What vehicle will be a worthy replacement for your sedan when it is time?
03-01-2019, 12:34 PM
#1786
German brands in particular, but it seems like all manufactures are getting better at not making cars look like jacked up 4x4s. Even my wife's Honda Accord has surprisingly tight wheel gap.
I could see possibly going 245/40, but 35 is already pretty low profile all around, and the ride is definitely stiff--we at least have good roads down here because they don't get torn up by snow and salt and plowing. The adjustable dampers largely span the same range as the Koni Yellows did--comfort mode is like full soft.
thermostat
I could see possibly going 245/40, but 35 is already pretty low profile all around, and the ride is definitely stiff--we at least have good roads down here because they don't get torn up by snow and salt and plowing. The adjustable dampers largely span the same range as the Koni Yellows did--comfort mode is like full soft.
thermostat
Batting .300 in T-ball?? The majors may not come looking for you at that point.
Thermostats. Possibly located under the supercharger which made them a PITA to change out. They were a commonly mentioned issue with the 13' when prospective owners asked about the 8.5 S's reliability but investigating further on Audizine, it appears the issue was fixed after that year. Not sure of the specifics but other than that, the car is pretty drama free. Occasional wheel bearing like our cars is also a common issue.
You can get one used for $25-30 pending the transmission you want. Bolt-ons and a tune have the car somewhere in the mid 300 - low 400 awhp range; pending how far you take it. As for reliability, a lot of the '8.5 S4 reliability' threads had owners picking them up anywhere from 75k-110k miles and running mods on them without issue. Would usually make me think they were crazy for grabbing a German car outside of warranty but the 8.5 3.0 S4 seems to be the exception. Swapping out the turbos for a supercharger really seemed to solve a lot of the issues of the previous generation. The ease of making big power isn't there (saw a couple videos of B5 and B6 making over 700 awhp...wow) but the supercharger can hold its own with a pulley upgrade and a tune. Key is proper maintenance by previous owner(s). As long as that's squared away it looks pretty like it's a bulletproof platform.
Straight line is pretty great out of the box (sub 4) according to zeroto60.com; but I imagine if you drive it like a normal person and don't beat the ever loving dog crap out of it you will still be to 60 in under 5 if you got into it. I also checked out Youtube videos and there's quite a bit of DIY walkthroughs for everything from basic oil service to DSG service if you went that route. One channel in particular does a fantastic job making said videos.
As for the handling, it appears to be a great highway cruiser in stock form. if you wanted to track it, you'd want additional cooling but again, there's walkthroughs on Audizine on how to add an additional transmission cooler for all of $50. I saw a lot of guys adding catch cans to the transmission but that was only for DSG models. Both cooler and catch can were cautionary mods to extend the life of the DSG but the manual isn't as bad. From what I read and watched, the OEM clutch doesn't like it once power mods and tuning push it over 350awhp so an upgrade is required. Again, these were all used models so chances are the new owners were paying for the mistakes made by the previous owner operating the manual transmission in a less than optimal way. The OEM clutch may be able to withstand the power level but I'm going off of what I've read and watched.
Coilovers are another upgrade you would probably want if you wanted to track the car. I watched a Smoking Tire video and Matt is ripping an S4 in the canyons and commented that the Bilstein shocks really made the car feel planted. Stock brakes held up pretty well with the upgraded pads and rotors the owner installed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSIqhOVpdNg
Given the lack of options for a replacement sedan, this car has really peeked my interest over the other alternatives.
You can get one used for $25-30 pending the transmission you want. Bolt-ons and a tune have the car somewhere in the mid 300 - low 400 awhp range; pending how far you take it. As for reliability, a lot of the '8.5 S4 reliability' threads had owners picking them up anywhere from 75k-110k miles and running mods on them without issue. Would usually make me think they were crazy for grabbing a German car outside of warranty but the 8.5 3.0 S4 seems to be the exception. Swapping out the turbos for a supercharger really seemed to solve a lot of the issues of the previous generation. The ease of making big power isn't there (saw a couple videos of B5 and B6 making over 700 awhp...wow) but the supercharger can hold its own with a pulley upgrade and a tune. Key is proper maintenance by previous owner(s). As long as that's squared away it looks pretty like it's a bulletproof platform.
Straight line is pretty great out of the box (sub 4) according to zeroto60.com; but I imagine if you drive it like a normal person and don't beat the ever loving dog crap out of it you will still be to 60 in under 5 if you got into it. I also checked out Youtube videos and there's quite a bit of DIY walkthroughs for everything from basic oil service to DSG service if you went that route. One channel in particular does a fantastic job making said videos.
As for the handling, it appears to be a great highway cruiser in stock form. if you wanted to track it, you'd want additional cooling but again, there's walkthroughs on Audizine on how to add an additional transmission cooler for all of $50. I saw a lot of guys adding catch cans to the transmission but that was only for DSG models. Both cooler and catch can were cautionary mods to extend the life of the DSG but the manual isn't as bad. From what I read and watched, the OEM clutch doesn't like it once power mods and tuning push it over 350awhp so an upgrade is required. Again, these were all used models so chances are the new owners were paying for the mistakes made by the previous owner operating the manual transmission in a less than optimal way. The OEM clutch may be able to withstand the power level but I'm going off of what I've read and watched.
Coilovers are another upgrade you would probably want if you wanted to track the car. I watched a Smoking Tire video and Matt is ripping an S4 in the canyons and commented that the Bilstein shocks really made the car feel planted. Stock brakes held up pretty well with the upgraded pads and rotors the owner installed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSIqhOVpdNg
Given the lack of options for a replacement sedan, this car has really peeked my interest over the other alternatives.
03-01-2019, 12:58 PM
#1787
Registered Member
The weakness in the V6T in the Audis is cooling, if I would buy one I would probably want to change the water pump, thermostat and upgrade the radiators as much as possible. On that dual clutch they have a lot of electronic issues which is many thousands when they go wrong.. The newer ones have the ZF 8 for reliability. They still use the dual clutch in a lot of models. You can't go wrong with the Manual. I was looking into the Golf R, I haven't checked into DSG problems with the car.
From what I see the ZF 8 on the Audi doesn't have a plastic pan that needs to be replaced for about $300 when you service it. It is like a regular car with a metal pan and removable filter. That is one of the issues I have with the BMW. The B8 is smaller, lighter, yet more expensive and potentially much more maintenance than the A6. I am looking at 2018 S4s, but they are having issues with Turbo Failures. I think unless you get a manual S4, the A6 is the way to go.
From what I see the ZF 8 on the Audi doesn't have a plastic pan that needs to be replaced for about $300 when you service it. It is like a regular car with a metal pan and removable filter. That is one of the issues I have with the BMW. The B8 is smaller, lighter, yet more expensive and potentially much more maintenance than the A6. I am looking at 2018 S4s, but they are having issues with Turbo Failures. I think unless you get a manual S4, the A6 is the way to go.
03-01-2019, 01:29 PM
#1788
Heating issue was the thermostat failure. Here's the walkthrough for replacing with the updated part:
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...al-photos-tips!
Plastic pan? Might have been used in the B4-B5 but the newer ones have a metal pan. To my knowledge, the DL501 is the dual clutch in the 2011+ models. It's a pretty stout unit but you're correct, they have a limited TQ value and that's why the RS models have the ZF 8 speed. That said, you can upgrade the clutches and there's a DIY walkthrough I came across yesterday. I believe the 'safe' range is 500 ft. lbs. but there's S6 owners running 650+ with the same transmission. Like ez mentioned, you can avoid all of that with a 6MT and just upgrading the clutch.
https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...al-photos-tips!
Plastic pan? Might have been used in the B4-B5 but the newer ones have a metal pan. To my knowledge, the DL501 is the dual clutch in the 2011+ models. It's a pretty stout unit but you're correct, they have a limited TQ value and that's why the RS models have the ZF 8 speed. That said, you can upgrade the clutches and there's a DIY walkthrough I came across yesterday. I believe the 'safe' range is 500 ft. lbs. but there's S6 owners running 650+ with the same transmission. Like ez mentioned, you can avoid all of that with a 6MT and just upgrading the clutch.
03-01-2019, 01:53 PM
#1790
Registered Member
Almost every modern car has direct injection, only a few have dual injection. You would think someone would come up with some decent kit to inject gas through the back of the valves. I know that people with 335i's have been adding port injectors to theirs.
03-01-2019, 02:04 PM
#1791
Pretty much, and any car with DI will eventually need the carbon deposits cleaned. It's not particularly expensive, but it's not really a DIY thing either. In the ROW, the Golf R is dual injected. Not sure why VW removed the port injection on North American cars. I'm not familiar enough with VAG to know about fuel management in other engines outside the US, such as the S4
03-02-2019, 10:47 AM
#1794
Looks like Tesla lowered the price of their cars across the board. I may get another Model 3. lol
Model 3:
$35k Standard Range: 220mi
$37k Standard Range Plus: 240mi
$40k Mid Range: 264mi
$43k Long Range: 325mi
$47k Long Range AWD: 310mi
$58k Performance AWD: 310mi, 0-60 mph in 3.2s
These are prices before the $3750 federal tax credit, and any state incentives you may have.
Model 3:
$35k Standard Range: 220mi
$37k Standard Range Plus: 240mi
$40k Mid Range: 264mi
$43k Long Range: 325mi
$47k Long Range AWD: 310mi
$58k Performance AWD: 310mi, 0-60 mph in 3.2s
These are prices before the $3750 federal tax credit, and any state incentives you may have.
03-02-2019, 01:12 PM
#1795
Registered Member
Looks like Tesla lowered the price of their cars across the board. I may get another Model 3. lol
Model 3:
$35k Standard Range: 220mi
$37k Standard Range Plus: 240mi
$40k Mid Range: 264mi
$43k Long Range: 325mi
$47k Long Range AWD: 310mi
$58k Performance AWD: 310mi, 0-60 mph in 3.2s
These are prices before the $3750 federal tax credit, and any state incentives you may have.
Model 3:
$35k Standard Range: 220mi
$37k Standard Range Plus: 240mi
$40k Mid Range: 264mi
$43k Long Range: 325mi
$47k Long Range AWD: 310mi
$58k Performance AWD: 310mi, 0-60 mph in 3.2s
These are prices before the $3750 federal tax credit, and any state incentives you may have.
It is funny, those who are trying to sell their Long Range cars for more than what Tesla will sell a new one for. Although you will get the extras Different Color, perhaps Autopilot for free.
Being that they probably paid 50 for their Long Range and won't get back the tax, I don't know why you would sell.
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...0702/overview/
03-02-2019, 02:22 PM
#1796
It is funny, those who are trying to sell their Long Range cars for more than what Tesla will sell a new one for. Although you will get the extras Different Color, perhaps Autopilot for free.
Being that they probably paid 50 for their Long Range and won't get back the tax, I don't know why you would sell.
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...0702/overview/
Being that they probably paid 50 for their Long Range and won't get back the tax, I don't know why you would sell.
https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/d...0702/overview/
Really glad to see the $35k base model is finally a reality. Why anyone would chose a Chevy Bolt or even Nissan Leaf over it is beyond me. We will see how things go!
03-02-2019, 02:58 PM
#1797
I still believe the 1st mass produced electric suv that has a decent range and decent price will be a huge hit. Hyundai has a real issue trying to keep up with Kona electric production already and it was just released in CA only.
03-02-2019, 06:45 PM
#1798
I just had a lady buy a Leaf from me who wanted a Model 3, but was so sick of waiting on Tesla and the Leaf was significantly less expensive (even before she got twice the federal rebate). I think the timing of the base Model 3 is interesting as Nissan just released their Leaf Plus with about the same range that should be about the same price (before the larger Nissan federal rebate). It seems like electric car sales are down a bit now that gas is so low. Interesting changes in the automotive world right now.
I still believe the 1st mass produced electric suv that has a decent range and decent price will be a huge hit. Hyundai has a real issue trying to keep up with Kona electric production already and it was just released in CA only.
I still believe the 1st mass produced electric suv that has a decent range and decent price will be a huge hit. Hyundai has a real issue trying to keep up with Kona electric production already and it was just released in CA only.
03-03-2019, 06:48 AM
#1799
Administrator
iTrader: (9)
Sat in a Kona yesterday... meh. The Kia Soul EV however, that was damn cute, practical & affordable. Not that I personally want a cute car.
Speaking of Kia, sat in the Stinger GT again, and gave it another long look. Whatever good vibes I had about that car when it came out, they're gone. Just like that, LOL.
03-03-2019, 08:00 PM
#1800
Registered Member
I was looking at a Hyundai Equus online. Funny the 2014 was around 64k and now you can get one for 14k. Makes me wonder what the G70 will be in 4 years. Might be around 15k and that would be nice value for money.