake into the mid 30k mark bet the numbers on the monthly are about the same as a 30k pound used one. Used Apr is like 9% new is 3.9%
 
Petrol does seem wisest in view of your proposed mileage, but I'm surprised nobody is counselling against diesel in the light of the current adverse image being created. I'm not sure I'd consider investing c.£30K in something that may well be discouraged or discontinued as a fuel type in the foreseeable future. Or am I reading too much into the current debate about the future of diesel?
 
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A lot of people are quite negative on diesel it's kinda scary lol. I haven't been keeping up with the news so I didn't know about the new city centre diesel taxes etc, but it's definitely something worth keeping in mind. Thanks again for everybody's input! :)
 
wideboybloke said:
I'm not sure I'd consider investing c.£30K in something that may well be discouraged or discontinued as a fuel type in the foreseeable future. Or am I reading too much into the current debate about the future of diesel?
Click to expand...

I've been asking the same question myself.
General opinion is that older diesels will be targeted, euro4 and below. There is no sensible/viable alternative for 15k+ miles per year. 'Discontinued' not for a long time. I'd probably get through a few cars before that happens.
I'm sure the intial panic and doom will die down. It usually does.
 
NicoS85 said:
A lot of people are quite negative on diesel it's kinda scary lol. I haven't been keeping up with the news so I didn't know about the new city centre diesel taxes etc, but it's definitely something worth keeping in mind. Thanks again for everybody's input! :)
Click to expand...
I gather some of these wont count on new diesels and some aren't due till 2020.
 
I read they may charge new road tax (£140) on existing new type diesels as a toxic tax.
 
Ive had both petrol and diesel A4s and wont go back to diesel or manual.The extra cost of the deisel plus heavier on tyres ,constantly running cold (for my 8 mile commute) no tax advantage ,more oil consumption,noisier,with diesel vibration through the pedals and regular fill ups with pig pee all mean i wont return to diesel.
 
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Each to their own I have just as much fun in my partners 100ps fiesta, if not more around town...
 
Simonb1975 said:
I've been asking the same question myself.
General opinion is that older diesels will be targeted, euro4 and below. There is no sensible/viable alternative for 15k+ miles per year. 'Discontinued' not for a long time. I'd probably get through a few cars before that happens.
I'm sure the intial panic and doom will die down. It usually does.
Click to expand...

I do around 18k per year and I went with the 1.4 TFSi. First time I've not went diesel in a decade, I miss the torque but that's it. Currently getting around 45Mpg.
 
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I have the 2.0 TDi with quattro and I get between 48 - 50 mpg, I've even reached 55 mpg a few weeks back when the weather was warm. I wouldn't pay too much attention to the scare mongering about the diesels, the A4 has EU6 engines which aren't at risk of being punished by these low emission zones and if you're in the second hand market your road tax will only be about 30 quid a year (provided its been registered before the start of this month)
 
2017 05 17 181341


Just a little update to this thread.

Firstly thank you for everybody's advice. I seriously considered a TFSI first but couldn't find one near my location. I even almost ended up pcp'ing a S4! But we had a family discussion and agreed that it's not the right time for us to get a S4, so I ended up getting a 3.0 tdi tiptronic. Just picked it up this afternoon and I think it looks stunning. Only had time for a short drive but what I've seen so far I like. My wife is very pleased with it also, I think we made a good choice choosing this to be our family car.

Hope to see some other owners about, give us a flash and a wave! :)
 
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It's mythos black. Comfort and sound pack, technology pack, heated front seats, full leather. :)
 
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Looks really nice in the black with the chrome and silver 19"
Iv not liked those wheels before now .
 
NicoS85 said:
View attachment 125840

Just a little update to this thread.

Firstly thank you for everybody's advice. I seriously considered a TFSI first but couldn't find one near my location. I even almost ended up pcp'ing a S4! But we had a family discussion and agreed that it's not the right time for us to get a S4, so I ended up getting a 3.0 tdi tiptronic. Just picked it up this afternoon and I think it looks stunning. Only had time for a short drive but what I've seen so far I like. My wife is very pleased with it also, I think we made a good choice choosing this to be our family car.

Hope to see some other owners about, give us a flash and a wave! :)
Click to expand...

Looks stunning mate! I've just had a baby (well, 10 months old) and I was looking sensible so had to get the new S4. Seems to be a good deal for a lot of car!

The black and aluminium like Greig says is incredible ! Really nice combo
 
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