New Family Car - Audi S6 V10 Content
Discussion
Still got it yes! Still like it a lot. Haven’t driven it since lockdown 1.0 though - we’ve only needed one car so I SORN’d it and we’ve just been using the Edition 30. Imagine we won’t need it again until next year. I was planning on rotating them a bit but I’ve been doing some jobs on the S6 (brakes etc) and I’ve found that I think my runner flaps on the intake need doing, so I haven’t swapped them.
I haven’t gone down the exhaust route.... yet. There was a used miltek on eBay for about £600 that I was sorely tempted by, but the money would be better spent on the intake and I also really like the standard car and the more subtle side of it. I think I’d like to try one with an exhaust before commiting in all honesty as I suspect it would be easy to ruin my enjoyment of it.
I think key with the S6 is to remember it’s NOT an M or AMG competitor. Don’t expect the handling and noise/power of an M5 or E55/63. It’s more like a 550i and E500. I find it fantastic but it depends what you are after. I’ve found it most at home blasting across rural France. Reminded me of the old Jag saying - pace, space and grace (ok maybe not the last bit as it is an Audi! but it’s a hell of a lot less in your face than most!)
I haven’t gone down the exhaust route.... yet. There was a used miltek on eBay for about £600 that I was sorely tempted by, but the money would be better spent on the intake and I also really like the standard car and the more subtle side of it. I think I’d like to try one with an exhaust before commiting in all honesty as I suspect it would be easy to ruin my enjoyment of it.
I think key with the S6 is to remember it’s NOT an M or AMG competitor. Don’t expect the handling and noise/power of an M5 or E55/63. It’s more like a 550i and E500. I find it fantastic but it depends what you are after. I’ve found it most at home blasting across rural France. Reminded me of the old Jag saying - pace, space and grace (ok maybe not the last bit as it is an Audi! but it’s a hell of a lot less in your face than most!)
a7x88 said:
I think key with the S6 is to remember it’s NOT an M or AMG competitor. It’s more like a 550i and E500. I find it fantastic but it depends what you are after. I’ve found it most at home blasting across rural France.
Sounds very like my E500. Didn't manage any French trips this year but did manage various others to Dorset, Norfolk & Wales plus loads of trips with bikes closer to London.Love these sorts of cars. Andrew Frankel on Driving Nation was asked what was the best use of air suspension and his answer was either for limos or for family car blasts across France.
I’ve had an interesting time with this over the past few months
A new car scheme at work has had me seriously considering getting rid and swapping to something with an electric motor. I ended up test driving the Polestar 2 Dual Motor and the model 3 long range. Both are seriously impressive and arguably better cars on paper - they are faster, handle better etc etc. I just felt they both lacked character. And looks aside the driving experience for both was almost identical.
Cost wise, after the loss of my car allowance they were within £20 a month of being net neutral to the costs of the Audi (fuel, maintenance, tax and insurance). Add this to the fact that they can’t tow and I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of the old barge just yet. I figure I will be driving electric cars for the next 30 years, I may as well enjoy the V10 for a bit longer!
Getting it back on the road was more of an affair….
It was laid up for essentially a year on a c-tek charger. I’d start it up and get it warm once a month or so and drive it round the roundabout to rotate the tyres.
Put it in for its MOT and passed with another clean bill of health with no advisories! 3rd year in a row!
However…….
I had started to notice a ticking coming from the top of the engine whilst it was running and suspected that the inevitable had finally happened to the car. The inlet manifolds on these have plastic runner flaps that move; shut for torque, open for power. Over time they break up and end up falling to pieces, hence the rattling.
Audi wanted a not insignificant £3800 just for the manifold
TPS weren’t much better at £2700.
I’d been keeping my eyes out for one for a while and was considering picking up one with the flaps removed or doing that myself to my current one. However, I managed to source a brand new one with the revised internals for just over £1000.
Here it is in all its magnesium alloy glory:
With that bought off it went to have it fitted along with a nice service. Also had a CV joint in the OSF done as it was starting to click after a long run.
Went to The Phirm as usual who removed the intake manifold to find my oil separator was leaking along with a split in my PCV valve. Not only that but a piece of one of the flaps was resting on the intake valve of cylinder 5!!! Lucky escape.
Considering it had only done 30k the valves also needed another carbon clean….
All said and done I ended up with a fairly chunky bill. That said, all in it came in for less than TPS wanted just for the manifold.
Driving it home it felt like a different car though. I suspect the flaps haven’t been right since I bought it (looking back I imagine one breaking is what caused the runner motors to malfunction). The low down torque whilst always decent is now seriously impressive. I would recommend for anyone debating wether to delete the flaps or get a new manifold that the difference is definitely noticeable.
Looking forward to taking it on some longer runs again - I forgot just how great it is as on long trips. The space, effortlessness and just how comfortable the seats are (stereo is great too) makes them so easy. Interestingly when cruising at motorway speeds the engine is so quiet and vibration free that it’s just as quiet if not quieter than the polestar/Tesla I drove. It just has the added bonus of making a great noise when you do wake it up! Got a trip to wales followed by a trip up to York (towing) that should put it through its paces again!
A new car scheme at work has had me seriously considering getting rid and swapping to something with an electric motor. I ended up test driving the Polestar 2 Dual Motor and the model 3 long range. Both are seriously impressive and arguably better cars on paper - they are faster, handle better etc etc. I just felt they both lacked character. And looks aside the driving experience for both was almost identical.
Cost wise, after the loss of my car allowance they were within £20 a month of being net neutral to the costs of the Audi (fuel, maintenance, tax and insurance). Add this to the fact that they can’t tow and I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of the old barge just yet. I figure I will be driving electric cars for the next 30 years, I may as well enjoy the V10 for a bit longer!
Getting it back on the road was more of an affair….
It was laid up for essentially a year on a c-tek charger. I’d start it up and get it warm once a month or so and drive it round the roundabout to rotate the tyres.
Put it in for its MOT and passed with another clean bill of health with no advisories! 3rd year in a row!
However…….
I had started to notice a ticking coming from the top of the engine whilst it was running and suspected that the inevitable had finally happened to the car. The inlet manifolds on these have plastic runner flaps that move; shut for torque, open for power. Over time they break up and end up falling to pieces, hence the rattling.
Audi wanted a not insignificant £3800 just for the manifold
TPS weren’t much better at £2700. I’d been keeping my eyes out for one for a while and was considering picking up one with the flaps removed or doing that myself to my current one. However, I managed to source a brand new one with the revised internals for just over £1000.
Here it is in all its magnesium alloy glory:
With that bought off it went to have it fitted along with a nice service. Also had a CV joint in the OSF done as it was starting to click after a long run.
Went to The Phirm as usual who removed the intake manifold to find my oil separator was leaking along with a split in my PCV valve. Not only that but a piece of one of the flaps was resting on the intake valve of cylinder 5!!! Lucky escape.
Considering it had only done 30k the valves also needed another carbon clean….
All said and done I ended up with a fairly chunky bill. That said, all in it came in for less than TPS wanted just for the manifold.
Driving it home it felt like a different car though. I suspect the flaps haven’t been right since I bought it (looking back I imagine one breaking is what caused the runner motors to malfunction). The low down torque whilst always decent is now seriously impressive. I would recommend for anyone debating wether to delete the flaps or get a new manifold that the difference is definitely noticeable.
Looking forward to taking it on some longer runs again - I forgot just how great it is as on long trips. The space, effortlessness and just how comfortable the seats are (stereo is great too) makes them so easy. Interestingly when cruising at motorway speeds the engine is so quiet and vibration free that it’s just as quiet if not quieter than the polestar/Tesla I drove. It just has the added bonus of making a great noise when you do wake it up! Got a trip to wales followed by a trip up to York (towing) that should put it through its paces again!
Unfortunately the time has come to put this up for sale. Very reluctantly I might add!
It’s been an amazing family car and has been an brilliant car to own. It’s been 5 years now and I’ve taken it from 86k to 113k so just over 25k miles. Hopefully whoever buys it will have many more years of trouble free ownership, especially as the big jobs have now been done.
Will be sad to see it go but a change in our car policy at work meant I couldn’t reasonably turn down the company car anymore. With an extension planned the cash this will free up will also help contribute towards that.
The golf will stay as my toy car and to satisfy my petrolheadedness. Even if it can’t compete with 10 cylinders!
It’s been an amazing family car and has been an brilliant car to own. It’s been 5 years now and I’ve taken it from 86k to 113k so just over 25k miles. Hopefully whoever buys it will have many more years of trouble free ownership, especially as the big jobs have now been done.
Will be sad to see it go but a change in our car policy at work meant I couldn’t reasonably turn down the company car anymore. With an extension planned the cash this will free up will also help contribute towards that.
The golf will stay as my toy car and to satisfy my petrolheadedness. Even if it can’t compete with 10 cylinders!
It's been a good run. You've owned this about the same length of time as I have my E500, though I purchased mine with 115k and is now on 173k. Why? As per discussion within the last couple of pages (I reread the thread from scratch today), the large capacity, seven speed gearbox and air suspension make this a great 'to Scotland' to 'to Provence' car.
You've encountered more niggly faults than I that are related to the inherent engineering prowess of the the respective manufacturers, but my failures have been more costly, seemingly.
I wish the new owner years or enjoyment, it must be a fantastic thing and as you say, a lot of good work has been done already thanks to your mechanical awareness.
What are you going to ask for it?
You've encountered more niggly faults than I that are related to the inherent engineering prowess of the the respective manufacturers, but my failures have been more costly, seemingly.
I wish the new owner years or enjoyment, it must be a fantastic thing and as you say, a lot of good work has been done already thanks to your mechanical awareness.
What are you going to ask for it?
My mileage was lower than I’d expected, but that’s mainly down to the fact that when Covid hit I SORN’d it. It ended up being off the road for around a year as we just didn’t need the two cars. I put it back on the road in June last year and got the intake manifold sorted before we went away in it on holiday.
Hard to price them as there are relatively few (imagine E500’s are the same!). There’s a couple listed currently and I’ve got it advertised at a similar price point. Hopefully the history will help as I doubt any others are as comprehensive! Appreciate they are niche cars though so it will probably take a while for the right buyer to come along.
Hard to price them as there are relatively few (imagine E500’s are the same!). There’s a couple listed currently and I’ve got it advertised at a similar price point. Hopefully the history will help as I doubt any others are as comprehensive! Appreciate they are niche cars though so it will probably take a while for the right buyer to come along.
Edited by a7x88 on Sunday 30th January 22:38
Edited by a7x88 on Sunday 30th January 22:42
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