[manson]

Just thinking aloud, maybe Audi did not want take the risk of tarnishing the reliability of their supposedly volume product by mating the complex and comparatively unreliable DSG?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by manson

Just thinking aloud, maybe Audi did not want take the risk of tarnishing the reliability of their supposedly volume product by mating the complex and comparatively unreliable DSG?

Yeah that's probably the reason you don't get the Skoda/VW DSG unit on any of the Audi's. They know it's not as reliable and they are ok for a CVT only for that reason.

After all you wouldn't want your Audi's DSG failing on a trip to Goa would you.

[suhaas307]

I have a question.

Is the DSG option available for the lesser powered variants of the A3 and A4 in other countries (European market)? Or is it the same Multitronic 'box in the lower models and as you go for a better variant, you get the DSG?

[PlatzdaTurbo]

^^
Even in Europe the low range FWD variants of the A3/4 do NOT get the DSG. There are offered with multi-tronics.
Generally with Audis, Quattro & DSG go hand in hand.
High end quattro Audis are offered with DSG/ S-tronic depending on the variant.

[Nilesh5417]

Am i reading it right or is the 1.8 TFSI so close or better to the 2.0 TDI? I've never driven anything above 15lacs on 4 wheels so my comments are only based on the figures quoted.

The power, torque & power band, FE - everything about the 1.8 TFSI seems to be making the 2.0TDI redundant. Is that true in real life?

[shankar.balan]

Both the A4's that I have been using here on my holiday are Automatics. Very good response from the auto shift, especially in S mode. I still don't understand why these VAG cars are getting labelled as 'suspect'. In my experience no worries so far!

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by manson

Just thinking aloud, maybe Audi did not want take the risk of tarnishing the reliability of their supposedly volume product by mating the complex and comparatively unreliable DSG?

Only the low end FWD cars get CVT worldwide, most others get DSG and some of the top end ones get 8 Speed ZF.

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Both the A4's that I have been using here on my holiday are Automatics. Very good response from the auto shift, especially in S mode. I still don't understand why these VAG cars are getting labelled as 'suspect'. In my experience no worries so far!

The 1.8 has a multi-tronic gearbox and it is supposed to b substantially better than the much more complicated DSG in terms of sheer reliability.
You can refer to the many skoda horror stories pertaining to gearbox failure on this forum. The 1.8 tsi petrol & the 2.0 TDi diesel superb have different versions of DSGs. While the petrol has a 7-speed the diesel has a 6-speed.
The diesel car's DSG was a lot more reliable than the 7-speed on the petrol superb. (IIRC)
DSGs come with their own set of issues and niggles. By comparison , conventional CVTs have far less issues.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by PlatzdaTurbo

The 1.8 has a multi-tronic gearbox and it is supposed to b substantially better than the much more complicated DSG in terms of sheer reliability.
You can refer to the many skoda horror stories pertaining to gearbox failure on this forum. The 1.8 tsi petrol & the 2.0 TDi diesel superb have different versions of DSGs. While the petrol has a 7-speed the diesel has a 6-speed.
The diesel car's DSG was a lot more reliable than the 7-speed on the petrol superb. (IIRC)
DSGs come with their own set of issues and niggles. By comparison , conventional CVTs have far less issues.

Thank you for the info. Yes it is a multi-tronic and it is certainly very good to drive. Cheers!

[suhaas307]

^^ That's because CVTs have been tried and tested for years now.

I also think that it's the 7-Speed DSGs that have issues, not the 6-Speed 'box that you'd find in the diesel Superb and Laura.

Originally Posted by manson

Just thinking aloud, maybe Audi did not want take the risk of tarnishing the reliability of their supposedly volume product by mating the complex and comparatively unreliable DSG?

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Yeah that's probably the reason you don't get the Skoda/VW DSG unit on any of the Audi's. They know it's not as reliable and they are ok for a CVT only for that reason.

After all you wouldn't want your Audi's DSG failing on a trip to Goa would you.

So it's not that Audi wanted to avoid the risk of being caught in a tussle with customers regarding the DSG 'box. It's just that the lesser Audi variants (generally the FWD ones) don't come with the S-Tronic 'box at all.

S-Tronic and R-Tronic transmissions are reserved for the more powerful and Quattro-equipped Audis. The FWDs have to make do with the Multitronic setup.

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by shankar.balan

Thank you for the info. Yes it is a multi-tronic and it is certainly very good to drive. Cheers!

Sure in isolation even a multi-tronic suffices.
That is only until you try out the Audi S/R-tronic or the Porsche PDK boxes.
It is absolutely unbelievable ! No other words for them.
Shift times can be calculated in mili/nanoseconds. What makes them even more fun is their intuitive downshifts.
I personally prefer the 6-speed boxes to the 8-speeds (A4 3.0 has a 6-speed /A6 3.0 TDi has a 7-speed and the 530d has an 8-speed box) as in an 8-speed box the likeliness of the box shifting down a couple of gears when not required is very high. A problem of too many ratios to play with.
8-speed - Improved efficiency , too many ratios
6-speed - Relatively lesser efficiency , more fun.
Also i doubt if the 8-speed in the BMW 5 is a dual-clutch.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by PlatzdaTurbo

Also i doubt if the 8-speed in the BMW 5 is a dual-clutch.

The 8 Speed transmission in BMWs is a ZF sourced torque converter transmission. Its the most shared transmission today, everything from Bentleys to Cayennes, BMWs to Q7s, A8s... come with this transmission.

Shift times are not as rapid as the DSGs but for TC Auto the response is very very good. For daily use i'd rate this transmission better than any of the DSGs around.

[Karan1981]

Thanks for sharing the info on the facelifted A4 Plazaturbo, finally i'm happy that i bought my A4 2.0 TDI as i was always thinking about the new version coming with a lot more features along with power increased to 170bhp just like the passat (Luckily it didn't happen, allthough i wonder why?). While i see most people talk about power, somehow i don't know how many times one can use that in India

Anyways coming to the car, it looks awesome, i do like the new LED's, however the only thing i don't understand is why the car doesn't come with cornering lights that move with your steering? Really missed that feature on my Goa trip recently. I remember the merc c class having this feature that the sales rep was explaining to us during the demo, but well can't do much.

I think the new alloy wheels look much better and i would have preferred them any day over my 17 inch WCI rims.

Does the new A4 come with the lightning package just like the A6 where you can get your xenon plus and for lamps replaced for similar led's that throw enormous amout of light?

One more obvious question on my mind is that can the current A4 owners get any of these exchanged at a price incase they want the new look as i hardly see any changes except the cosmetics on the 2.0 TDI?

Also i had read at many places that the new Audi will come with a start stop button and Blue effeciency system, is that added in here or was that omitted too?

I can clearly see the knobs and buttons around the gear box that aren't there in mine, not sure if that's in the indian version though? I guess that's the MMI controller, navigation etc and i was told that only comes in the Quattro's are they are CBU's.


I can see that the boot space is increased, though i don't know if the leg room has increased as mentioned on some forums, however the fuel tank capacity seems to have decreased to 63 from the earlier 70 litres?

Coming to the Service plan i think even the current A4 owners should be able to opt for it as long as it's within 6 months from the purchase date.

The car seems to be all chromed up which is ok, but not really something i will miss.

Looking at the fact that not much has changed in terms of power, etc in the A4 2.0 TDI, do you think the price / value of the current model will still drop? I know generally it does, but i'm not very sure in this case.

You have mentioned new Head lamps too in one of the pictures, i'm not sure what's new in there though?

My car which is a 2012 model does not have a roof antenna, why would they put it on this one instead of putting it along with the defogger? That seems like going back in time IMO.

The review i read on an auto car mag, mentioned the new A4 has a 3 spoke steering with paddle shifters, while the pic you have posted seems to show the old 4 spoke one without paddle's? (I've read this on Zigwheels). And why on earth will they still give a car of thar category without paddle shifters?

From the picture the sunroof seems even smaller than the current or is it just the angle?

Sorry to bother you with so many questions, however i thought this will be the best place to calrify doubts.

Cheers!

[F150]

Originally Posted by manson

Just thinking aloud, maybe Audi did not want take the risk of tarnishing the reliability of their supposedly volume product by mating the complex and comparatively unreliable DSG?

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Yeah that's probably the reason you don't get the Skoda/VW DSG unit on any of the Audi's. They know it's not as reliable and they are ok for a CVT only for that reason.

After all you wouldn't want your Audi's DSG failing on a trip to Goa would you.

Do we have any reports of 6 speed DSG failure on the forum ?

Originally Posted by .anshuman

Only the low end FWD cars get CVT worldwide, most others get DSG and some of the top end ones get 8 Speed ZF.

Does that make A4 low end ?

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by F150

Do we have any reports of 6 speed DSG failure on the forum?

IIRC, fellow member V-16 had a thread reporting DSG failure on his Laura.

Edit: Here is the thread - 2006 Laura

Originally Posted by F150

Does that make A4 low end?

I think he meant low end variants from Audi