Discussion
Hello all,
Thinking of getting a three(ish) year old A3 with the 3.2 engine and was just after some feedback from owners. Has anyone had to make use of the four wheel drive? How was it? Is the Haldex system on a par with the Torsen set up?
How many miles do they tend to do between services? And what are the typical costs?
Many thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.
Jamesson
Thinking of getting a three(ish) year old A3 with the 3.2 engine and was just after some feedback from owners. Has anyone had to make use of the four wheel drive? How was it? Is the Haldex system on a par with the Torsen set up?
How many miles do they tend to do between services? And what are the typical costs?
Many thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.
Jamesson
I've got a 2004 A3 3.2 DSG (pic in profile), the 4wd works because it gets good traction & grip and doesn't sit & spin the fronts on wet quick take-offs. Where I live if it snows they don't clear it for some time and in the past I've often been stuck at the bottom of the drive/road unable to move (RWD car) so the first snowfall after I had it I actually drove it round my garden/paddock when there was about 3" of snow and it got around OK, even uphill which considering it has road tyres is pretty good, can't compare it to the Torsen Quattros as I've never driven one but grip-wise it is very good and it does what it says on the tin.
Handling/grip is good in all condition and the car is fast, particularly on high-speed overtakes etc, suspension is firm so ride is a bit 'bumpy' on anything other than smooth roads, brakes are very powerful but sensitive, nice exhaust note, solid interior with comfortable, well supporting (leather) seats, DSG is very good - a paddle shift that works properly with throttle blips on downshift and seamless upshifts, or an auto without the power loss of a slush-box.
Had 1st service at around 13.5k and cost £205, not had second service yet (I've only done 23k), regarding running costs I've replaced all the tyres (rears just a couple of weeks ago) which were around £110 each, fuel consumption is not great at around 23mpg average (mainly short runs) but it will do 25-28 on a run but considering the performance I suppose that's not too bad.
I like the discrete looks and have been pleased with the car, although I have had a few electrical 'Gremlins' all fixed under warranty so far but my warranty expires at the end of march so I'm hoping the 'gremlins' have been exorcised.
Handling/grip is good in all condition and the car is fast, particularly on high-speed overtakes etc, suspension is firm so ride is a bit 'bumpy' on anything other than smooth roads, brakes are very powerful but sensitive, nice exhaust note, solid interior with comfortable, well supporting (leather) seats, DSG is very good - a paddle shift that works properly with throttle blips on downshift and seamless upshifts, or an auto without the power loss of a slush-box.
Had 1st service at around 13.5k and cost £205, not had second service yet (I've only done 23k), regarding running costs I've replaced all the tyres (rears just a couple of weeks ago) which were around £110 each, fuel consumption is not great at around 23mpg average (mainly short runs) but it will do 25-28 on a run but considering the performance I suppose that's not too bad.
I like the discrete looks and have been pleased with the car, although I have had a few electrical 'Gremlins' all fixed under warranty so far but my warranty expires at the end of march so I'm hoping the 'gremlins' have been exorcised.
I had the MK5 R32 before I got the RS4. Although not an A3 3.2 it is similar in many ways, same engine etc and also has the haldex on it. Basically with Haldex it will drive like a normal FWD car until it detects any traction problems. You can get slight wheelspin momentarily before the Haldex kicks in but it is hardly noticeable. The main difference between the haldex and torsen is one is permanent and the other is not. You can buy a haldex controller though and change the settings on it and have permanent AWD I believe.
Re servicing, you have to have the haldex serviced and the oil changed, I think it is every 40k but not 100% on that.
Re servicing, you have to have the haldex serviced and the oil changed, I think it is every 40k but not 100% on that.
catso said:
00161wj said:
Haldex oli changed every 20k. Oil and filter every 40k.
Audi UK told me oil every 40k, was 20k for older models.......
It was told 40K for the first oil change on my R32 but I don't know what the intervals were after that as I only did 10K in total before I chopped it in.
00161wj said:
We reccomend it every 20k for oil. And so do pretty much all dealers just to be safe.
Now this interests me as I received a 'reminder' from Audi UK saying my oil needed doing (2+ years & 20k) so I booked it in to my local Audi dealer for the oil change whilst it was in anyway for some warranty work (headlight levelling motor), they took the booking but when I returned to get the car they told me that they had not done the oil change because, for my car the reccomended change was 40k. I thought this strange so checked with Audi UK who also told me 40k.
I would have been happy for them to do it anyway as it does seem a long time for oil to be left in anything, (I was concerned about the first service being @ 13k = first engine oil change) but 40k seems a long time for oil in a 'hostile' environment plus 40k at my mileage might be 5 yrs!!
So although Audi say 40k would the general consensus be that it is better to change it at 20k anyway?
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