[jkrishnakj]

Sorry for going OT:

So, related to the whole FWD/RWD discussions, what exactly is the issue? I’ve driven 7000+ in my Audi and I really can’t figure out.

Wouldn’t a higher % of cars on the roads here be a FWD?

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Sorry for going OT:

So, related to the whole FWD/RWD discussions, what exactly is the issue? I’ve driven 7000+ in my Audi and I really can’t figure out.

Wouldn’t a higher % of cars on the roads here be a FWD?

Absolutely no issues at all. As you said majority cars are anyways FWD.

The only thing is when you drive a RWD car the feel is different since the front wheels do only the steering and the rear do the power delivery. This gives a completely different feel which some people prefer whereas many other's won't even realise.

Also the reason why the BMW X1 and 2 series GC is FWD now since the number of people that appreciated the RWD characteristic and feel is very less.

In the end it is personal preference and main thing is if you enjoy driving your FWD or RWD car, nothing else matters.

The discussion here was more technical on the drivetrain layout and weight balance of a front wheel drive vs a rear wheel drive.

[gungax]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Sorry for going OT:

So, related to the whole FWD/RWD discussions, what exactly is the issue? I’ve driven 7000+ in my Audi and I really can’t figure out.

Wouldn’t a higher % of cars on the roads here be a FWD?

On a rear-wheel drive car the tyres are pushing the car. In a front wheel drive the tyres are pulling the car. So a rear-wheel drive car will not spin its wheels during acceleration as early in the torque curve as a front-wheel drive car.

Consider this: You have to climb a steep cement slope to enter a house/ hotel gate or garage as is common in hill stations, if you reverse into the place in a FWD car you may never have the issue of the wheels spinning (depends on incline). If you drive front in, your front tyres may lose traction.

If you drive your A4 hard enough around a curved road you will find that the rear will suddenly have a mind of its own. (Provided the traction control is off)

Personally after many-many road trips into the Scottish Highlands, I found All Wheel Drive cars like the TT/ A4 (Quattro) or XC 60 AWD to be best compared to the front or rear wheel drive cars. (Like the Vauxhall, Fiat and Ford that I drove). Hence you have XDrive from BMW now in their sedans and 4Matic in Mercedes.

Originally Posted by Ojas

I tested with Bluetooth and also adjusted bass/treble, but the bass was not deep or tight. (My references for a solid bass: 520d, MG Hector)

Few specific questions:

1. There isn't a subwoofer in the first place, right? The sales guy said there was one, but I didn't think so. I also couldn't find the specs anywhere.
2. Does the stock amp not have a subwoofer output?
3. Is there space for adding a concealed subwoofer? Or would it have to be in the boot?
4. In your opinion, how good would be the system be with just a new amp + sub, without changing the speakers? Do you also have an indicative cost for this? And how much difference do you think changing the speakers also would make?

1. In the boot, look below the rear parcel tray on the left. There is a 10" or 8" 'open sub' there.
2. The stock amp drives this sub. Since its a small sub, the bass is too tight for my taste. I prefer the boom of a 12" sub.
3. A concealed sub is possible on the right side of the boot, but then you will have to cut the trim and make a box for the sub in the space inside.
4. The last time I changed only the sub was in my SX4 in 2008. For my music taste it was the perfect upgrade since I am a bass junkie and listen to Dance/ Trance/ Hip Hop & RnB most of the time.
In my previous upgrade, Anwar from TopGear Bangalore changed every thing in my Santa Fe and also used sound dampening all over the car. The sound that this system produces is at a different level, got me listening to even classical and soul music apart from my usual preference.
To get an idea of what a good system actually is, consider this: you can play the system at 50% or more of its thumping glory and still have a normal conversation with the person sitting next to you. (And the Apple Watch doesn't give you the 'Loud Environment' alert ) Basically crystal clear, balanced with IRVM shaking bass.

[Ojas]

Originally Posted by gungax

2. The stock amp drives this sub. Since its a small sub, the bass is too tight for my taste. I prefer the boom of a 12" sub.

Alright! So the weak link here seems to be the sub itself. How about just replacing it? Wouldn't that give us the maximum improvement possible without fiddling too much with rest of the system? I ask this specifically because I wanted to rule out that the HU itself is not the culprit here! (and that rest of the speakers are good as well for mids/highs). Again, in your view, how much improvement would replacing the sub alone bring?

Originally Posted by gungax

So a rear-wheel drive car will not spin its wheels during acceleration as early in the torque curve as a front-wheel drive car.

Personally after many-many road trips into the Scottish Highlands, I found All Wheel Drive cars like the TT/ A4 (Quattro) or XC 60 AWD to be best compared to the front or rear wheel drive cars. (Like the Vauxhall, Fiat and Ford that I drove). Hence you have XDrive from BMW now in their sedans and 4Matic in Mercedes.

I'm a noob here, but you mean that front wheels will not spin as much, right?

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but at a basic level RWD improves handling, AWD improves traction (situationally), right? (although they do impact other parameters of driving dynamics) For hilly regions, AWD seems to be the best bet.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Sorry for going OT:
So, related to the whole FWD/RWD discussions, what exactly is the issue? I’ve driven 7000+ in my Audi and I really can’t figure out.
Wouldn’t a higher % of cars on the roads here be a FWD?

As others have pointed out, there is really no ISSUE as such

My 2 cents on this: the entire FWD/RWD saga has got everything in it - history + brand + positioning + differentiation etc in the market!

The way I see it, I feel the conundrum is a potential combination of the below factors:-

* Moment of Inertia:- dealing with how difficult/easy it is to turn an object. A hammer with the head in the middle will be much easy to manoeuvre or rotate as compared to the one with the head at its end. Same rule with the car having the engine (heaviest part in the setup) or the drivetrain (again, a very heavy contraption) being placed at its ends.

* Weight distribution:- dealing with the handling of the car. The closer you get to 50:50 weight distribution, the better handling you will derive.

* Division of demands for grip and steering:- Now this is about the tyres & axles, they have to provide grip while cornering + enable acceleration + help in braking + aid steering. In a front wheel drive setup, the front tyres + front axle do all the workload. An ideal scenario would be to provide the drive via the rear axle and allow front tyres to focus on steering.

Sorry for simplifying the above to the nth level, but here's the summary of what I eventually wanted to convey:-

* The front engine, rear wheel drive combination provides good weight distribution, but has a higher moment of inertia. In general, this layout has most of the advantages of much more specialist cars with very few drawbacks so can be a very good choice for an "enthusiast" car.
* The front engine, front wheel drive combination have relatively lesser grip under hard acceleration or enthusiast driving. The lighter rear end may have a tendency to come round if cornering is not well executed, since the heavy forward end can reduce the grip at the back.

Them why would somebody not produce front engine + rear wheel drive, all the time since it is "better" at handling?
The answer somewhere lies in the middle of:- higher engineering costs vs. the ethos of how a car should be positioned vs. mass market consumer preferences of really not bothering with an enthusiast setup vs. the relatively easier (and maybe cheaper) tuning that can be done to get close to what most of the folks out there want, while keeping overall costs down

[goenkakushal]

Originally Posted by Ojas

Alright! So the weak link here seems to be the sub itself. How about just replacing it? Wouldn't that give us the maximum improvement possible without fiddling too much with rest of the system? I ask this specifically because I wanted to rule out that the HU itself is not the culprit here! (and that rest of the speakers are good as well for mids/highs). Again, in your view, how much improvement would replacing the sub alone bring?

All channels of an amplifier provide a specific power output. If you can find a matching sub which performs better with same amplification, it may workout. This is easier said than done.

If you install a sub which draws higher power than what the amplifier is designed to serve, you are going to fry the amp and ofcourse say bye to your warranty as well.


Probable solution could be, replacing the amp and speakers with a B&O system which the vehicles sold abroad are equipped with (A4 S line variant) . I had seen such option being available on AliExpress. This system shouldn't have any compatability issues like size/fitment also it will be compatible with original head unit.

[gungax]

Originally Posted by Ojas

Alright! So the weak link here seems to be the sub itself. How about just replacing it? Wouldn't that give us the maximum improvement possible without fiddling too much with rest of the system? I ask this specifically because I wanted to rule out that the HU itself is not the culprit here! (and that rest of the speakers are good as well for mids/highs). Again, in your view, how much improvement would replacing the sub alone bring?

One option I am looking into is to just bypass the OEM amp and route existing speakers through an after market amp. For bass a new sub will definitely be required.
I believe the weakest link in the whole system is the Harman amp. It's the size of my palm but has to drive 10 speakers including a centre speaker and the sub!

As I have stated before, you get adapters specifically to route the output of the A4 OEM harman amp to another after-market amp. If sound quality from the MMI output is poor, then just add a DSP to your after-market setup. I am guessing the MMI is bad because in international Audi forums there are complaints of the A4 with B&O being of poor quality.

You can't do anything about the head unit. It's too heavily integrated into the other systems and any case it's the latest MMI albeit a very watered down version compared to the international variants.

[Ojas]

If MMI is really poor, then it would mean that pretty much the entire system needs to be changed, given the amp and sub are not great either. I'd be reluctant to do this (prefer stock as much as possible), but please keep us posted on how things go at your end.

[Kinoov]

Maybe a dumb question. Since A4 has a tyre pressure warning system, is it still required to check tyre pressure every month? Or does it suffice to check only when the warning light lits up?

[Nair.V8]

Originally Posted by Kinoov

Maybe a dumb question. Since A4 has a tyre pressure warning system, is it still required to check tyre pressure every month? Or does it suffice to check only when the warning light lits up?

Modern day in-car tyre pressure systems are fairly reliable. I've seen some random pressure variations in my VW whenever there was a change in ambient temperature, but apart from that it was pretty accurate.

[goenkakushal]

Originally Posted by Kinoov

Maybe a dumb question. Since A4 has a tyre pressure warning system, is it still required to check tyre pressure every month? Or does it suffice to check only when the warning light lits up?

This is not a dumb question my friend. A4 has a Tyre pressure warrning system which is based on tyre rotations per Km . (Unlike few cars which display pressure on MID in terms of PSI)
Which means it will show warning only if pressure is really low.

If pressure is just a few PSI up/down it may not trigger a warning.

To maintain optimum pressure it is best to check it once a month at least or before a long drive.

I have also found that the Air filling machines at petrol pumps are often not calibrated properly. This may result in overinflating or underinflating. Its always better to carry your own Pressure measuring tool to check pressure.

[Pramodbhaskar]

Hi BHPians,

Sharing few pics of the beauty we brought home this Diwali. Decided to treat myself after 9 effortless years with Honda city. I was on the fence for 2 years before taking the plunge.

A4 Technology was selected after taking test drive of 330 LI and S60. I have to confess 330 LI was an absolute cracker and ticked all boxes, but I somehow found it too flashy and eventually settled for A4. There was also ~13 Lakhs difference between the two and I decided the stretch was not worth it, considering I am not a true blue enthusiast.

I prefer driving myself and my top requirements were NVH, refinement, ride comfort, useable boot space and rear legroom when parents are in city.

So the situation now is that every time I drive it, I fall in love a bit more; thanks to it's refinement, gorgeous interiors and cushiony ride quality + It has enough power for my taste and requirement.

Some members are worried about the audio quality. I will confess it didn't blow me initially, but after the initial break in and using lossless Apple Music (wired), I really don't see the need of an upgrade. Bass at +3 and Treble at +4/5 does it for me (Mostly listen to Jazz and electronics). Moreover, don't have the energy for the full shebang, that itch was taken care off in City

Thanks for reading the post...

P.S- hated the rims initially, now they have grown on me

[Jamsukh]

Dear A4 owners. Would request if you could share your thoughts on the long term ownership of your beauties. How do you see them over the months of use done?

Am contemplating between picking up an A4 or wait for the new C class to launch or consider the Superb or VW Tiguan getting launched. Thanks.

[Venkatesh]

Audi A4 Premium variant launched in India at Rs 40 lakh (ex-showroom). Bookings open now.



The Audi A4 Premium variant will now be available alongwith the Premium Plus and Technology variants.



Link

Audi A4 Premium equipment list

[AKSarkar1]

Originally Posted by Venkatesh

Audi A4 Premium variant launched in India at Rs 40 lakh (ex-showroom)

Thanks for sharing, a very welcome according to me. While the A4 might not have the appeal of a C Class or a 3 series for some buyers, a lower price point would definitely attract the people in this segment looking out for car that ticks 'most of the boxes'.