B7 2.0T quattro to B8 2.0tfsi quattro S-tronic - MPG..& Handling observations

[Klickflip]

Hi, newbie on forum but not new to Audis , 3rd one in ten years.

I'd like like to hear others experiences if they have made this swap as well..

I have just upgraded from my 04 B7 avant SE 2.0T (tfsi) quattro 6sm to a really nice 2010 B8 avant 2.0tfsi Quattro S-tronic S-Line (black edition / phantom black paint)
So this is VERY nice upgrade will post a photo soon, it looks awesome.
Super luxurious, quick and extremely cool looking with black pack , xenons, S-line and 19"S twin spokes
I'll get on to the main driving differences and handling later ..

But for want to address the MPG shocker!
In my B7 I would get a shocking 16-18mpg around town / city but I would easily get 37-40mpg cruising on motorways and 27 on A / B roads if I was having some fun.

In my new B8 I am surprisingly getting 25mpg around town / city , which is great. BUT....
On motorway I'm am only getting 30mpg cruising at 70-75 mph , if I go to 80+ then I get 27mpg.
Which seems a bit crap for a newer engine, on gentle Mway driving.
I generally drive very smooth and try not to brake much and just 'flow' my speed and momentum with the traffic or if roads are quiet I will use cruise control.
I was expecting to easily get closer to 40mpg. - which I regularly did on my B7 quattro .

One thought is my b7 turbo was a bit old and not perfect , as would only kick in at 2800rpm which would probably be pushing less fuel into the engine compared to the B8 turbo which does kick in much earlier at 500rpm I think.

BUT with the S-Tronic , most of the time I am in full auto (not sport) and it changes up really early at 2000rpm , so I feel I'm using much less right foot and gas than i used to do with the b7 and it is in higher gears than I would have been in a manual.
It seems like most of the time the engine should be much more economically than before , I am in 1000-200rpm most of the time , as before I would be around 2000-3000 rpm mainly on general driving. And up to 5000rpm when I squirt it or have fun, which is not a lot at all.
So would love to hear others b7 to b8 quattro 2.0tfsi mpg experiences .

Now other first obeservations on driving it are-
Much bigger car , feels like a smaller A6.
Amazing cabin experience.
More difficult parking in to spaces I used to get into no problem.
Really smooth gear changes, I don't notice it's changed gear most of the time!
Feels like I'm driving a Mercedes !
Steering and Quattro 60/40 compared to previous 50/50 quattro feels more like a 3 series steering - much lighter and quicker steering repsonse.

QUATTRO - Not quite sure of the grip /traction compared to the b7, I felt the b7 50/50 quattro has more feedback and feels more grippy -poss to do with heavier steering in the b7 . But I have had the b8 come unstuck a couple of times already. But i did correct it in a mili second . So it is very sharp and quick responding.
But I did have to push the b7 to silly mounts to get it unstuck , and before that you'd feel the Quattro breaking and adjusting each wheel to maintain traction. And you knew that was the grip limit and you could ride on the edge of that safely.
Whereas the b8 , just lost grip without the traction control 'nipping' feeling coming into play.
(But it does have budget / midrange tyres compared to I always ran Dunlop Sport Max or Continetals on my b7)
- would like to hear others thoughts of the b7 / b8 quattro grip and system feeling / response.

Too easy to glide up to 85mph!
Better acceleration all round ,
Sharper drive but less feeling , thinking a b7 quattro is more of a drivers car in feedback terms .

All in its quite a staggeringly different more modern feeling car

Cheers, thanks for reading and I look forward other 2.0tfsi quattro owners chipping in to this discussion / thoughts .

 

[SilvioD]

I have a 2013 A4 2.0tdi Quattro 177 Avant Stronic. Black Edition.It has been a real love hate relationship. I used to own a 05 B6 Manual 2wd before and have found myself really missing that car.
My biggest gripe is the steering. The car understeers everywhere, tramlines like crazy and just does not feel how I imagined a Quattro car would drive like. It has been to Audi for checks and Software updates- All Ok. I have changed all 4 tyres which made an almost un-driveable car a lot better but still not what I hoped for. I think they dropped 19" alloys and 245/30 tyres on it and stiffened the suspension without any thought to driving dynamics which (I would hope ) they did on RS cars. I have learnt to live with it but it has spoilt the owning experience.
On top of this I am not a fan of the S-Tronic gear box-the lag on acceleration and and clutch slip is nuts. I had always driven manuals and cant wait to go back. My 3rd gripe is the driving position. Both the pedal box and steering are offset to the right and I have never been able to get really comfortable.

On the plus side its a stunning looking car with (almost) every conceivable extra on it. It is great on the motorway and the MMI system is pretty good.
I am going to sell after Christmas and maybe try an A3 Quattro manual.

 

[A4B82.0tfsi-12]

Yep that is my issue with automatic. The lag until the car goes, is so freaking annoying, I just don't like it. I don't care if a S-tronic is 0.2 seconds faster 0-60, when the lag in ordinary driving is so irritating!

 

[matthew999]

Hi,

I have a 2013 225ps quattro 53k on clock and get about 36mpg on dis on a long motorway journey. In london traffic its terrible 120miles on £30 of petrol. What kind of milage do you have? as these engines can suffer from carbon build up at sacrifice of mpg iirc.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

 

[Klickflip]

Hi,

I have a 2013 225ps quattro 53k on clock and get about 36mpg on dis on a long motorway journey. In london traffic its terrible 120miles on £30 of petrol. What kind of milage do you have? as these engines can suffer from carbon build up at sacrifice of mpg iirc.

Sent from my HTC 10 using Tapatalk

Similar mpg by sounds of it , maybe be mines worse .
Mines is 95k 2010. Motorway now 32-38 mpg generally , have had over 40 from Scotland to Birmingham! That’s 50mph average speed cameras for you!

In town in Edinburgh I often see 13-18mpg during busy slow traffic (and the dam 20 speed limits now) and it a hilly city.
Quiet nightime city driving will see 20-25mpg in warm weather.

Think I normally put in £60 and that does 200 miles!

Might look at getting the carbon build up cleaned and see if that makes a difference or that additive on next oil change some garages offer

 

[Klickflip]

Yeah the lag can be annoying , just put in sport when you need to get away quickly or try keep moving , tho some times you can’t .

Understeer that’s not what I experience .
Less feeling than a b6/7 but much more responsive , feels like smaller more precise steering movements are required to keep the best line round corners.
My b7 50/50 Quattro understeered a bit this b8 doesn’t but the steering response is not linear and catches me out sometimes - is it progressive steering or something they call it?
To me it feels much more like a rear wheel drive bmw , fairly light and responsive , wheels are further forward than a b6/7.

Tram lining with 19s and certain tyres and road surfaces will be typical , I’ve 19s too get it a bit , got used to it now tho.

One thing to note is I lost it on a small roundabout in the wet recently , I did chuck it in and accelerate and was going all the way round it to back up where I came from.
But it just went , front lost traction first then the rear - and I did not feel the Quattro esp kicking in like I would of felt on my b7 .
Generally I would of felt the nipping on wheels braking and trying to get traction before I lost all traction.

This is probably budget tyres on the front (not my doing!) but still I’ve noticed it a few times now the esp is not as good as the b7, and overall traction not as predictable.
Maybe a new set of decent tyres will help but I maybe need to check out the esp more.

 

[jdp1962]

Tyres, tyres, tyres....

 

[Andyman44]

I have the same problem with my car (2.0 tfsi quattro). Pulling away in D is a nightmare, especially into traffic. I read recently that you can activate Audi Drive Select with carista. Just wondering if I did this and put it in dynamic would this improve throttle response?

 

[Booboo]

I fitted a DTUK pedal box on my B8.5 225HP with s-tronic. This eliminates the start up lag. They really are amazing things and bring the car to life.

 

[PJBTOV]

Ive made almost an identical change to the OP but have a Dynmamik. I’ve noticed similar to the OP but have a manual. The B8 needs a different approach I think. The B8 is a much bigger car; the B7 you could really chuck about.

I’m not finding the B8 as confidence inspiring in the wet so far, I have Dunlop Sportmaxx Tyres on mine and not that impressed anyone any other ideas tyres wise especially for the wet?

Thanks

 

[PJBTOV]

I would add I seem to be getting much better mpg than my B7 but my Dynamik has had the engine rebuilt following oil consumption issue.

Getting 35mpg easily on M way with too light a foot

I’m really please with this and the comfort of the car generally, just hope to bond with the handling over time which I hope will improve with some different tyres perhaps

 

[PJBTOV]

That mean to say without too light a right foot. I can get more like 40+ if I try hard

 

[Klickflip]

That mean to say without too light a right foot. I can get more like 40+ if I try hard

Wow.. I have to keep to under 70 and very light footed and anticipate braking to get 40mpg.
Otherwise General A road and motorway it’s 32-37.

 

[Klickflip]

I would add I seem to be getting much better mpg than my B7 but my Dynamik has had the engine rebuilt following oil consumption issue.

Getting 35mpg easily on M way with too light a foot

I’m really please with this and the comfort of the car generally, just hope to bond with the handling over time which I hope will improve with some different tyres perhaps

Shorter town runs the S-tronic does take a big mpg hit , longer runs I can get more , but generally I’m seeing this newer 2.0Tfsi is more thirsty , however I love the better turbo and more instant response , and that makes me scream it away from every roundabout with a smile

 

[Klickflip]

Ive made almost an identical change to the OP but have a Dynmamik. I’ve noticed similar to the OP but have a manual. The B8 needs a different approach I think. The B8 is a much bigger car; the B7 you could really chuck about.

I’m not finding the B8 as confidence inspiring in the wet so far, I have Dunlop Sportmaxx Tyres on mine and not that impressed anyone any other ideas tyres wise especially for the wet?

Thanks

Really interesting to hear someone else who has come from a B7 2.0tfsi to a B8 - we’re yours both Quattros as well?

Sounds like you are observing the same as me ..
the b7 is maybe more of a drivers car , I could anticipate it’s edge of grip and get a perfect balance of powering it round corners and roundabout with a slight drift but still fully committed on the accelerator .
-I think the 50/50 Quattro and heavier front end actually dig and pulled the front front better . (I too always had Dunlop Sport Max on it )

On B8 , While steering and response is much sharper , it’s also much lighter on the front and I feel it slipping out away on the front more than my B7.

- Do any others in S4s or 2.0TFSI Quattros find the front coming unstuck quite easily ? And if you’ve had a b7 Quattro like to add your thoughts..

 

[PJBTOV]

Both quattro although my B7 was lowered with RS4 ARB and mapped putting out about 260. To be honest I think my B8 is more than the 210 it’s meant to be, I have heard they can be post oil consumption rebuild.

Sportmax is what I currently have, had Goodyear Assym 2 and Continental on my B7. Also struggling slightly with feeling with car. Quattro was seamless in the B7 and feels a little less so on B8 and I wonder if it’s a more tyre sensitive car the the B7.

I’ve not really had any understeer yet but that could be the Dynamik lowered suspension and big wheels?