A8 4.2 tdi

areight

New member
Joined
Jan 16, 2013
Location
Netherlands
TDI
Audi A4 Avant 1.9 TDI 2007
What a beautiful car! I love the A8....

To bad a 4.2 tdi is in the Netherlands (where I come from) too expensive in monthly taxes... 250 dollar a month here! (thats why I only have a 1.9 tdi :) )
 

jbleu101

Veteran Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Location
Ohio
TDI
2002 Jetta TDi, GLS
Tht car is beautiful. Have a friend with an a8 brown over brown leather I think......but it's gas. Thetis one beautiful diesel.
 

CFriedriszik

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 1999
Location
Landau, Germany
TDI
See signature
After 1 year of ownership I have the following insights:

1) Reasonable it is not, but it is a car you love every time you start it up. Have to fight with my wife about the driver's seat every time we go on a journey (Has no problems with somewhat larger cars).

2) Very refined to drive, during normal driving you never go above 2000rpm. At WOT above that it is a different animal.

3) Audi has only one currency they accept for parts: The 500€-note - depending on the part you might want to stack them on the counter. You definitely need a good forum, people in the know and need to DIY if you want to keep it running at costs that will not cripple you. It is definitely 1-2 steps above the previous B7, C5 and C4's we had.

4) fuel consumption on 22.000km is 8,33l/100km or 28mpg.
My personal best is 35.6mpg (6.6l/100km) on a 769 mile roadtrip (no refueling needed) with all creatures comfort and the cruise set to 90km/h (56mph). I will be better than 24mpg every time on a full tank, no matter how I drive.

5) now that my brother in law made the sensible move down from a D2 FL1 2000 S8 to a D3 FL1 2006 A8 4.2 TDI, I can even tell you the worst economy you get at high speeds:
On a 1000mile trip with speeds above 120mph wherever possible and up to 165mph on occasion it returned 19.2mpg and he had to refuel only twice. With the S8 it would have to be at least 3 fuel stops.

6) He now confirmed my suspicion, that - in best Audi tradition - the front brakes are not up to the task and need to be upgraded to the next level (W12, S8). Needs 19 inch wheels all year round though, so I have to invest in another set of wheels. Tires are worn anyway.

7) In theory the limiter is set to 250km/h, but Audi is not that strict and even when chipped it will IMHO not happily go above 280km/h due to gearing/torque curve (There will be people who tell otherwise, but I doubt with only a chip).
I've seen 272km/h digital, but we hadn't the time to check GPS.
Suspicion of owners is that limiter is set more in the 255 to 260km/h range, which would be typical for limited Audis.
My brother-in-law's car is a ex-factory one, the might have 'forgotten' the limiter and in direct comparison it seems to have a different set of software :D.
 

CFriedriszik

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 1999
Location
Landau, Germany
TDI
See signature
More than two years of ownership and more than 50.000km:

1) ABT-Chip to 365hp, 780Nm - improved driveability and reduces consumption. Highly recommented.
2) Upgraded Brakes to W12 Spec. front AND rear (385mm or 15.1 inches rotor front). Still rubbish. Next step: Phaeton air channels for front brakes.
3) Just found out Mercury sells the engine as marine diesel:
https://www.mercurymarine.com/en/us/engines/diesel/mercury-diesel/42l-tier-3/#specifications Sweet.
 

TDIMeister

Phd of TDIClub Enthusiast, Moderator at Large
Joined
May 1, 1999
Location
Canada
TDI
TDI
Last edited:

theomarakas

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2013
Location
NYC USA
TDI
2013 JSW
Sexy is an understatement. It must pull like a freight train, question is how do you put the power to the ground with all that torque? Damn traction control must be on all the time.
 

CFriedriszik

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 1999
Location
Landau, Germany
TDI
See signature
Actually no, with quattro there is no traction problem. 255/40R19 helping.
With wet markings on the road you can sense a wheel skid under full load, that's it.

On snow and ice & proper winter tires it is storming forward with hardly a flickering of the ESP-light.

And then 2-lane-onramps ... I LOVE to demonstrate quattro to RWD cars in wet conditions.
I always tell people I happily trade 0.2 secs for the added weight with 3 hours getting the RWD car out of the ditch ...
 

willys

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 14, 1999
Location
Edmonton, Canada
TDI
HAD A '01 GLS JETTA, STUCK WITH A PRIUS :-(
Hi Claus !Thanks for sharing this post with me !
You posted some nice shots of REALLY nice car ... This must ride just a bit better at speed than yoou Avant - right? This is a great combination of Tdi economy and Audi panache:)
 
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