B8 S4 Ownership
Discussion
Cupramax said:
Scuffers said:
I would assume that's a mess up?
I used to run Dunlop wintersports 225/50R17 AO's (as in Audi spec) on 7.5J17 rimms (Audi B7 rimms)
the 19" S4 rim are J8.5, and you should not be fitting 225 tyres on a J8.5 rim.
That was my thinking exactly and why i first commented... I used to run Dunlop wintersports 225/50R17 AO's (as in Audi spec) on 7.5J17 rimms (Audi B7 rimms)
the 19" S4 rim are J8.5, and you should not be fitting 225 tyres on a J8.5 rim.
Cupramax said:
Ive just looked that part up and they're 7.5j x 18. Now the 225's make sense.
I guess you mean the winter wheels are 7.5J - What about the ones for the A5?Conflicting info abounds. Here's the info from http://wheel-size.com which someone pointed me at a while back. A4's have 8J 18" wheels, while A5's have 8.5. Same story with 19", A4: 8.5J, A5: 9J
I can't be arsed to take one off and actually measure it
Scuffers said:
Fat hippo said:
Hi, i'm a recent nee owner of a 2012 S4 avant bought in September and thought i'd say hello.
Interestingly, today I picked up a set of winter wheels (alloy rims and pireli tyres) for just £730 from my local Audi dealer. Just thought i'd let you know as that is a fantastic price in my opinion.
got a picture of them?Interestingly, today I picked up a set of winter wheels (alloy rims and pireli tyres) for just £730 from my local Audi dealer. Just thought i'd let you know as that is a fantastic price in my opinion.
silentbrown said:
Fat hippo said:
Interestingly, today I picked up a set of winter wheels (alloy rims and pireli tyres) for just £730 from my local Audi dealer. Just thought i'd let you know as that is a fantastic price in my opinion.
That's a great price. Do they have a special offer, or did you just haggle?I guess they're 225/45 R18s?
When the chap brought the price up on the screen we were both shocked. I had to remind him I wanted the wheel and tyre. They said they would check with Audi UK (i thinnk) and called me back later to tell me the price was indeed correct.
They are currently sat in my garage in some protective wrapping but they do look a tad narrower than standard so I think they 225s rather than 245s, and are 18s
silentbrown said:
Fat hippo said:
Interestingly, today I picked up a set of winter wheels (alloy rims and pireli tyres) for just £730 from my local Audi dealer. Just thought i'd let you know as that is a fantastic price in my opinion.
That's a great price. Do they have a special offer, or did you just haggle?I guess they're 225/45 R18s?
When the chap brought the price up on the screen we were both shocked. I had to remind him I wanted the wheel and tyre. They said they would check with Audi UK (i thinnk) and called me back later to tell me the price was indeed correct.
They are currently sat in my garage in some protective wrapping but they do look a tad narrower than standard so I think they 225s rather than 245s, and are 18s
Fat hippo said:
Not got a picture as yet because they are cureently sat in my garage waiting for me to pit them on the car. Been busy at work so not had any chance to take the wrapping off, however, I believe they are the 5 double spoke S design 18s as per the standard S4 comes with.
if you can, before you fit them, take a pic of the back of the wheel where the size and offset are stamped in please?Fat hippo said:
No haggling involved. I thought I would turn up at the parts desk and ask how much as I was struggling to find evidence of any promotions online.
When the chap brought the price up on the screen we were both shocked. I had to remind him I wanted the wheel and tyre. They said they would check with Audi UK (i thinnk) and called me back later to tell me the price was indeed correct.
They are currently sat in my garage in some protective wrapping but they do look a tad narrower than standard so I think they 225s rather than 245s, and are 18s
Time for a phone call... You do have FOUR winter wheels and tyres, don't you? (Oh - and any chance of a copy of the part numbers off your invoice...)When the chap brought the price up on the screen we were both shocked. I had to remind him I wanted the wheel and tyre. They said they would check with Audi UK (i thinnk) and called me back later to tell me the price was indeed correct.
They are currently sat in my garage in some protective wrapping but they do look a tad narrower than standard so I think they 225s rather than 245s, and are 18s
silentbrown said:
Time for a phone call... You do have FOUR winter wheels and tyres, don't you? (Oh - and any chance of a copy of the part numbers off your invoice...)
Well, as always, a slightly different figure. Main dealer has quoted £850 inc. VAT for a full set of 225/45 18's, Pirelli winter tyres. Plenty in stock at the factory...silentbrown said:
silentbrown said:
Time for a phone call... You do have FOUR winter wheels and tyres, don't you? (Oh - and any chance of a copy of the part numbers off your invoice...)
Well, as always, a slightly different figure. Main dealer has quoted £850 inc. VAT for a full set of 225/45 18's, Pirelli winter tyres. Plenty in stock at the factory...Just looked at the invoice and the part number is A8K0 073 248 8Z8 "comp wheel" and A4F0 071 156 for the wheel bag.
Prices were £148.11 for each wheel (alloy plus tyre) and £20.83 for a pack of 4 tyre bags. Need to add VAT to these prices but the total ende up as £735.92 inc VAT.
I'm wondering if the potential cold weather this week is starting to drive up the prices...
Hello. I thought I'd introduce myself as a new S4 B8.5 Avant owner. Picked it up a few weeks ago, but it's taken those few weeks just to read through this thread! But some really useful information, so thanks to contributors.
It's a well specced car, 2015 black, black edition (with more black thrown in), including drive select and sports diff.
I've come from a C63 coupe, so this is the sensible family car for me, and it feels it in comparison! It's definitely less exciting, noisy and fun. But much more practical! And looks good too.
Some observations: I haven't yet got comfortable in the seats, I'm hoping to find a sweet spot soon as I spend a reasonable chunk of time in them. I prefer the Mercedes sat nav / MMI but may just be because I'm not used to it yet. Throttle response is excellent in S mode, although I am finding it changes up a gear a lot earlier than I'd expect - but I'm still in the running in period so have been taking it relatively easy. Fuel economy is not much better than the C63 (currently averaging about 25 v 21 in the C63) but ditto my hope is it will improve over time. The ride is loads better than the C63, but steering feel is definitely not.
Other than that, it's a nice driving environment, I love the styling, the wife (and neighbours) prefer it and it's a hell of a lot easier to transport the little bundle of joy that recently entered my life!
It's a well specced car, 2015 black, black edition (with more black thrown in), including drive select and sports diff.
I've come from a C63 coupe, so this is the sensible family car for me, and it feels it in comparison! It's definitely less exciting, noisy and fun. But much more practical! And looks good too.
Some observations: I haven't yet got comfortable in the seats, I'm hoping to find a sweet spot soon as I spend a reasonable chunk of time in them. I prefer the Mercedes sat nav / MMI but may just be because I'm not used to it yet. Throttle response is excellent in S mode, although I am finding it changes up a gear a lot earlier than I'd expect - but I'm still in the running in period so have been taking it relatively easy. Fuel economy is not much better than the C63 (currently averaging about 25 v 21 in the C63) but ditto my hope is it will improve over time. The ride is loads better than the C63, but steering feel is definitely not.
Other than that, it's a nice driving environment, I love the styling, the wife (and neighbours) prefer it and it's a hell of a lot easier to transport the little bundle of joy that recently entered my life!
DTB77 said:
Hello. I thought I'd introduce myself as a new S4 B8.5 Avant owner. Picked it up a few weeks ago, but it's taken those few weeks just to read through this thread! But some really useful information, so thanks to contributors.
It's a well specced car, 2015 black, black edition (with more black thrown in), including drive select and sports diff.
I've come from a C63 coupe, so this is the sensible family car for me, and it feels it in comparison! It's definitely less exciting, noisy and fun. But much more practical! And looks good too.
Some observations: I haven't yet got comfortable in the seats, I'm hoping to find a sweet spot soon as I spend a reasonable chunk of time in them. I prefer the Mercedes sat nav / MMI but may just be because I'm not used to it yet. Throttle response is excellent in S mode, although I am finding it changes up a gear a lot earlier than I'd expect - but I'm still in the running in period so have been taking it relatively easy. Fuel economy is not much better than the C63 (currently averaging about 25 v 21 in the C63) but ditto my hope is it will improve over time. The ride is loads better than the C63, but steering feel is definitely not.
Other than that, it's a nice driving environment, I love the styling, the wife (and neighbours) prefer it and it's a hell of a lot easier to transport the little bundle of joy that recently entered my life!
Hi and welcome. Interesting reading and nice to hear some comparisons between the two cars. I was dead set on a c63 estate, but couldn't afford a new one and couldn't find a sensibly specced used one. It's a well specced car, 2015 black, black edition (with more black thrown in), including drive select and sports diff.
I've come from a C63 coupe, so this is the sensible family car for me, and it feels it in comparison! It's definitely less exciting, noisy and fun. But much more practical! And looks good too.
Some observations: I haven't yet got comfortable in the seats, I'm hoping to find a sweet spot soon as I spend a reasonable chunk of time in them. I prefer the Mercedes sat nav / MMI but may just be because I'm not used to it yet. Throttle response is excellent in S mode, although I am finding it changes up a gear a lot earlier than I'd expect - but I'm still in the running in period so have been taking it relatively easy. Fuel economy is not much better than the C63 (currently averaging about 25 v 21 in the C63) but ditto my hope is it will improve over time. The ride is loads better than the C63, but steering feel is definitely not.
Other than that, it's a nice driving environment, I love the styling, the wife (and neighbours) prefer it and it's a hell of a lot easier to transport the little bundle of joy that recently entered my life!
Have you got the standard seats (adjustable headrest) or the sports seats (more like the c63)? I found the standard more comfortable as the bolster shape seemed better suited to my bulk.
Re the economy, I've averaged around 20-21mpg in mixed driving over the last 2500 miles, so you might not see much improvement unless you do a lot of gentle motorway driving.
Re holding gears, it's really worth pushing the Gearlever across to manual and using the paddles or the lever. I've been doing this more and more recently (probably contributing to fuel consumption) but it makes the car so much more responsive.
I've set up the Individual on the MMI so that the suspension is in comfort, the steering is in comfort and everything else is in dynamic. The sports diff is great and although it never feels rwd, you can encourage it to move a bit if you give it some stick.
The biggest issue I have at the moment is thinking how much fun it would be with more like circa 500bhp courtesy of a remap and pulley change. The problem (apart from the warranty) is that the CREC engine in the most recent S4's has a new Simos 16 ECU that nobody has been yet able to crack.
Enjoy the car!
Chiefbadger said:
Hi and welcome. Interesting reading and nice to hear some comparisons between the two cars. I was dead set on a c63 estate, but couldn't afford a new one and couldn't find a sensibly specced used one.
Have you got the standard seats (adjustable headrest) or the sports seats (more like the c63)? I found the standard more comfortable as the bolster shape seemed better suited to my bulk.
Re the economy, I've averaged around 20-21mpg in mixed driving over the last 2500 miles, so you might not see much improvement unless you do a lot of gentle motorway driving.
Re holding gears, it's really worth pushing the Gearlever across to manual and using the paddles or the lever. I've been doing this more and more recently (probably contributing to fuel consumption) but it makes the car so much more responsive.
I've set up the Individual on the MMI so that the suspension is in comfort, the steering is in comfort and everything else is in dynamic. The sports diff is great and although it never feels rwd, you can encourage it to move a bit if you give it some stick.
The biggest issue I have at the moment is thinking how much fun it would be with more like circa 500bhp courtesy of a remap and pulley change. The problem (apart from the warranty) is that the CREC engine in the most recent S4's has a new Simos 16 ECU that nobody has been yet able to crack.
Enjoy the car!
Thanks for the response. I think I've got the standard seats (half leather/alcantara) but I'm quite a short fella (5'5") which may be the problem. I'm still fiddling around with it so will persevere. Haven't tried moving the steering wheel yet (if you can?), perhaps that will help. Have you got the standard seats (adjustable headrest) or the sports seats (more like the c63)? I found the standard more comfortable as the bolster shape seemed better suited to my bulk.
Re the economy, I've averaged around 20-21mpg in mixed driving over the last 2500 miles, so you might not see much improvement unless you do a lot of gentle motorway driving.
Re holding gears, it's really worth pushing the Gearlever across to manual and using the paddles or the lever. I've been doing this more and more recently (probably contributing to fuel consumption) but it makes the car so much more responsive.
I've set up the Individual on the MMI so that the suspension is in comfort, the steering is in comfort and everything else is in dynamic. The sports diff is great and although it never feels rwd, you can encourage it to move a bit if you give it some stick.
The biggest issue I have at the moment is thinking how much fun it would be with more like circa 500bhp courtesy of a remap and pulley change. The problem (apart from the warranty) is that the CREC engine in the most recent S4's has a new Simos 16 ECU that nobody has been yet able to crack.
Enjoy the car!
WRT holding gears, the s4 I test drove seemed to rev in to the red line with no effort, but then you always drive someone else's vehicle harder than your own! I'm saving myself until I get through the running in period (up to 800, so should be there next week), then I'll give the paddles / manual a go. I never bothered with the paddles in the c63 as they were more sluggish than the auto (you couldn't change down more than one gear at a time), but sounds like these are better - that said, the S4 paddles don't feel as comfortable/easy to grip, but again, that may be down to my teeny hands (you know what they say, small hands..... small driving gloves).
Unfortunately I don't have the adjustable dampers, I'd have liked those. Interesting comment on preferring the steering in comfort mode, can I ask why? The Audi salesman recommended comfort too, but I wasn't sure and have been constantly switching between comfort/auto/dynamic without settling on one yet (my commute is a right mix of urban, rural and m-way)!
One other issue I've had in the first few weeks of motoring, is my iPhone 6 connection with the AMI(?) in the glovebox. It frequently loses the connection and reboots. It's possible that there's a problem with the lightning connection within my iPhone, although I had recently cleared it of fluff and don't have issues with any other lightning adaptor.
I also get a message saying that there could be problems if I am connected via both bluetooth and the AMI (something like "please close one of the connections for error free playback").
Does anyone else have either of these problems / anything to worry about?
I also get a message saying that there could be problems if I am connected via both bluetooth and the AMI (something like "please close one of the connections for error free playback").
Does anyone else have either of these problems / anything to worry about?
Comfort mode on steering keeps the steering weight the same and allows you to drive fingertip style. It is a bit too light though, for me. In auto it loads and unloads randomly which I find annoying, but you get used to. In dynamic it's just heavy! Ours is on factory 20s (S5 Sportback) which doesn't help as they're also 9" width.
Sports diff in dynamic is a good call as it can do its job then
I've found eco mode for motorway use does save some fuel, but ours is pre-facelift which are generally regarded to be a fair bit worse on fuel than the later cars. I would expect yours to improve a lot when the engine has loosened up a bit
Enjoy!
Sports diff in dynamic is a good call as it can do its job then
I've found eco mode for motorway use does save some fuel, but ours is pre-facelift which are generally regarded to be a fair bit worse on fuel than the later cars. I would expect yours to improve a lot when the engine has loosened up a bit
Enjoy!
DTB77 said:
Thanks for the response. I think I've got the standard seats (half leather/alcantara) but I'm quite a short fella (5'5") which may be the problem. I'm still fiddling around with it so will persevere. Haven't tried moving the steering wheel yet (if you can?), perhaps that will help.
WRT holding gears, the s4 I test drove seemed to rev in to the red line with no effort, but then you always drive someone else's vehicle harder than your own! I'm saving myself until I get through the running in period (up to 800, so should be there next week), then I'll give the paddles / manual a go. I never bothered with the paddles in the c63 as they were more sluggish than the auto (you couldn't change down more than one gear at a time), but sounds like these are better - that said, the S4 paddles don't feel as comfortable/easy to grip, but again, that may be down to my teeny hands (you know what they say, small hands..... small driving gloves).
Unfortunately I don't have the adjustable dampers, I'd have liked those. Interesting comment on preferring the steering in comfort mode, can I ask why? The Audi salesman recommended comfort too, but I wasn't sure and have been constantly switching between comfort/auto/dynamic without settling on one yet (my commute is a right mix of urban, rural and m-way)!
I guess you just need to keep playing around with it, but the wheel also adjusts so I'm sure you'll get there. They are the standard seats (I have the same) as I also thought that they made the back a bit less claustrophobic for the kids (less bulky). WRT holding gears, the s4 I test drove seemed to rev in to the red line with no effort, but then you always drive someone else's vehicle harder than your own! I'm saving myself until I get through the running in period (up to 800, so should be there next week), then I'll give the paddles / manual a go. I never bothered with the paddles in the c63 as they were more sluggish than the auto (you couldn't change down more than one gear at a time), but sounds like these are better - that said, the S4 paddles don't feel as comfortable/easy to grip, but again, that may be down to my teeny hands (you know what they say, small hands..... small driving gloves).
Unfortunately I don't have the adjustable dampers, I'd have liked those. Interesting comment on preferring the steering in comfort mode, can I ask why? The Audi salesman recommended comfort too, but I wasn't sure and have been constantly switching between comfort/auto/dynamic without settling on one yet (my commute is a right mix of urban, rural and m-way)!
The paddles are great. The gearbox is one of the best attributes of the s4 IMO. I love how different the car can feel moving between D/S and then using the paddles. I don't think you need to worry about running in. Everyone has a different view, but as long as the car is fully warmed up, there is no harm using the revs. It's bedding in tyres/brakes that is more important but with 800 miles you're fine on that front.
Agree with Adrian re the steering - comfort is a little light, but it's the best compromise in my book. Dynamic just feels dead and auto is just unpredictable.
With regards to the AMI, I have an iPod Classic in the glovebox and then just use Bluetooth for my iphone6. I don't think that there is a perfect solution, but an old iPhone/iPod seems to be the best solution.
Enjoy!
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