Next car purchase

[Alex_]

I'm looking to buy a second hand A6 avant around 3-4 years old. It'll be a boring 2L diesel. Is Quattro worth the extra money? Anyone had experience with them?

[dinny_g]

Not sure if it's relevant but we had a Front Wheel Drive A5 Sportback a few years ago and it was nearly un-driveable in the wet and actually dangerous in icy conditions.

No Traction whatsoever and an traction control system that didn't know what to do - I had far too many instances of pulling (or trying to pull) away from roundabouts, have the whole system get in a tizzy and leave me stranded in the middle of traffic.

I wouldn't buy a big Audi without Quatto.

[ShockDiamonds]

Standard A4 or A6 like the examples we had in Brussels years ago are hateful cars in wet or snow. But the Quattro, even with shitty Leaseplan tyres on them, would always either get up the hill to the office in the snow or safely navigate the roundabout outside at slightly more than walking pace (whereas my A4 TDI would plough straight on).

[GG.]

I'm looking to buy a second hand A6 avant around 3-4 years old. It'll be a boring 2L diesel. Is Quattro worth the extra money? Anyone had experience with them?

You live in Scotland, no? Unless you do only urban driving it would seem to make sense to have that facility if not a significant extra expense.

[Mito Man]

So what understeers more? No Quattro or Quattro?

[mikeyb]

I'm looking to buy a second hand A6 avant around 3-4 years old. It'll be a boring 2L diesel. Is Quattro worth the extra money? Anyone had experience with them?

Dad's last Audi was a 2015 A6 2.0 tdi 190 Ultra S Tronic (FWD). I personally thought it was fine - I didn't think the level of power/torque required quattro. I thought it went down the road quite well for a low(ish) powered saloon. Plenty of grip and unless it was wet and you were purposely being aggressive, traction wasn't an issue. Maybe it''s tyre sensitive In respect of traction - it had launch control, which I always thought was daft in a FWD car. It just used to spin up.

[Shlergen]

Buy a superb if you’re getting a 4 pot. More kit less money.

[ShockDiamonds]

So what understeers more? No Quattro or Quattro?

My non-Quattro A4 is probably understeering somewhere right now in the middle of June.

[Alex_]

Thanks all for the feedback. I test drove a FWD yesterday and it was fine but pondering if quattro is worth forking out an extra £2-3k, lower mpg and potentially bigger bills.

[V8Granite]

Thanks all for the feedback. I test drove a FWD yesterday and it was fine but pondering if quattro is worth forking out an extra £2-3k, lower mpg and potentially bigger bills.

2wd with winters > 4WD with all seasons

Dave!

[nuttinnew]

I don't know when and on what models it was brought in but later quattro can disconnect the rear drive for better mpgs. Haldex 4wd VAGs are little thirstier than fwd, I think the newer quattro would be much the same. For mpg comparisons https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/


As for whether you need it, do you often notice it's absence?

[GG.]

I'm disappointed no-one so far has mentioned that with quattro you can pretend you're Walter Rohrl and / or that FWD is wrong wheel drive

[Jobbo]

Proper Quattro (A4/A6 upwards - anything with a longitudinal engine) doesn’t disconnect the drive to any wheels.

I’d not have one without Quattro. Really loved my 2016 Allroad (272PS version - watch out that there are different power versions of the 3.0 engine) and it handled incredibly well. The Quattro means it doesn’t feel fwd and you can sense that from pulling out of t-junctions, not just when flinging it about. The longitudinal engine layout means it’s quite an efficient system too so you don’t need to be too concerned about it dragging down your economy.

Choice of engine should probably be driven more by gearbox than anything else. I don’t think any multitronics were offered in the model years you’re looking at but avoid them like the plague. The BiTDI came with ZF 8-sp, the other V6s with S-Tronic (dual clutch, 7-sp in my Allroad) and the 2.0 TDI took a while to get the 7-sp S-Tronic I think, so look most carefully at what box you’re getting in a 2.0.

[McSwede]

Stop being silly and get a 5 series (or Jobbo spec A6 if you must).

No need to thank me.

[Alex_]

Proper Quattro (A4/A6 upwards - anything with a longitudinal engine) doesn’t disconnect the drive to any wheels.

I’d not have one without Quattro. Really loved my 2016 Allroad (272PS version - watch out that there are different power versions of the 3.0 engine) and it handled incredibly well. The Quattro means it doesn’t feel fwd and you can sense that from pulling out of t-junctions, not just when flinging it about. The longitudinal engine layout means it’s quite an efficient system too so you don’t need to be too concerned about it dragging down your economy.

Choice of engine should probably be driven more by gearbox than anything else. I don’t think any multitronics were offered in the model years you’re looking at but avoid them like the plague. The BiTDI came with ZF 8-sp, the other V6s with S-Tronic (dual clutch, 7-sp in my Allroad) and the 2.0 TDI took a while to get the 7-sp S-Tronic I think, so look most carefully at what box you’re getting in a 2.0.

Cheers for the input Simon. The ones I've tried all have the 7-speed S-Tronic which were fine.

[Alex_]

Stop being silly and get a 5 series (or Jobbo spec A6 if you must).

No need to thank me.

That's on the list too. Quite fancy the new G30s but they look a bit granddad-ish and the standard wheels look tiny in the big arches. But second hand values haven't dropped to what I want to spend.

[nuttinnew]

Proper Quattro (A4/A6 upwards - anything with a longitudinal engine) doesn’t disconnect the drive to any wheels.

https://www.audi.co.uk/audi-innovation/ ... drive.html



Slight aside, quattro as a drivetrain derivative is lower case q, upper case only applies to the original where it was the model name.

[McSwede]

Stop being silly and get a 5 series (or Jobbo spec A6 if you must).

No need to thank me.

That's on the list too. Quite fancy the new G30s but they look a bit granddad-ish and the standard wheels look tiny in the big arches. But second hand values haven't dropped to what I want to spend.

F11 was the best looking IMO and there will be some nice ones of those kicking about with decent engine and spec choice.

[Jobbo]

Proper Quattro (A4/A6 upwards - anything with a longitudinal engine) doesn’t disconnect the drive to any wheels.

https://www.audi.co.uk/audi-innovation/ ... drive.html



Slight aside, quattro as a drivetrain derivative is lower case q, upper case only applies to the original where it was the model name.

Autocorrect makes it upper case on my phone and I can’t be bothered to correct it.

There are now a few A4 variants with a cheaper shitter system but the majority of A4s, all A6s and anything Alex is looking at will be proper full-time 4wd. It says they can send 100% of power to one or other end but that’s not the same as disconnecting either end.

[nuttinnew]

Proper Quattro (A4/A6 upwards - anything with a longitudinal engine) doesn’t disconnect the drive to any wheels.

https://www.audi.co.uk/audi-innovation/ ... drive.html



Slight aside, quattro as a drivetrain derivative is lower case q, upper case only applies to the original where it was the model name.

Autocorrect makes it upper case on my phone and I can’t be bothered to correct it.

There are now a few A4 variants with a cheaper shitter system but the majority of A4s, all A6s and anything Alex is looking at will be proper full-time 4wd. It says they can send 100% of power to one or other end but that’s not the same as disconnecting either end.

Just because you're wrong - "Proper Quattro (A4/A6 upwards - anything with a longitudinal engine) doesn’t disconnect the drive to any wheels" - doesn't make it a "cheaper shitter system". If you're after scoring points because it's not applicable to the A6 here, I had said I didn't know what models it was used on (from memory, the pics in the article I read at the time weren't of Allroad or Q5, but I also can't recall which country they were taken in.).

Autocorrect? Fair enough. Maybe



Aaanyway; Alex, why a 2.0 derv after the 235i (apologies if I missed it elsewhere)?