3.0 tdi quattro - recommended or not?

[TheMatador]

Hi,
Looking at a couple of 3.0tdi quattro's (B7 Avant - 204bhp). Any advice from people who've owned one? What are they like to live with? What's the tiptronic box like - have you had any issues?

Also, is the bigger engine worth it over something like a 170ps 2.0Tdi quattro?

Thanks

[Terry S]

I love mine but then it's horses for courses I suppose. The brakes aren't great, and the fuel economy is clearly nowhere near as good as a 2.0 but apart from that I couldn't be happier. Effortless torque makes driving it a joy, and as I understand it the V6 TDi's are strong engines.

[toff]

Hi,

I have a 204bhp 3.0 TDI Quattro automatic - Audi recently lent me a 2.0 TDI Quattro manual; here are my findings:

In comparison to the 3.0, the 4 cylinder 2.0 seems rough and fairly unrefined (although I'm sure it's smooth compared to other manufacturer's 4 cylinder TDIs).

I found it to be nice and powerful, it just lacked the low-down grunt of the V6 3.0. Once the turbo kicked-in, wow - no complaints there!

One advantage the 2.0 did have is the fact that it feels much lighter than the 3.0 (this must partly be due to the manual gearbox) but the lighter front-end certainly seemed to have a positive effect on handling. The car felt more balanced than the my 3.0 when cornering.

Given the choice to buy again, I would still have the 3.0 because the engine is so silky smooth and powerful. I'm personally willing to pay the slightly higher mpg for this luxury.

The only thing I'd say is that a manual gearbox would help you get the very best out of the 3.0 lump!

Al.

[TheMatador]

Interesting, thanks. You certainly can't beat having lots of torque when it comes to driving pleasure. So you haven't had any big repair bills with the auto box?

[KQuattro]

Interesting, thanks. You certainly can't beat having lots of torque when it comes to driving pleasure. So you haven't had any big repair bills with the auto box?

The Triptronic box is strong its the CVT boxes which have issues.

[KQuattro]

Hi,

I have a 204bhp 3.0 TDI Quattro automatic - Audi recently lent me a 2.0 TDI Quattro manual; here are my findings:

In comparison to the 3.0, the 4 cylinder 2.0 seems rough and fairly unrefined (although I'm sure it's smooth compared to other manufacturer's 4 cylinder TDIs).

I found it to be nice and powerful, it just lacked the low-down grunt of the V6 3.0. Once the turbo kicked-in, wow - no complaints there!

One advantage the 2.0 did have is the fact that it feels much lighter than the 3.0 (this must partly be due to the manual gearbox) but the lighter front-end certainly seemed to have a positive effect on handling. The car felt more balanced than the my 3.0 when cornering.

Given the choice to buy again, I would still have the 3.0 because the engine is so silky smooth and powerful. I'm personally willing to pay the slightly higher mpg for this luxury.

The only thing I'd say is that a manual gearbox would help you get the very best out of the 3.0 lump!

Al.

Alex good comparison there, the 2.0 is a lot lighter on its feet and doesnt have that extra weight hanging of the front axle resulting in sharper turn in however it doesnt have the extra grunt.

After dumping the standard S-Line suspension for a set of Eibach Coilovers and RS4 anti-roll bar my turn in has improved greatly, really sticks to the road now and is solid at high speeds.

[adamss24]

Interesting, thanks. You certainly can't beat having lots of torque when it comes to driving pleasure. So you haven't had any big repair bills with the auto box?

The 3.0 tdi is a brute, however the engine is too torquey for manual gearboxes. It only came as a 6 speed manual in the less powerfull 204Bhp and it barelly copes with the torque. The auto gearbox is much more suited to the engine, a bit less eficient due to the torque convertor lock-up but much more reliable. For the extra rrefinement and a few less Mpg who needs and manual ? Trust me i am a manual gearbox fan myself but i have driven the lower powered 3.0 manual and the higher 3.0 auto and they both fabulous, just the auto one is less jerky !

[toff]

Alex good comparison there, the 2.0 is a lot lighter on its feet and doesnt have that extra weight hanging of the front axle resulting in sharper turn in however it doesnt have the extra grunt.

After dumping the standard S-Line suspension for a set of Eibach Coilovers and RS4 anti-roll bar my turn in has improved greatly, really sticks to the road now and is solid at high speeds.

Thanks.

How harsh do you find the Eibach kit?

Someone on this forum was mentioning that the RS4 roll-bar can actually make the car more tail-happy (to the point that Quattro / ESP struggle to handle at high speed). Is this true or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

Al.

[toff]

Interesting, thanks. You certainly can't beat having lots of torque when it comes to driving pleasure. So you haven't had any big repair bills with the auto box?

Nothing has gone wrong so far. I tend to drive everywhere pretty calmly anyhow (having the auto box has really calmed my driving style down!)

Because of the gearbox issues others have reported, I do plan to extend my warranty!

Is ServoTronic (the manual gearbox with an auto-shifter) available on the 3.0 A4? If so, does anybody know if that's prone to faults too?

Al.

[KQuattro]

Thanks.

How harsh do you find the Eibach kit?

Someone on this forum was mentioning that the RS4 roll-bar can actually make the car more tail-happy (to the point that Quattro / ESP struggle to handle at high speed). Is this true or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

Al.

Al, I find the Eibach kit more comfortable then my S-Line suspension that had done 40k miles....the damping is far superior even with the lower ride height, check my earlier post for new ride height pics.

RS4 bar does make the rear stiffer but I have had no issues at handling at high speed or being tail happy, would be more worried if I didnt have quattro, ESP off you can really power out of roundabouts, you just get a nice 4WD drift...I think it works well with the eibach suspension.