C6 A6 3.0 tfsi saloon (59 plate)

[Chiefbadger]

Hi all,

I'm currently running a 2015 S4 avant, but getting fed up with my wife/kids treating it like a skip so thinking about getting something a little cheaper/older but love the supercharged v6. Have seen a few C6 A6's with the slightly detuned S4 engine and just wondered if anyone had any experience from swapping in either direction? Clearly the C6 is an older model and runs tiptronic rather than stronic but are there any major problems? Would be planning an APR or MRC visit too so is anyone running them with stage 1/2 tunes?

I'm assuming water pump etc would have been swapped already by now on cars of this age? I know the estates have a tendency to get a bit soggy around the rear washer due to ingress etc, but anything else ?

Does the tiptronic need fluid changes as regularly as the stronic?

Cheers

[Chiefbadger]

Cheers Alex. My thinking exactly re the sleeper route. There is a rather nice one on Autotrader at the moment (1 owner, sub 30k miles) which looks great (in a very subtle, gentlemanly way). Good to know the boxes are tough. Any other major work it should have had by now if I go and have a look?

[Chiefbadger]

Thanks guys. Went to look at the saloon today - looks like a great car but my wife has vetoed a saloon (despite the boot being vast) as she basically just likes to throw any old crap in it and the saloon does make access a bit harder to be fair. This rules out the a8 route too, but yours looks ace KFP!

Very difficult buying a car when you love the one you have!

[Chiefbadger]

So I didn't get the saloon, but I did find a 59 plate avant, so the S4 has gone. The a6 needed some small bits doing (passenger door actuator was broken) and needs wheels refurbed and a proper bit of paintwork tlc but it's a very honest car. I have already had it tweaked with a Revo stage 1+ and the difference is huge.
Seems to have developed a rattle from the front near the transmission tunnel (that I'm assuming is a heatshield) so it's going to be checked next week.
Feels like a very different car to the S4 but is cavernous and very quick once it's rolling! First time I've had Pirelli p zero's though and can't wait to get rid of them. The Goodyear Assym 3's on the S4 were fantastic.

[Chiefbadger]

Dr G said:

That rattle from a 3.0T is quite often the exhaust flexi on the downpipe rather than a heat-shield. Replacement is expensive but as long as the pipe isn't too crunchy a decent exhaust fabricator can put a new flexi section in.

Or it might just be that shield...

Fun cars, enjoy.

Presumably that would be a great excuse for a milltek though

[Chiefbadger]

There were very few 3.0t A6's and I think most were saloons. They are very different cars (although I am comparing a later b8.5 S4) but benefits to each. The S4 feels far more compact and properly specced (ADS, sports diff, adaptive damping etc) are surprisingly good fun. Certainly very complete cars that feel incredibly well sorted. Having moved to an older and leggier A6, the biggest differences are the gearbox, throttle sensitivity and the steering. The ZF box feels very lazy after the S Tronic and the whole thing feels far less taught than the S4. Having said that, as a family wagon there is a lot more space and with a remap it still feels very capable.
The S4 was/is a brilliant do everything car as it's just about enough fun to enjoy driving it. The A6 is basically a big, well sorted family car. Where it benefits (from my view) is being completely under the radar to 99% of people.
Basically if you are happy to spend a bit more initially, enjoy corners and a bit of feel, get the S4. If you want a discreet and (with a map) fast family carrier, go a6 - if you can find one!

[Chiefbadger]

So the car has been in to the garage today to try and diagnose the rattle. They are confident it's not the exhaust or heatshield, but this isn't great news as it doesn't leave much other than the transmission. Spoken with a ZF specialist today who said it doesn't sound like anything common/they've encountered before so booked in for a diagnostic check on Fri. It's basically a rattle/hum as the car decelerates between about 1600 and 1200rpm. Let's see what Friday brings 🙏

[Chiefbadger]

So Friday became Thursday and the good news is that although gearbox related, it's not the gearbox itself. The gearbox mount has snapped, so just waiting on a price for the part, but hopefully a lot cheaper than a gearbox rebuild.

[Chiefbadger]

laurenz said:

Nice to see some love for the C6, is the Revo ECU mapping considered to be rather good? I've never had an ECU map but have just picked up a C6 myself last weekend but with the 3.0TDi and fancy remapping it.

Generally speaking Revo and APR are considered probably the best 'stock' maps. I.e they are uploaded files. If you want the best tune for your specific car, then somewhere like MRC would be the place to go.

[Chiefbadger]

ATM said:

Does this £7000 a6 have the b8 s4 engine?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263120839161

Yes. That has been for sale for months though. Might be something crook with it. I sold mine for £8300 though with 98k on it as I needed rid, so some bargains to be had!