What next help?!

[H16OPY]

Hello,

Regular viewer of the forum from a far have to say I have found it a great source of information.

I wanted to pick people brains for ideas when it comes to changing my car. I currently have a S3 which I have had for a couple of years now however I'm wanting something bigger and more practical plus an Audi as I have been so impressed with my S3.

I would be open to a diesel trying to get something that returns 40+ mpg and automatic if poss with all the toys.

Budget would be up to 20k I would say.

Anybody got any ideas?


Thanks in advance.

 

[Cmw9]

My stepdad has an a6 2.0tdi s line. Very nice car and a 12 plate is within your budget

 

[H16OPY]

Good shout was just looking at them like the look of the A7 think it would stretch my budget too much.

 

[Cmw9]

Yeah the a7 is better looking but alot more expensive. The mulitronic gearbox is brilliant too but if your used to an s3 perhaps you should go for the 3.0 tdi

 

[H16OPY]

What are the options when it comes to auto gearboxes and Audi? Which is best?

 

[Cmw9]

I have s-tronic in my a3 which i think is brilliant, dont think i would go back to a manual now. The multitronic in the a6 i very good aswell. Hard to explain how it works as it doent have gears as such. It is the smoothest gearbox ive ever experienced driving

 

[nluk100]

I would go for a later S4, the one with the 3.0 t engine as these are bigger and very tuneable. A6 is a nice car but you will lose some of the 'fun factor' you have with the S3 as they are heavy!

 

[H16OPY]

Cheers for all the advice much appreciated

 

[Sayam]

A4 Avant, 3.0TDi Black Edition Will remap to around 300BHP and shed loads of torque it is a real machine on the road, especially with quattro.

S-tronic or the tiptronic box (in the 3.0TDi bi-turbo) are the ones to go for. Multitronic is a posh name for a standard CVT box and although very smooth doesn't take torque or abuse well...hence the reason you don't get it with 3.0TDi engines.

 

[H16OPY]

So the best gearbox to go for is the S-Tronic or Tiptronic by sounds of things. Do they have the paddle gear change option?

 

[Rideen]

Also bear in mind that S-Tronic is basically a DSG while Tiptronic is traditional automatic gearbox.

 

[Cmw9]

S-tronic beats tip tronic alday in my opinion. The newer wet plate ones are very strong too

 

[pluves1]

I know you specifically stated an Audi diesel but, have you considered a BMW? I only ask as I drive both an S3 and 335d Touring M Sport (not at the same time ) to be honest the BMW isn't much bigger in the passenger compartment but is in the boot. I find it an effortless drive and it only comes with an Auto gearbox with flappy paddles (something that nearly put me off). I'll be struggling to think of what to replace this with when I finally decide to let it go. Oh and before the 'useless in the snow' brigade comment all you need to do is put a set of winter alloys on when the temperature drops - never had an issue driving in the snow which we haven't had much of for the last few years anyway.

 

[H16OPY]

I'll check the BMW option out Pluves. What are they like on fuel?

Just I love my Audi kinda want another one.

 

[pluves1]

I suppose it depends which engine you get as to fuel consumption. My 335d returns around 500 miles on a fill up compared to the S3 which was under 300. That's real world fuel consumption of around 35mpg and I drive with a very heavy right foot. The brochure quotes 45+ which I suppose is feasible if you drive like your granny. This compares to the S3 which returns less than 25mpg in the real world. Extend both mileage ranges for pure motorway driving. When I researched diesel engines BMW were better mpg vs bhp.
To be honest I only bought the 335d as I didn't want to lose the 'power' of the S3 - in reality I'm probably going to go for a 530d next where the power output is similar to my current S3 as 250+ horses is plenty. The 335d is a bit too rapid and one of the reasons I currently have a few points on my licence.

 

[nluk100]

You must have a heavy right foot in your S3 as I can't get anywhere near 25mpg! My long term average is 30mpg but I get 35mpg on short journeys (~40 miles). I had a mapped A5 3.0 tdi and it would average 38mpg on the same road / driving style etc... so it doesn't actually cost that much more to run the S3.

 

[Sayam]

S-tronic beats tip tronic alday in my opinion. The newer wet plate ones are very strong too

I agree...dunno why Audi use the 'tiptronic' in the more powerful bi-turbo diesel. Perhaps they can't make an s-tronic to handle the torque.

So the best gearbox to go for is the S-Tronic or Tiptronic by sounds of things. Do they have the paddle gear change option?

Yes S-tronic does have paddle shift.

I suppose it depends which engine you get as to fuel consumption. My 335d returns around 500 miles on a fill up compared to the S3 which was under 300. That's real world fuel consumption of around 35mpg and I drive with a very heavy right foot. The brochure quotes 45+ which I suppose is feasible if you drive like your granny. This compares to the S3 which returns less than 25mpg in the real world. Extend both mileage ranges for pure motorway driving. When I researched diesel engines BMW were better mpg vs bhp.
To be honest I only bought the 335d as I didn't want to lose the 'power' of the S3 - in reality I'm probably going to go for a 530d next where the power output is similar to my current S3 as 250+ horses is plenty. The 335d is a bit too rapid and one of the reasons I currently have a few points on my licence.

BMWs are nice cars but suspension setup is too stiff for me and you can just about make a cup of good ol' yorkshire tea and drink it before those damn gearboxes (auto) decide which gear they want and put it in. That's my experience of a 2006 335d, 2008 530d and 2009 335d...

Edit: the 2006 335d was remapped and my God was that thing fast!!

 

[Cmw9]

I agree...dunno why Audi use the 'tiptronic' in the more powerful bi-turbo diesel. Perhaps they can't make an s-tronic to handle the torque.



Yes S-tronic does have paddle shift.



BMWs are nice cars but suspension setup is too stiff for me and you can just about make a cup of good ol' yorkshire tea and drink it before those damn gearboxes (auto) decide which gear they want and put it in. That's my experience of a 2006 335d, 2008 530d and 2009 335d...

Edit: the 2006 335d was remapped and my God was that thing fast!!

I dunno why either. The s-tronic is very strong. There is a thread somewhere of a golf running something like 500bhp and 700 nm and still holding up

 

[pluves1]

I agree...dunno why Audi use the 'tiptronic' in the more powerful bi-turbo diesel. Perhaps they can't make an s-tronic to handle the torque.



Yes S-tronic does have paddle shift.



BMWs are nice cars but suspension setup is too stiff for me and you can just about make a cup of good ol' yorkshire tea and drink it before those damn gearboxes (auto) decide which gear they want and put it in. That's my experience of a 2006 335d, 2008 530d and 2009 335d...

Edit: the 2006 335d was remapped and my God was that thing fast!!

Strange as I find the ride in our S3 harsher than the 335d! The beemer is on runflats as well

 

[H16OPY]

So I went out for a drive in my friends SQ5 today. Whatever gearbox was in that was awesome so smooth?!

That's what I'm after obviously my budget isn't SQ5 type money. Will I still be able to get that auto box for under 20k?

What are the main differences between the different auto gearboxes that Audi do?

Sorry if I'm being a noob just all the different variances are confusing me.

Ta

 

[Sayam]

Strange as I find the ride in our S3 harsher than the 335d! The beemer is on runflats as well

That isn't strange...you aren't the only one...while I don't like the stiffness of the BMW setup overall, it is well balanced and controls the car really well. On our Audis the ride is softer (which I like) but isn't damped enough...leading to the harshness you speak of

So I went out for a drive in my friends SQ5 today. Whatever gearbox was in that was awesome so smooth?!

That's what I'm after obviously my budget isn't SQ5 type money. Will I still be able to get that auto box for under 20k?

What are the main differences between the different auto gearboxes that Audi do?

Sorry if I'm being a noob just all the different variances are confusing me.

Ta

What Audi call 'Multitronic' - a CVT box, which stands for constantly variable transmission. There are no gears as such, but two drums liked with a belt or chain. Changing the size of one drum relative to the other alters the gear ratio. Very smooth, but only found on lower torque engines. When you drive it from standstill you will see the revs rise to 2000 and then stay there even though the car continues to accelerate.

S-tronic - is the bog standard DSG box. Absolutely awesome, really fast changes. Less smooth than multitronic.

Tiptronic - I'm not 100% sure on this but from what I know this is a traditional auto box which has a torque convertor. Gear changes not as fast as S-tronic.

I don't know what box the SQ5 has in but Audi will be able to tell you.