[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by 100Kmphormore

Nice ownership review! Why did you sell the Vento, since I remember that thread well and ownership was a breeze, and was wondering why it wasn’t updated in the last 6 months or so. What an answer to my wondering!

Yes, the Vento was in a league of its own! And thanks for the kind words
There was no one reason I believe, for moving on or triggering the upgrade decision. It was more about things starting to fall into place with our desire to move into the entry-luxury segment generally.
As with a job hunt, they say either you are disappointed with what you have or you are keen to move to something more exciting.

Originally Posted by nxshar2

Hi manson, Josh - what is the best way to auto start music play when you switch on the car. I use Youtube music but it still asks me to select the song and go to downloads when offline. Kind of annoying when you just want your downloaded playlist to start when you are in a hurry to drive off. e.g in my old city i have a usb plugged in which auto starts. Any tricks i am missing.

Not sure of any auto-start music functionality in the A4 as such. What I usually do the moment I get in, is plug my phone (wired CarPlay) and just tap the music icon (Amazon Music mostly). Depending upon what I want to listen to (besides the playlist already created), it is just a matter of only 3-4 taps before I get to what I want. So not much of a struggle for me.

Audi says that the keyfob + associated user settings usually triggers the last played infotainment features etc. but I have never experienced this in my Premium Plus variant.

[JoshMachine]

The last week-10 days or so have been every eventful.

Experienced this for the first time on my A4:-



I was doing maybe about 80ish on the highway when this popped up, and it was bit scary when the MID suddenly started dinging with this warning. Pulled over to the side, and clicked this pic. The warning said loss of pressure in the front right tyre, so immediately inspected it.

Went to the nearest petrol pump and found out that the the pressure had fallen down to almost 25 psi (I usually fill 36 front - 33 rear as per recommended regular load setting on the A4) and filled up back to almost near recommended levels (left 1-2 psi as margin to compensate for the hot tyre temperature). Reset & stored the threshold psi levels in the MMI, drove around with absolutely no trouble for the rest of the day. In hindsight, it looked like an one-off incident.

Next day morning, when the tyre was relatively cold, checked the pressure again. Showed 36 psi, which was the exact psi for regular load setting in the A4. That looked good.

Started off again on the same highway patch, and within about 10-15 mins, the warning dinged again! Now, this got me thinking about the matter being slightly more serious than just random loss of pressure and so I obviously had to get it checked from a proper tyre shop.
Went to Darshan Tyres, Kothrud for the same. They did a thorough inspection (putting it in a large water tub + soapy solution + some gel-type liquid spray to check for air leakages on the entire sidewall as well and the valve. However, nothing gave. Filled it back to the recommended tyre pressure setting and voila! Its been like that for the past 3 days and nothing has dinged, touchwood.

Few things that I discovered or rather (re)learnt in this whole episode.

There's a safety or anti-theft lug nut provided by Audi.
One has to fold the rear seat first via the small lever in the slot:-



..then open the tool kit, nestled under:-



..and then finally remove the anti-theft lug nut (which is custom-built for every car, I was told):-



Out of the 5 bolts on the tyre, there is 1 bolt which has to be opened only via this anti-theft or locking wheel nut. Quite a good feature, I would say.

Another thing that I learnt, how dreadful the experience is with Audi's Indirect TPMS mechanism on the A4.
Now, the indirect TPMS only throws up an error when the vehicle has reached a minimum threshold speed since the ABS and/or the wheel speed sensors won't detect the speed anomaly before-hand. I experienced this when my A4 was doing about 80 or so, which is not good.
Had this been a Direct TPMS, I believe it would have warned me at standstill.

Maybe its time I do what the majority are saying here.

[jkrishnakj]

The TpMS warning sound can actually shake you up. I had this during one of my first highway drive within my first month of the A6 ownership. Must admit, the sound shook me up. I did check for air pressure and continued only to face this within a fast again. With the tyre guys confirming no puncture, I refilled and continued.

Within a week, it came back again from the same tyre. Went to a proper tyre shop and filled up nitrogen thinking it’s all done. There very next day, I was driving to Coimbatore and just about 4/5 km before hitting home, the warnings came up again. Luckily, there was a Michelin tyre shop right there. The attendant and the owner seemed very knowledgeable when I explained the frequent issues. He ruled out a puncture too, after the standard soap water checks, but still went ahead and removed the tyre and there were several small sandbox like particles that he removed. He asked if I was driving through areas of construction and when I said yes, he checked the balance tyres too, fixed the issue with the one tyre, balanced it and handed over, all inside 1 hour.

And that’s it, I’ve never had the issue ever.

Hopefully your issue is solved, but if it reoccurs, it’s better to do a thorough check.

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

He ruled out a puncture too, after the standard soap water checks, but still went ahead and removed the tyre and there were several small sandbox like particles that he removed. He asked if I was driving through areas of construction and when I said yes, he checked the balance tyres too, fixed the issue with the one tyre, balanced it and handed over, all inside 1 hour.

Can you please elaborate what were these sandbox like particles?
And as per that person, how did these throw up an error on TPMS? Was it because they interfered/clogged the wheel sensors in any way?

Hopefully your issue is solved, but if it reoccurs, it’s better to do a thorough check.

Thanks, yeah, I also hope that the issue doesn't recur. For now, it's just the 1 tyre that gave me trouble!

By the way, I am assuming you are still on the Audi OEM indirect TPMS, or are you using any externally fitted device?

[jkrishnakj]

These were those very small sand/rough very smallish (sand sized) stones. These were causing pressure loss. There wasn’t an issue with the TPMS.

I’m still on the OEM indirect TPMS. Still putting up with these.

[nxshar2]

The direct tpms and auto air quality control are two of the lacking features which I miss most. In my usage, I would not exceed 60/70 on weekdays and then on weekends when you go on highways, you are always wondering if tire pressures are ok.

[JoshMachine]

7500 km update

Time flies, and how. 7 months already with 7500+ km on the odo!



When I look back in time and reminisce - what started with a preliminary quest last year to search for a car that would have a powerful engine + beautiful design element + stellar ride & handling + good on tech & luxury - ended with us owning what Audi calls, the core of its brand!



For those who live the IT humdrum life would know that after a hectic work week, weekends are all about relaxation, fun and moments that allow the family to spend a lot of time together.
Ditto with the A4.

Time spent with the A4 in the past 7 months has been akin to time spent on a weekend:-
* Relaxation – Check. Absolute comfort while driving.
* Fun – Check. Lot of elements all around.
* Family bonding – Check. We travel together, quite a lot. Kiddo (now a teenager), wifey & me. Sometimes parents, sometimes in-laws. All, a happy lot.

The last 7 months have been nothing but sheer comfort, indulgence and ofcourse a bit of that "Four Ringer" badge magic.

The delivery day back in Apr'22 is still very fresh in my mind, and I like to go back to this pic every now and then, seems like just yesterday we picked up the A4:-



With the B9.5 gen facelift changes both in & outside, Audi has really nailed the design element to an altogether next level and redefined the meaning of the word "wow":-







From being smitten with the design to being astounded by the reality of owning a 2.0 turbo petrol, the remit of the ownership experience emotion couldn't have been more dramatic.

As some of you might know, I had been driving the frugal Vento (and the hermit Dzire before that) for the past decade or so. Both diesels. Both having <1.5 liter engine cap.
So when the transition was being made to a super 190 hp, 2.0 liter turbo-charged petrol car, I kind of forecasted what was in stake. But to actually experience the change is an altogether different story. Yes, I am talking about the running costs.

I have these stats from Fuelio which I refer every now & then. I started using this app only from about 2500 km mark or so.

Around 12 km/l avg FE so far as per the app, with best of 14 km/l and worst of 10.25 km/l:-





Refills usually have been around avg Rs. 4500 per refill:-



Have spent almost 50,000 bucks on petrol so far with avg Rs.10/km cost:-





And the story goes on and on..should you have any other Q, please feel free to shoot.
I usually don't have a OCD behavior as such about tracking these numbers day in/out, but like to keep a logical tab on where the graph is heading each month.

To continue the topic of app-talk screenshots, here are a couple from the myAudi Connect:-

I am still a "Newbie" per Audi:



Audi's gesture for a Happy Diwali:



Back to present day

Visited the lovely Glosswerkz workshop for the regular cleaning/detailing AMC and the results are just superlative, as always:-









Who wouldn't be enamored, eh?

[vredesbyrd]

Nice! That is about 1000+ km a month. This is exactly how these machines should be driven!

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by vredesbyrd

Nice! That is about 1000+ km a month. This is exactly how these machines should be driven!

Thanks

And I always feel there's probably a lot that I can do to add to this monthly number. Our "road trip" season is around the corner, hopefully more soon then.

[vredesbyrd]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

Our "road trip" season is around the corner, hopefully more soon then.

Drive her to Uttarakhand/Himachal. You won't regret it.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

7500 km update

Time flies, and how. 7 months already with 7500+ km on the odo!

Who wouldn't be enamored, eh?

The car looks as new as day-1.

I really like this shade on the A4. Looks neat. The locking nut feature is really nice from Audi. I too discovered it during one of the "false alarm" puncture repairs and coincidently at Darshan tyres in Kothrud like you.

[JoshMachine]

Our "road trip" season is around the corner

So it goes..

[amartya_bhp]

Originally Posted by JoshMachine

So it goes..

Looking forward to your road trip - cant wait to get mine back from the workshop and head out. Planning a trip to Bandhavgarh NP over the first week of Jan from Delhi - anyone willing to join in and plan together?

[JoshMachine]

Originally Posted by amartya_bhp

Looking forward to your road trip

Thanks, the travelogue is now published here.

Had a great time traversing the ghats nestled in the Sahyadri mountains, did close to 400 kms for the onward and return journey.
Distance-wise not that much, but had great fun courtesy some pure driving experience along scenic roads and some yummy strawberry cuisine at many places.

Ofcourse, the A4 did its duty honorably providing unparalleled comfort all along!

The route was Pune > Dhom lakeside (near Wai) > Panchgani > Mahabaleshwar > Chalkewadi wind mills (near Satara) > Pune.

Sharing some pics for viewing pleasure





Some lip-smacking strawberry dessert at the hotel:-



..with beautiful spots along the winding ghat roads:-



and finally some breathtaking views at Chalkewadi, a photographer's paradise:-

[JoshMachine]

Unusual showers in the city?

..usual splendor on the roads: