B8 S4 Ownership

[GetCarter]

Out of interest:

"An S4 for example really is nothing more than an A4 3.0T S-Line with a better sounding name courtesy of the marketing team."

Acording to somone who knows best here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Discuss!

[jimmyjimjim]

GetCarter said:

Out of interest:

"An S4 for example really is nothing more than an A4 3.0T S-Line with a better sounding name courtesy of the marketing team."

Acording to somone who knows best here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Discuss!

Yes....

Let's just leave that in the other thread, shall we? Seems safer there.

However, I've heard it described as the 'S' trim or the 'S' pack before now, and to a certain extent, much like many of the points in the other thread, it's true - the basic chassis and body are the same as the A4, and all of the 'S' bits technically just bolt on to it.

But You can make the same argument for pretty much every manufacturer though, like with the BMW 316 and M3 - so where do you draw the line?

[Hol]

I actually bought mine because it looks a lot like an S-Line diesel.
It gets left in a station car park daily so I wanted 'normal'.

[jimmyjimjim]

After running an Evo 9 for 7 years, I too was pleased to be able to find something a little less brash.

[janddouglas]

So one interesting thing in the US is the lack of choice for German cars and particularly for Audi .. only 1 choice for an A4, a 2.0T. An S4 is not categorized as a sub of an A4. Which I think is right and cleaner. I suppose you could try and dress an A4up with all the s-line accouterments to look like an S4, but very few bother thankfully.

[GetCarter]

jimmyjimjim said:

But You can make the same argument for pretty much every manufacturer though, like with the BMW 316 and M3 - so where do you draw the line?

Which, you'll note, was what I said.

[jimmyjimjim]

GetCarter said:

Which, you'll note, was what I said.

Yup, I did, I was reiterating and agreeing with it.

Very much a grey area though - someone posted the 911 GT2 brochure a while back - reading through that, the scale of the detail changes makes it apparent that it's not simply a 'GT2' or 'GT3' pack for the 911.

[Adrian E]

Has anyone tried alternative oils to the manufacturer service department offerings of Shell/Castrol? I seem to recall a suggestion of a Millers oil that's well suited to the v6t but struggling to find where I saw it mentioned.

My S8 benefits from running Fuchs oil and uses not a drop between annual services, despite being 12 years old.

[Dr G]

We've had good results with the Fuchs 5w40, Adrian. Demonstrable reduction in oil consumption with 2.0Ts that were already using less than Audi state is normal.

A lot of the V8 boys swear by it too (they run bloody hot).

[Adrian E]

Yeah, the Pro Race S in 5w40 is what I use, but it's not got an Audi approval. For the S5 if I'm going to supply my own oil at service in exchange for them doing another bit of the service within the plan I want to ensure it has the correct approval.

[bimjim]

Adrian E said:

Has anyone tried alternative oils to the manufacturer service department offerings of Shell/Castrol? I seem to recall a suggestion of a Millers oil that's well suited to the v6t but struggling to find where I saw it mentioned.

My S8 benefits from running Fuchs oil and uses not a drop between annual services, despite being 12 years old.

This thread?... S4 B8 Timing chain rattle

[Scuffers]

Dr G said:

We've had good results with the Fuchs 5w40, Adrian. Demonstrable reduction in oil consumption with 2.0Ts that were already using less than Audi state is normal.

A lot of the V8 boys swear by it too (they run bloody hot).

what do people call normal?

my experience of the V8 (in an S5) is that in it's 31K miles, I added ~1L between oil changes, so around 1L per 10K.

don't consider that to be a lot, although higher than I would have thought acceptable.

[Adrian E]

The v6t tends to use a fair bit more than that - my V8 S8 doesn't use any between annual services, but it only does 4.5k a year.

We've added about a litre in 3k miles, but the first half litre was, I suspect, down to it dropping after service and not being topped up properly. So in reality 0.6 litres which the dealer says they put in to bring it to the max mark after 3k miles.

[Scuffers]

interesting...

never had to top up the V6T in either of the S4's we have had....

[Adrian E]

I think running in method, or lack of it, plays a part.

[Tuscan Wil]

Scuffers said:

interesting...

never had to top up the V6T in either of the S4's we have had....

That is useful to know. After hearing all the oil consumption stories. I thought something is wrong with either my car or myself taking the wrong reading. Half a litre per 6K. I can live with that.

[FUBAR]

Well, my first S4 got down to an almost TVR equalling 1 ltr every 2000 miles (at circa 70k miles).

New (B8.5) S4 started off drinking oil but seems to have levelled out (see what I did there? ) and now at about half a litre after 3500 miles and hardly budging

[lemonslap]

Have booked mine in for its clutch and flywheel change, have looked at the service manual and don't fancy doing it on axle stands on my driveway. Tried a new place that has opened in the south east S Line in Ashford, had a fantastic conversation with them which has given me complete faith in their abilitys. I will post the results of their work up once complete.

[bungle]

lemonslap said:

Have booked mine in for its clutch and flywheel change

What sort of miles have you done? I assume it's started slipping?

Dare I ask, ballpark, how much?

[silentbrown]

Main dealer price is £929 for the clutch, fitted.

I expect that won't include flywheel, though. Are they common failures?