Discussion
http://edbartlett6649.fotopic.net/p30
30k miles when I bought it, its got the hi-tech seat fabric plus carbon fibre, 19" wheels, drilled discs etc.
Done around 5k miles so far, including a trip to the alps, and am off to Germany this weekend via the ring. Also given it some workouts on scottish, welsh and devonshire b-roads.
I have seen several other owners comment on how they actually like the car more the longer they own it, unlike many cars which impress immediately but you gradually bore of. I sit firmly in that camp. With good examples with a years warranty left now as low as 35 – 40k I struggle to think of any other car which ticks as many boxes as this one does.
Yes, the handling is flawed, as you would expect for a 2 tonne car.
However, in reality most people will never reach the part of the envelope in which the car runs out of ideas, and those that do will either adapt very quickly and learn to drive around those issues or end up in the scenery, as with almost any performance car.
99.9% of the time you will frankly be amazed that this monster of a car is able to rack up that much lateral G, change direction so quickly and practically never even make the tyres squeal! The self-levelling suspension is amazingly effective, making body roll almost totally non-existent. It is also surprisingly supple and compliant in normal fast road use, giving a very fluid feeling to the ride and giving huge confidence in the dry thanks to the Quattro.
The area where the car starts to become compromised is very bumpy, cresting and dipping b-roads. It is at this point, particularly in dips, that the weight gets the better of the suspension. I believe one of the Evo road tests also mentions this characteristic. However after experiencing this once or twice recently you simply learn to read the road ahead and either be prepared, or scrub off a small amount of speed to bring it back to a level that will not cause problems, before the wall of torque brings you back up to speed in a blink.
Much of this problem in the first place is simply caused because you can carry frankly ridiculous speed across almost any type of road. The engine provides comical thrust from very low down the rev range and the combination of the 200mph gearing and the incredible build quality means that you reach 3 figures on a whim, yet it always feels like you are doing 30-40mph less than you really are. This is ratified by the proven girlfriend tourettes levels when making progress.
In the wet, the Quattro system makes light work of maintaining traction out of bends even through the really twisty stuff, however you need to keep momentum in check and remember how much weight you are carrying! If you start sliding, its pretty hard to stop!
My car has the optional 19 inch wheels and this does cause some problems with the ride. Road noise on anything but silky smooth tarmac can be verging on unacceptable and you feel every bump and expansion joint. However, for the moment at least I’m sticking with them because on a car of this size with huge flared arches I think the 18 in. wheels look too small.
So far I haven’t found any of the issues some road testers have reported regarding the steering weighting and feel, although perhaps that might be because of the larger wheels? In fact I'd actually say this is one of the areas I've been really surprised with. That said I've had an M3 hire car this week and when you do a direct back to back comparison you realise that that nebulous 'feel' is missing. However you do need to do a back-to-back with a good drivers car to notice.
Not much really needs to be said about the build quality or interior, other than to say that they are the single most comfortable seats I have ever sat in, car or otherwise. Even after seven hours of non-stop driving yesterday to the alps I was still completely comfortable and could frankly have sat there for another hour to watch the in-car telly
However, when you are really pushing on they could maybe do with some extra shoulder support, although my feeling is this would only really become an issue if you were tracking the car regularly, which lets face it nobody in their right mind is going to buy this as a regular track tool.
Average MPG so far is about 19 using optimax. I registered for Shell points immediately upon taking ownership. MPG seems to get much worse if you use 95 ron fuel and performance takes a dramatic and noticeable hit, much more so than the tuned scooby I owned previously.
Also been impressed with the tiptronic paddles, which add significantly to the experience when you are ‘making progress’, particularly on A and B roads. As well as allowing you to hold the revs in any gear, it also helps greatly with being able to use engine braking to back up the brakes. Additionally the paddles are always live even when you are in D, meaning you can also use engine braking around town. Having said that, the change down to 2nd gear is jerky if you are aiming to make best use of engine braking. Fine for you but your passenger may complain. SAying that after the ferocity of the M3 SMG this week, I can't complain!!!
Brakes are seen as another weak spot of the car, but only if you are driving very hard for long periods of time. I have always been very easy on my brakes in every car, preferring to use engine braking and (when visibility allows) using all of the road to maximise my ability to carry speed, but so far I have been very impressed with them. (I have the cross drilled examples which also seems to help slightly with cooling, which is where the weak spot is with the current items, as well as the fact that the callipers each hold 4 small pads instead of 2 large ones. However they do increase pad wear). I am keen to see how they cope with the ring this weekend. At 2k to replace the lot, I'm hoping they don't warp!
Finally, I should also comment on people’s reaction to the car. This is possibly where I have been most taken aback. Absolutely everybody seems to be in awe of the car, and always in a completely positive way. I can barely get out of a petrol station without somebody coming up to ask or comment about the car. I get thumbs up from white van man, ‘respek’ from Chavs, knowing smiles from M3 owners…and strangely despite probably overtaking 100's of people since owning it (completely safely and responsibly I hasten to add), I didn’t get a single person angrily flashing me or giving 'the bird' or the old 'nescafe' out the window like they usually do.
I plan on upgrading to 510 bhp via a miltek, remap and g-box remap soon, but thereafter things get ridiculously expensive so that's my only plan.
Why the RS6? I don't have kids, but only one garage spot and a love of extreme sports and the mountains, and I can't think of a better vehicle to take bikes, snowboards and luggage across continents, whilst still keeping me excited. Currently watching for news on the possible replacement, which is rumoured to have a twin-turbo V10, magnetic suspension etc etc. In the meantime, I'll be the one smiling from the drivers seat come rain or shine.
30k miles when I bought it, its got the hi-tech seat fabric plus carbon fibre, 19" wheels, drilled discs etc.
Done around 5k miles so far, including a trip to the alps, and am off to Germany this weekend via the ring. Also given it some workouts on scottish, welsh and devonshire b-roads.
I have seen several other owners comment on how they actually like the car more the longer they own it, unlike many cars which impress immediately but you gradually bore of. I sit firmly in that camp. With good examples with a years warranty left now as low as 35 – 40k I struggle to think of any other car which ticks as many boxes as this one does.
Yes, the handling is flawed, as you would expect for a 2 tonne car.
However, in reality most people will never reach the part of the envelope in which the car runs out of ideas, and those that do will either adapt very quickly and learn to drive around those issues or end up in the scenery, as with almost any performance car.
99.9% of the time you will frankly be amazed that this monster of a car is able to rack up that much lateral G, change direction so quickly and practically never even make the tyres squeal! The self-levelling suspension is amazingly effective, making body roll almost totally non-existent. It is also surprisingly supple and compliant in normal fast road use, giving a very fluid feeling to the ride and giving huge confidence in the dry thanks to the Quattro.
The area where the car starts to become compromised is very bumpy, cresting and dipping b-roads. It is at this point, particularly in dips, that the weight gets the better of the suspension. I believe one of the Evo road tests also mentions this characteristic. However after experiencing this once or twice recently you simply learn to read the road ahead and either be prepared, or scrub off a small amount of speed to bring it back to a level that will not cause problems, before the wall of torque brings you back up to speed in a blink.
Much of this problem in the first place is simply caused because you can carry frankly ridiculous speed across almost any type of road. The engine provides comical thrust from very low down the rev range and the combination of the 200mph gearing and the incredible build quality means that you reach 3 figures on a whim, yet it always feels like you are doing 30-40mph less than you really are. This is ratified by the proven girlfriend tourettes levels when making progress.
In the wet, the Quattro system makes light work of maintaining traction out of bends even through the really twisty stuff, however you need to keep momentum in check and remember how much weight you are carrying! If you start sliding, its pretty hard to stop!
My car has the optional 19 inch wheels and this does cause some problems with the ride. Road noise on anything but silky smooth tarmac can be verging on unacceptable and you feel every bump and expansion joint. However, for the moment at least I’m sticking with them because on a car of this size with huge flared arches I think the 18 in. wheels look too small.
So far I haven’t found any of the issues some road testers have reported regarding the steering weighting and feel, although perhaps that might be because of the larger wheels? In fact I'd actually say this is one of the areas I've been really surprised with. That said I've had an M3 hire car this week and when you do a direct back to back comparison you realise that that nebulous 'feel' is missing. However you do need to do a back-to-back with a good drivers car to notice.
Not much really needs to be said about the build quality or interior, other than to say that they are the single most comfortable seats I have ever sat in, car or otherwise. Even after seven hours of non-stop driving yesterday to the alps I was still completely comfortable and could frankly have sat there for another hour to watch the in-car telly
However, when you are really pushing on they could maybe do with some extra shoulder support, although my feeling is this would only really become an issue if you were tracking the car regularly, which lets face it nobody in their right mind is going to buy this as a regular track tool.
Average MPG so far is about 19 using optimax. I registered for Shell points immediately upon taking ownership. MPG seems to get much worse if you use 95 ron fuel and performance takes a dramatic and noticeable hit, much more so than the tuned scooby I owned previously.
Also been impressed with the tiptronic paddles, which add significantly to the experience when you are ‘making progress’, particularly on A and B roads. As well as allowing you to hold the revs in any gear, it also helps greatly with being able to use engine braking to back up the brakes. Additionally the paddles are always live even when you are in D, meaning you can also use engine braking around town. Having said that, the change down to 2nd gear is jerky if you are aiming to make best use of engine braking. Fine for you but your passenger may complain. SAying that after the ferocity of the M3 SMG this week, I can't complain!!!
Brakes are seen as another weak spot of the car, but only if you are driving very hard for long periods of time. I have always been very easy on my brakes in every car, preferring to use engine braking and (when visibility allows) using all of the road to maximise my ability to carry speed, but so far I have been very impressed with them. (I have the cross drilled examples which also seems to help slightly with cooling, which is where the weak spot is with the current items, as well as the fact that the callipers each hold 4 small pads instead of 2 large ones. However they do increase pad wear). I am keen to see how they cope with the ring this weekend. At 2k to replace the lot, I'm hoping they don't warp!
Finally, I should also comment on people’s reaction to the car. This is possibly where I have been most taken aback. Absolutely everybody seems to be in awe of the car, and always in a completely positive way. I can barely get out of a petrol station without somebody coming up to ask or comment about the car. I get thumbs up from white van man, ‘respek’ from Chavs, knowing smiles from M3 owners…and strangely despite probably overtaking 100's of people since owning it (completely safely and responsibly I hasten to add), I didn’t get a single person angrily flashing me or giving 'the bird' or the old 'nescafe' out the window like they usually do.
I plan on upgrading to 510 bhp via a miltek, remap and g-box remap soon, but thereafter things get ridiculously expensive so that's my only plan.
Why the RS6? I don't have kids, but only one garage spot and a love of extreme sports and the mountains, and I can't think of a better vehicle to take bikes, snowboards and luggage across continents, whilst still keeping me excited. Currently watching for news on the possible replacement, which is rumoured to have a twin-turbo V10, magnetic suspension etc etc. In the meantime, I'll be the one smiling from the drivers seat come rain or shine.
Edited by edcase on Wednesday 16th August 17:51
Edited by edcase on Wednesday 16th August 17:51
Edited by edcase on Wednesday 16th August 17:52
Edited by edcase on Wednesday 16th August 17:53
Edited by edcase on Wednesday 16th August 18:45
Edited by edcase on Wednesday 16th August 18:46
Edited by edcase on Wednesday 16th August 18:47
Edited by edcase on Wednesday 16th August 18:47
Edited by edcase on Wednesday 16th August 22:36
edcase said:
Oh. Thanks
Any idea how I embed images?
Any idea how I embed images?
Cracking review...
Images wise, if you have www.image.com/image.jpg you can chuck [ pic ] at the start and [ /pic] at the end (without the spaces..) ..
Quote my post for the syntax below..
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HTH,
slinky
587racing.com
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