B8 S4 Ownership

[MattS5]

TroubledSoul said:

As you guys are the experts, would you have any concerns about towing something that would be borderline max towing weight? I'd be towing an Impreza and with a twin axle trailer it would be 2000kgs or thereabouts.

I don't really want to go for the bigger S6 or an A6 TDI in all honesty. Towing wouldn't be very often and I'd like a car I can still enjoy when not towing rather than a workhorse type car.

I’m not borderline, around 78%, so around 1550kg.
Probably around 300 miles at most per year (mostly local 50 mile round trips) but it’s excellent.

[SimpleSimonSays]

A silly question, while we’re talking about towing, but can you actually fit a tow bar to an S4 (B8.5)?

I’d only really want it for a bike rack, but I’ve read lots of conflicting things on t’internet, and they can’t all be true!

Cheers,

Simon

[catso]

SimpleSimonSays said:

A silly question, while we’re talking about towing, but can you actually fit a tow bar to an S4 (B8.5)?

The documentation for mine (avant) says it has 'towing bracket prep' (assume this is the hole in the underside of the rear bumper?) and lists trailer weight limits...

[SimpleSimonSays]

catso said:

The documentation for mine (avant) says it has 'towing bracket prep' (assume this is the hole in the underside of the rear bumper?) and lists trailer weight limits...

I’ve done that typical bloke thing of not reading the instructions, haven’t I? Mine’s the saloon but I will dig out the paperwork and have a look. Thanks! :-)

ETA - yep, lists towing weights for the S4 saloon, so it must be possible. Damn, this means I won’t need to buy the S6 Avant...

Edited by SimpleSimonSays on Saturday 21st October 22:02

[bungle]

SimpleSimonSays said:

I’d only really want it for a bike rack,

Or get roof bars?

[SimpleSimonSays]

bungle said:

Or get roof bars?

I don’t like the potential of dropping my mountain bike and it sliding all the way down the side of the car and my shins!

I’ve already got the tow bar mounted bike rack and it works well on my wife’s Freelander, but there are times it would be nice not to have to remember to swap cars if I want to go cycling. First world problems, I know...

[MattS5]

SimpleSimonSays said:

A silly question, while we’re talking about towing, but can you actually fit a tow bar to an S4 (B8.5)?

I’d only really want it for a bike rack, but I’ve read lots of conflicting things on t’internet, and they can’t all be true!

Cheers,

Simon

Yes, you can. Some are tight in regards clearance for an Alko hitch head, but that wouldn’t be an issue for a bike rack.
The S5 sportback and S4 saloon are the same bar from memory.

I went with a Bosal bar, fitted by the company which fits for the main Audi dealer locally, and it was £550 including 13 pin socket, fitted

I purchased a tow bar storage pack from Audi for around a tenner which fits in the boot to store the detachable bar when not in use.
Pretty sure I’ve added pictures before on this thread which shows invisible cut out etc from behind the car.

[SimpleSimonSays]

MattS5 said:

Yes, you can. Some are tight in regards clearance for an Alko hitch head, but that wouldn’t be an issue for a bike rack.
The S5 sportback and S4 saloon are the same bar from memory.

I went with a Bosal bar, fitted by the company which fits for the main Audi dealer locally, and it was £550 including 13 pin socket, fitted

I purchased a tow bar storage pack from Audi for around a tenner which fits in the boot to store the detachable bar when not in use.
Pretty sure I’ve added pictures before on this thread which shows invisible cut out etc from behind the car.

That’s great, thanks Matt.

[catso]

I assume this cutout in the underside of the rear bumper is 'towing bracket prep' ?

please excuse dirty car...

[MattS5]

It does look that way.

I wonder why a car would be specced with that, but then not have a bar fitted? (unless the bar has been removed prior to re-sale)

[apreading]

If you look back a few pages to around this time last year, you will see that I went through a similar process with towbar - reading all sorts of conflicting reports on t'internet.

Depending on where you look, the majority consensus seemed to be that the Westfalia towbar would have the ball too close to the bumper to fit most bike racks.

I read the same thing about Bosal but saw people on here with pictures proving that it was OK. I was also told Tow Trust was OK.

I also read some places that the electric socket that swings down from out of sight when not in use may not bring it low enough to plug the electrics in and some makes had a longer arm available to get around that problem.

Long and short of it was that I got a Tow Trust detachable Swan neck with vehicle specific wiring and labour including coding all for £460. The place I went to could sell Westfalia and Bosal but said Tow Trust had the best warranty and were at least as good and in their opinion better than the others. So I went with their advice.

Its great - really easy to use and really solid.

They did need to cut a little bit extra out of the underside of the bumper because the pre-cut slot wasnt quite big enough to allow the electrical socket to swing up and out of sight to the left. Simple job though and you would never know - you cant see the hole unless you get down on the ground anyway.

[silentbrown]

MattS5 said:

I wonder why a car would be specced with that, but then not have a bar fitted?

I think they all come from the factory like that.

[SimpleSimonSays]

silentbrown said:

I think they all come from the factory like that.

Just had a look underneath mine and there is indeed a hole like that. And spiders.

Popped into my local fitter, and they can do a Westfalia removable one, all electrics etc for £700. They said it’s a bit tight on the S4 for an Alco hitch, but will be fine for a bike rack. Apparently it’s exacty the same system as Audi would fit.

I also got sidetracked looking at a shiny new Alpine upgrade for the basic infotainment system I’ve got. Not cheap, but gives me sat nav, proper Bluetooth streaming and a reversing camera. The Purchasing Committee is currently deliberating...

[catso]

SimpleSimonSays said:

I also got sidetracked looking at a shiny....

That's the way to do it.

You know it makes sense...

[apreading]

SimpleSimonSays said:

Just had a look underneath mine and there is indeed a hole like that. And spiders.

Popped into my local fitter, and they can do a Westfalia removable one, all electrics etc for £700. They said it’s a bit tight on the S4 for an Alco hitch, but will be fine for a bike rack. Apparently it’s exacty the same system as Audi would fit.

I also got sidetracked looking at a shiny new Alpine upgrade for the basic infotainment system I’ve got. Not cheap, but gives me sat nav, proper Bluetooth streaming and a reversing camera. The Purchasing Committee is currently deliberating...

Its not the same system that Audi fit in the factory - they fit a retractable Westfalia towbar, not a removeable one. The factory fit one is really clever. Westfalia is the company used by Audi for the factory ones and maybe the 'official' aftermarket option.

I was told it was fine by some fitters too, but that it wasnt by others. I would check your bike rack and how much space it needs in front of the ball - it may be OK if it doesnt need much but all the bike rack designs will be slightly different so if yours is bulky I would pause for thought.

I think what doesnt help is that the S4 rear bumper maybe extends further than the standard? (I could be wrong here) And the fitter may not be used to it.

Either way, the Bosal and Towtrust bars extend further and have the ball farther from the bumper - just seems better and more logical to me in your situation. They will probably be cheaper and I was told the Towtrust was both better quality coating and had a better warranty.

[SimpleSimonSays]

apreading said:

Useful stuff...

Thanks for all of this - I will certainly a) check the fitment of my bike rack BEFORE they do anything irreversible and b) see what else they can offer.

Once again, a minefield of differing information, but I’d rather believe someone who’s had one fitted before, so you win the Internet today!

I guess I’m going to have to ‘phone those nice folks st Audi to see if they can retro-fit the retracting type, as that would be the perfect solution.

[GVLJ]

Afternoon all, just picked up a Volcano Red (read a lovely burnt orange) 2013 B8.5 Avant Black Edition.

No trick sport diff, but otherwise an almost ideal spec for me.

First question - I'm considering using Carista to adjust some settings in the MMI back end. Has anyone used this before?

Thanks!

[catso]

GVLJ said:

First question - I'm considering using Carista to adjust some settings in the MMI back end. Has anyone used this before?

I tried it, bought a wireless adaptor but am not keen on subscription/rental of something plus I don't think it could do all that I might want to anyway, so I bought VCDS - a one off purchase with no restrictions or subscriptions...

[GVLJ]

catso said:

I bought VCDS - a one off purchase with no restrictions or subscriptions...

Thanks for the quick review. Where/from whom did you buy VCDS? I see a lot of watch outs about 'fake' VCDS cables etc on ebay... And, on another note, how's your S4 treating you? What tweaks (if any) have you made (either to software or hardware)?

[silentbrown]

catso said:

I tried it, bought a wireless adaptor but am not keen on subscription/rental of something plus I don't think it could do all that I might want to anyway, so I bought VCDS - a one off purchase with no restrictions or subscriptions...

Carista was a one-off payment when I bought it (£13.20) and that doesn't seem to expire. I had no idea they'd switched to a subscription model.

It works fine with my B8.5 but I've really done very little with it. You can use it to enable the "green menu" which means you can then do a fair amount of fettling directly with the MMI.