2 new questions about forthcoming A4 Avant

[Nickfrog]

1 - does anyone routinely fit a mountain bike in the back of an Avant B9 ?
I am planning to fit a bracket near the inside of the hatch to take the 15mm front forks (front wheel off of course) so that I can put the bike standing longitudinally in the middle of the car with the rear wheel through the 20% middle seat opening. Isthatgonnawork ?

2 - What tyres would a new S-Line on the std 18' come with in people's experience ? I am not too bothered but I'd like to avoid the Handjobs for pure vanity reasons. How very shallow of me as I am sure they're as good as anything else for the intended purpose.

 

[oliquattro]

Nick from babybmw?

I haven't attempted to put a bike in my S4 Avant B9....but it's almost the same shape as my Avant B8 and that fits a bike in easily. I normally fold both rear seats down though. Yes front wheel needs to come off. I dunno about having it stood up though, might be a squeeze! I can measure boot opening if u need.

S4 comes with continental tyres, not sure about other models. I'll be putting Michelin on when they need replacing.

 

[A4AvantBlackEdition]

Can’t comment on the bike situation but mine came with hankooks. I wanted the Pirelli’s with the massive rim lip but the Hankooks are actually pretty good tyres.

They vary between hankook, Pirelli, continental and I’m sure some others. It’s luck of the draw.

 

[cuke2u]

Also no issues with the hankooks on mine...

 

[ScottishA4B9]

Hankooks. They are the standard for Audi’s now. I’ve had no issues with mine.

 

[Nickfrog]

Nick from babybmw?

Guilty as charged !

Thx for the feedback everyone. The idea is to not lay the bike but to velcro protection on the seats that will be exposed to the rear wheel when that's between the rear seats with the middle seat down. But I am not sure the bars will fit under the roof at the back. Still, only one way to find out!!

 

[Fridarey]

My A4 saloon in October came with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres if that's any help.

 

[wideboybloke]

The tyre question has been raised previously on here. There doesn’t seem to be any single make and it all depends on where the latest batch were sourced when your car was built. Mine was shod with Bridgestone, although the space saver spare is a Hankook!

 

[Nickfrog]

My A4 saloon in October came with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres if that's any help.

That would make my Xmas if I got those! I'll need all the lateral grip I can with the 1.4!

 

[Fridarey]

Good luck

 

[Spaceman_RS3]

You got a second car a toy nick? Bit of a change for you no?

 

[Paul Golding]

Agreed about the different tyres, mine was built in November and came with Conti's (unfortunately), though 19" so maybe not relevant.

 

[MarkOC]

On the Mountain bike; I don't know about standing up with the front wheel off, I haven't tried, but I got a liner from rhinoukbootlinersltd.co.uk that goes from the front seats all the way back, with the seats completely down. I was hoping to be able to load the bike in without taking the front wheel off, and I'm fine for length, but I failed to think about the height at the front of the bike with 150mm forks. Having the liner is great, only takes a few mins to put in, and I don't have to worry about getting mud all over the car, I also got the seat covers so no worry about the mud on me either.

 

[Gary_LB]

Guilty as charged !

Thx for the feedback everyone. The idea is to not lay the bike but to velcro protection on the seats that will be exposed to the rear wheel when that's between the rear seats with the middle seat down. But I am not sure the bars will fit under the roof at the back. Still, only one way to find out!!

Looks like there are a few of us from babybmw then

 

[Nickfrog]

You got a second car a toy nick? Bit of a change for you no?

Yes, I still have the Megane RS for track duties but changing job in January and I can't see myself doing the 25 miles commute on semis and cold pads !

So I'll sell that in the spring and save for a M2 which hopefully will be around the £35k mark in 10 months time.

Plus having a car that can take the bike will help as the Meg is no good for that.

 

[Nickfrog]

On the Mountain bike; I don't know about standing up with the front wheel off, I haven't tried, but I got a liner from rhinoukbootlinersltd.co.uk that goes from the front seats all the way back, with the seats completely down. I was hoping to be able to load the bike in without taking the front wheel off, and I'm fine for length, but I failed to think about the height at the front of the bike with 150mm forks. Having the liner is great, only takes a few mins to put in, and I don't have to worry about getting mud all over the car, I also got the seat covers so no worry about the mud on me either.

That's probably a simpler solution actually ! Cheers.

 

[Spaceman_RS3]

Yes, I still have the Megane RS for track duties but changing job in January and I can't see myself doing the 25 miles commute on semis and cold pads !

So I'll sell that in the spring and save for a M2 which hopefully will be around the £35k mark in 10 months time.

Plus having a car that can take the bike will help as the Meg is no good for that.

Quality Nick I fancy a manual m2 or a dct m3 next. The rs4 is just too much money for me next.

 

[Gary_LB]

Quality Nick I fancy a manual m2 or a dct m3 next. The rs4 is just too much money for me next.

I was adimant the M2 would be my next car and it is fantastic. Ubforuntlay now I’m doing more motorway miles it wasn’t comfortable enough day to day but for a back road blast it’s fantastic.

 

[Nickfrog]

I don't blame you Gary and for miles I am getting the Aldi so that I don't endure the Megane. Moving closer to work next year and downgrading the house while kicking the kids out so that we can resume our life so the M2 should fit in well.

 

[RussM]

I always lay bikes down in mine, if its only one bike then there's no need to take the two tubes out, one for the hatch cover, the other with the load guard netting.
Might be easier than than fiddling between the seats, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you have to release the seats anyhow to take out the load guard one; yes you could remove it permanently, but then folks can see into the load area all the time.
Oooh and mines on 19" Hankooks in the summer.

 

[Nickfrog]

Thanks Russ. You're probably right, I should keep it simple and buy the liner suggested earlier by Mark and simply lay it.

I was just looking forward to the challenge of making a 15mm thru-axle and fit it to the car to take the fork. It's an aggro hardtail so I like the idea of it being fixed to the car and upright. I'll experiment.

 

[lsc05]

The tyre fitting for new cars is 100% randomly. Audi has contracts with tyre manufacturers and they must respect a fixed number of tyres to put on cars in an amount of time. So they are puting the tyres randomly to respect the contracts

 

[Nickfrog]

Fair enough. If I get the Handjobs on I might sell them new and put Cross Climates from the off. Not sure if VWFS will moan if the car is returned with those one, if they ever notice.

 

[cuke2u]

The tyre fitting for new cars is 100% randomly. Audi has contracts with tyre manufacturers and they must respect a fixed number of tyres to put on cars in an amount of time. So they are puting the tyres randomly to respect the contracts

Where does that information come from...

 

[lsc05]

Fair enough. If I get the Handjobs on I might sell them new and put Cross Climates from the off. Not sure if VWFS will moan if the car is returned with those one, if they ever notice.

Maybe u will think twice after I will tell you this. Tyres are classified in 3 categories in terms of quality. The highest quality tyres are going only at producer's factory and are mounted ONLY on brand-new cars. The mid class is going at dealers and the last class is going to tyre selling companies. So, in other words, a pair of new Hankooks will be better and have a longer lifetime than any other pair of tyres bought from the internet/tyre selling company/even from the dealer. A 1st class quality tyre will have 2x or even 3x longer lifetime than a 3rd class.
Anyone who doesn't believe me can search for the badge "A O" on his tyres. This badge can be found only on a car equipped with factory tyres and it means "Audi Original".

Where does that information come from...

Well, one of my friend's father has company which is selling tyres and he told me that.

 

[cuke2u]

https://www.audi.co.uk/owners-area/servicing-maintenance-mot/audi-genuine-tyres.html

 

[AlnSaz]

AO tyres can also be bought at the usual Kwik Fit, ATS, Black Circles etc

 

[cuke2u]

Yep, I purchase some for my A3 when I had a blowout...

 

[Nickfrog]

AO is just the Audi approved compound, which may vary slightly or not at all from the mainstream compound. Either way it's not particularly better or worse, it's different. The Cross Climates don't come in the right size anyway. I'll see what I get and take a view then. Might stick some AD08r on if I am in the mood!

 

[cuke2u]

Cynics might say it's just a marketing deal the tyre manufacturer has with Audi, BMW has one that has a star on the sidewall and with Mercedes its called MO..

 

[kaibr88]

1 - does anyone routinely fit a mountain bike in the back of an Avant B9 ?
I am planning to fit a bracket near the inside of the hatch to take the 15mm front forks (front wheel off of course) so that I can put the bike standing longitudinally in the middle of the car with the rear wheel through the 20% middle seat opening. Isthatgonnawork ?

2 - What tyres would a new S-Line on the std 18' come with in people's experience ? I am not too bothered but I'd like to avoid the Handjobs for pure vanity reasons. How very shallow of me as I am sure they're as good as anything else for the intended purpose.

Not picking my S4 avant up till monday but my current car is the SQ5 which is much taller and it won't take a bike standing up with the wheels off so you're probably out of luck with that one. My bikes are long travel full suss though so that might play a part. I'm getting a tow bar bike rack for the S4 Avant.

 

[Nickfrog]

Thanks. I had a look at the dealer yesterday and the load area is indeed quite a lot smaller than I remembered it and more crucially more shallow compared to our Tiguan. I reckon the rear is fine courtesy of the dropper as it's a 27.5 slipping HT but the front Yaris 160mm will struggle to clear the roofline...