Any Audi A6 Diesel BiDi (twin) Turbo owners?

Any Audi A6 Diesel BiDi (twin) Turbo owners?

Author
Discussion

Icehanger

394 posts

221 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
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mondie said:
Thanks for confirming chief. I believe the trick diff makes a substantial difference to the feel of the car but since I am a used buyer finding a s/h car with it specced will be difficult. I haven't seen one for sale yet.
It took me over 12 months to find one, it claws at the road well with it biggrin

I couldn't quite scrape to an RS6 and the S6 wasn't worth the extra over the bi T for an S badge so wanted something that could do the twisties as well, It may be the size of a starship but you can launch it about a bit. The auto box takes getting used to and in anything bar Dynamic mode takes an age to wind up.
I wouldn't bother with the dynamic steering as not overly impressed with it.
20's ride fine on it and look great, see how bad it is once I've fitted the 18" winters lol



Edited by Icehanger on Wednesday 2nd September 19:25


Edited by Icehanger on Friday 4th September 20:44

IainT

10,040 posts

237 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
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Raven Flyer said:
Iain, Bose is standard on the Black Edition, B&O is an insane amount extra (about £6k). Heated leather needs adding. I have 20s and the ride is still very compliant.

I got incredible offers from Carwow when I was looking. My local Audi centre matched the best one and I saved over £10k. I would definitely recommend sitting in front of them with some offers printed off.
Useful info, thanks. I've got the B&O in my A5 so a bit spoilt on that front - got it @13k miles so some other poor sod paid the hit on that from new.

SteBrown91

2,360 posts

128 months

Wednesday 2nd September 2015
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IainT said:
Useful info, thanks. I've got the B&O in my A5 so a bit spoilt on that front - got it @13k miles so some other poor sod paid the hit on that from new.
On the a5 it was only a 600 quid extra and pretty common (std on black ed) the b&o in the a6/7/8 is in a whole different league and is a very rare option.

IainT

10,040 posts

237 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
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SteBrown91 said:
On the a5 it was only a 600 quid extra and pretty common (std on black ed) the b&o in the a6/7/8 is in a whole different league and is a very rare option.
Thanks!

Raven Flyer

1,641 posts

223 months

Thursday 3rd September 2015
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Icehanger said:
I couldn't quite scrape to an RS6 and the S6 wasn't worth the extra over the bi T for an S badge so wanted something that could do the twisties as well
I had the same little chat with myself. I wanted an RS6 but was concerned about the image to clients. They are still on my radar for my next car but the BiT does everything I hoped for and has plenty in reserve. It's a perfect Q car yet offers me enough potential for fun, on the bits of road between cameras.

I can't understand anyone choosing an S6 over a BiT. Virtually the same performance, needs most of the same options adding but the fuel bill will be twice as much.


Re fuel tanks... mine has a 75 litre tank and this was standard.

mondie

Original Poster:

622 posts

141 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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Icehanger said:
It took me over 12 months to find one, it claws at the road well with it biggrin

I couldn't quite scrape to an RS6 and the S6 wasn't worth the extra over the bi T for an S badge so wanted something that could do the twisties as well, It may be the size of a starship but you cant launch it about a bit. The auto box takes getting used to and in anything bar Dynamic mode takes an age to wind up.
I wouldn't bother with the dynamic steering as not overly impressed with it.
20's ride fine on it and look great, see how bad it is once I've fitted the 18" winters lol



Edited by Icehanger on Wednesday 2nd September 19:25
Great post thanks. Have you had the opportunity to drive an A6 without the trick diff? You were extremely fortunate to find a car with this option. I dont have 12 mths smile

Icehanger

394 posts

221 months

Friday 4th September 2015
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mondie said:
Great post thanks. Have you had the opportunity to drive an A6 without the trick diff? You were extremely fortunate to find a car with this option. I dont have 12 mths smile
Only an S6, but not sure if it had it fitted or not.

yupbiggrin white wasn't my choice of body colour so had to compromise to get some of the options.....liking it now when its clean!

Probably doing a remap next year if you haven't gone down that road by then, Shark seem to do a good one for it but liked the AMD one also, quite that do a before and after rolling road to check out the delivery.

Edited by Icehanger on Friday 4th September 20:48

Elysium

13,755 posts

186 months

Saturday 5th September 2015
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mondie said:
Great post thanks. Have you had the opportunity to drive an A6 without the trick diff? You were extremely fortunate to find a car with this option. I dont have 12 mths smile
I specified the sports diff, which was not fitted to the car I test drove.

Unlike BMW's where you see traction control lights flickering when the stability systems are operating there is no visual indication that it is doing anything. However, you can feel it working, particularly if you switch between the various settings (auto, dynamic etc). At first it felt to me as if there was a second steering input, which was a little disconcerting. It works at surprisingly low speeds. When pressing on it makes the handling very neutral and really increases the level of grip. To the extent that you have to go fairly ballistic to get the tail to step out.

Good explanation here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viWJUaakMKs

In effect it creates a modest amount of power oversteer to dial out understeer and improve turn in. Because it can throw the torque to either side of the car it can do this better than a skilled driver could do without it.

IainT

10,040 posts

237 months

Saturday 5th September 2015
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I'll be joining the BiTDi ranks next week having done a deal (stoking one at that) on a 9k mile A6 Saloon - S-Line rather than Black but the price, with all the toys I 'needed', was too good to be picky over.

mondie

Original Poster:

622 posts

141 months

Sunday 6th September 2015
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Congratulations Ian, love to see some pics.

Elysium said:
I specified the sports diff, which was not fitted to the car I test drove.

Unlike BMW's where you see traction control lights flickering when the stability systems are operating there is no visual indication that it is doing anything. However, you can feel it working, particularly if you switch between the various settings (auto, dynamic etc). At first it felt to me as if there was a second steering input, which was a little disconcerting. It works at surprisingly low speeds. When pressing on it makes the handling very neutral and really increases the level of grip. To the extent that you have to go fairly ballistic to get the tail to step out.

Good explanation here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viWJUaakMKs

In effect it creates a modest amount of power oversteer to dial out understeer and improve turn in. Because it can throw the torque to either side of the car it can do this better than a skilled driver could do without it.
Thats a great video and reinforces why I want this diff to get the best from the AWD drivetrain. As an Evo owner for the past 5yrs I can relate to the magic such trick diffs can do. If I cannot find an A6 with this option to tempt me I will go an A8 4.2 which has this diff as standard.

IainT

10,040 posts

237 months

Sunday 6th September 2015
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Is that what'd be listed on the car spec as "Quattro Sports Differential"? If so then... grin just got larger.

RGambo

847 posts

168 months

Sunday 6th September 2015
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My old car. Air suspension, Quattro diff, and a few other extras. Great car, fast, fuel efficient and a pleasure to own and drive. It was great at towing the caterham too.

Elysium

13,755 posts

186 months

Sunday 6th September 2015
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IainT said:
Is that what'd be listed on the car spec as "Quattro Sports Differential"? If so then... grin just got larger.
That's the one.

http://www.audi.co.uk/glossary/q/quattro-with-spor...

Bit extreme to say: "understeer is completely elminated", but this with the sports diff the car just grips and grips.



Edited by Elysium on Sunday 6th September 23:22

mondie

Original Poster:

622 posts

141 months

Monday 7th September 2015
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^ thats a good link thanks.

I got to wondering just how many of these cars for sale are specced with the sports diff and this isn't advertised. A dealer who is not too familiar with the A6 may not think its a special option worthy of mention.

IainT

10,040 posts

237 months

Monday 7th September 2015
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mondie said:
^ thats a good link thanks.

I got to wondering just how many of these cars for sale are specced with the sports diff and this isn't advertised. A dealer who is not too familiar with the A6 may not think its a special option worthy of mention.
Pretty sure the main dealers generate the spec sheet from the chassis number - it's linked to the spec at 'birth'.

mondie

Original Poster:

622 posts

141 months

Monday 7th September 2015
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wishful thinking on my part then smile

rassi

2,447 posts

250 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
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I picked up mine yesterday and it is just fantastic: effortless power, great ride (even on 19"), amazing fuel economy for the performance (shocking to see a fuel range of 1000 km when used to 400 km from the M3), extremely comfortable on the motorway and just a nice place to be.

Will take some getting used to the MMI, the BMW I drive joystick seems more logical, though spending more time with it will no doubt help.

And that trick exhaust: surprised how convincing the "petrol rumble" is, genuinely impressed with a diesel engine that actually sounds good.

IainT

10,040 posts

237 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
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rassi said:
I picked up mine yesterday
Congrats - shame my local dealership are useless - the "will call you towards the end of the week" for delivery info turned into me chasing them, the sales guys I dealt with leaving early in Friday and "they'll call me back that afternoon"... chased them this morning and "he's not in until Monday and nobody else knows the status of the delivery". Utterly fecking useless feckers. A 1 minute call or email to say they don;t have a fixed date is all I wanted - or better yet a date. Chasing them is just plain annoying. Feels like sod all "give a fkness" after getting your £s.

Is expecting basic communication too bloody much to expect?


rassi said:
Will take some getting used to the MMI, the BMW I drive joystick seems more logical, though spending more time with it will no doubt help.
I had a new 5-series for a week last month and utterly hated everything about the system - the Audi one is simpler on my A5, less stuff buried in there - but it's at least obvious to me how to make it do stuff. The BMW system is just confusing!

mondie

Original Poster:

622 posts

141 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
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Good comments Rassi and especially useful to me since you replaced an M3 so have a similar reference point to mine. Tempted to tune it? How does it handle compared to the M3?

rassi

2,447 posts

250 months

Saturday 12th September 2015
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mondie said:
Good comments Rassi and especially useful to me since you replaced an M3 so have a similar reference point to mine. Tempted to tune it? How does it handle compared to the M3?
My change from M3 to BiTDI was prompted by the arrival of a 35 kilo Weimaraner and a realisation that the M3 was the perfect car as a toy or 2nd car but not for the almost exclusive long distance motorway driving I am doing. The lack of range and the elevated rpms at 150-160 kph cruising speed made for a slightly trying experience, where the M3 somewhat was wasted on these motorway kilometers.

The BiTDI fits the comfortable motorway cruiser bill perfectly, with great ride comfort, road and wind noise at very low levels, and a superb gearbox/engine combo, where the ever present torque simply shrugs of the weight of the thing and pushes it forward in the midrange with a great surge, very different from the M3 hunger (and need) for revs.

In terms of handling, the two can't compare, obviously, and the M3 was EDC equipped and with the optional Competition pack, which made it handle perfectly. The BiTDI is a big ol' bus in comparison but it handles very well for its size and weight and the ultimate traction at all times makes for a very reassuring drive.

I was lucky to find a very low mileage example, at half price of what the original owner paid 18 months previously - it is clearly too early to give any real feedback on ownership, but the transition from M3 to BiTDI, which on paper looks like a complete sell-out, has so far been very good with no regrets whatsoever.