S4 advice

Cookiemon5ter

Cookiemon5ter

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I'm looking at getting an s4 b8 next year and wanted some honest advice from owners on here. I'm a manual man always have been, but what's the auto/paddle like? Just how thirsty are they? I'll be going second hand hopefully getting under 90k on the clock price dependant, and problems after this milage?
Any advice appreciated. Tia
 
As an ex-manual man, I'd say the DSG makes less mistakes than I did moving cogs by hand :). It is not fool proof, but nor was I. Half the trick is to know when to override with the paddles rather than staying lazy. When the DSG gets it right it is far better than I could be. It can be a little clumsy in 1st but some right foot finesse helps.

But honestly this is a very personal choice. A test drive is very highly recommended. Just make sure you get to play with it in S as well as D mode.

In very mixed driving I average 28mpg (B8.5). I'm not aware that the DSG makes it much better or worse than a manual. DSG in D loves to change up to 7th asap for economy, which is why a test drive in D mode only may leave you unmoved.

martin
 
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martinmanyhats said:
As an ex-manual man, I'd say the DSG makes less mistakes than I did moving cogs by hand :). It is not fool proof, but nor was I. Half the trick is to know when to override with the paddles rather than staying lazy. When the DSG gets it right it is far better than I could be. It can be a little clumsy in 1st but some right foot finesse helps.

But honestly this is a very personal choice. A test drive is very highly recommended. Just make sure you get to play with it in S as well as D mode.

In very mixed driving I average 28mpg (B8.5). I'm not aware that the DSG makes it much better or worse than a manual. DSG in D loves to change up to 7th asap for economy, which is why a test drive in D mode only may leave you unmoved.

martin
Click to expand...
Thanks very much for the advice
 
When I was searching, all the stuff I read, said the manual was worse on fuel.
I get mid twenties to and from work and high teens doing the school run

The last 3 cars I've had have been auto, wouldn't go back to manual again

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk
 
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AT wouldn't be my first choice but there were a lack of used B8 S4's that were MT when I was looking. I think a lot of it was to do with the road tax, that being cheaper on the AT hence people favoured the AT over MT. They soon phased out MT on theS4 Avants and only had AT so this might be something you need to consider. Having said that this is applicable to Avants as that was what I was looking for.

I'm getting used to AT and it is handy for city driving and you can always stick it in manual for more 'spirited' driving but still isn't the same as changing through the gears.

One thing to look out is the oil service on the gearbox, this needs to be carried out before 38k miles and the early AT were prone to failures, which could potentially cost a lot to repair.
 
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mrbubba said:
When I was searching, all the stuff I read, said the manual was worse on fuel.
I get mid twenties to and from work and high teens doing the school run

The last 3 cars I've had have been auto, wouldn't go back to manual again

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Thanks. The automatic is looking more appealing every day, I'll do some test driving and see weather I think I can get used to it.
 
cyhliu said:
AT wouldn't be my first choice but there were a lack of used B8 S4's that were MT when I was looking. I think a lot of it was to do with the road tax, that being cheaper on the AT hence people favoured the AT over MT. They soon phased out MT on theS4 Avants and only had AT so this might be something you need to consider. Having said that this is applicable to Avants as that was what I was looking for.

I'm getting used to AT and it is handy for city driving and you can always stick it in manual for more 'spirited' driving but still isn't the same as changing through the gears.

One thing to look out is the oil service on the gearbox, this needs to be carried out before 38k miles and the early AT were prone to failures, which could potentially cost a lot to repair.
Click to expand...
I'm after an avant anyway, got tdi avant now and wouldn't go back to a hatch. Gearbox oil is now on my list of checks thanks
 
I went with the 6MT & I love it :)
The thing that swayed me away from Stronic was the possibility of issues & the 10K bill you can end up with.(2009-2011 cars are most prone I believe )
The Stronic is a few tenths quicker over a 1/4 mile,but I love stirring the box on a daily basis
 
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xpoweruk said:
I went with the 6MT & I love it :)
The thing that swayed me away from Stronic was the possibility of issues & the 10K bill you can end up with.(2009-2011 cars are most prone I believe )
The Stronic is a few tenths quicker over a 1/4 mile,but I love stirring the box on a daily basis
Click to expand...
10k is a lot, I'll test both. Thanks for your input mate appreciate it
 
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I haven't looked recently but when I was looking for a used S4 or S5 in 2014 the manuals were already fairly rare.
 
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Dippy said:
I haven't looked recently but when I was looking for a used S4 or S5 in 2014 the manuals were already fairly rare.
Click to expand...
I've been looking just incase a unpassble deal pops up in between now and when im ready to buy. Its a split 1 third man 2 thirds AT
 
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Well I'm a s-tronic convert too, but I realise its a personal thing. I'm just glad that the part of my brain which remembers how to work a manual still reactivates when I drive my wife's car :)

But the reliability of (some) early s-tronic boxes is a PITA so my advice would be: If you are buying a pre-facelift, get a manual.
 
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Was the
Dippy said:
Well I'm a s-tronic convert too, but I realise its a personal thing. I'm just glad that the part of my brain which remembers how to work a manual still reactivates when I drive my wife's car :)

But the reliability of (some) early s-tronic boxes is a PITA so my advice would be: If you are buying a pre-facelift, get a manual.
Click to expand...
Was the face-lift not in 09 or has there been another? Thanks for the in put
 
I have the auto box and its a vast improvement over the one I had my mk2 tt. It's not perfect at predicting what you want to do but is great fun using the paddles when you're out for a blast. It's almost like playing Xbox.

Having said that, I'd also have been happy with a manual apart from the ridiculous road tax.

Dealing with traffic is much more tolerable with the auto.
 
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Cookiemon5ter said:
Ah I see well all 12 plates are out of my budget unless they've do 4 laps of the planet so I'll be looking at as lower mileage 09/10 I can afford.
Click to expand...

Too funny, four laps of the planet


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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Just for reference ,not all manuals are in the crazy tax bracket.
My 2011 saloon is in the lower band like the Stronic
 
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Cookiemon5ter said:
Ah I see well all 12 plates are out of my budget unless they've do 4 laps of the planet so I'll be looking at as lower mileage 09/10 I can afford.
Click to expand...
Make sure it's had oil changes on the gear box, think it's around 38k mark

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3003 using Tapatalk
 
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Mine is 2009 s4 6MT and its the lower tax bracket. Currently paying £305 for 12 months.
 
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Cookiemon5ter said:
Ah I see well all 12 plates are out of my budget unless they've do 4 laps of the planet so I'll be looking at as lower mileage 09/10 I can afford.
Click to expand...

Well I really hate to be a scaremonger, but if you search the web for reports of s-tronic gearbox failures you'll see that the peak is for 09/10 cars. Now in a number of cases the owner admits to having had the gearbox service late, but not all, so there's definitely an issue. So I will repeat my advice to get a manual - the extra tax is nothing compared to what s-tronic gearbox problems could cost :(
 
My 09 had a total gearbox failure at about 50K miles even with correct transmission fluid service. The gearbox was replaced by Audi costing around £9K. If you're on a 09/10 budget and fancy the s-tronic look for a car that has had a gearbox replacement or at least the mechatronic unit replaced, the you shouldn't have any major worries.
 
audi upgrades
Mines a 59 plate manual and its the lower tax bracket of 305 a year as well. It seems that if you want a manual at the lower tax band it needs to have been registered between the 1st April 2009 and 24th may 2010
 
rum4mo said:
That is weird, what is the date month of your car and what is the emissions quoted on the build data in the service booklet?
Click to expand...

xpoweruk, could you confirm the production date or month of your S4 and what the emissions level quoted on the build data sheet in the service book is?
 
05/10
225

Car must of been sat around for a while
 
Lucky you, 234-225 = 9! I wonder what happened to change things, or maybe the test was changed, at least I now know what the lower emissions level were. My car will have "regenerative braking" but that drag the emissions down enough to keep that car in the lower tax bracket.

Edit:- thanks for answering that question.
 
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