Locopor

A6 2.7T w/ 27k miles on it. Tiptronic tranny.

Here's what I do, I let the car warm up for 2-3 mins on cold starts. My car Sits outside during the winter (I live in IL so we get snow and 0's temp during the winter)

When i Drive it hard (over 4500 rpm) I let the car iddle for at least 10-15 secs and drive it easy the last few miles)

If I keep doing this, how long do you think my turbos will stay in good shape?

quickaudi:STFA

read the manual. Audi tells you to start driving as soon as you start the car. There are several reasons that letting your car "warm up" is bad, and if Audi says to drive, and they've probably life cycled several of these engines, I believe them. Note: this is easy driving, not racing. It's in the manual.
Idleing after any run, not just over 4500 rpm, is a good idea. Get a cooler afterrun thermoswitch for even more protection.

oh, and I was just kidding with the subject line, sorta. it'll depend on a billion factors, so they might last until tomorrow or until 2049. No real way to tell.

paulroad

0w40 synthetic too

S4_Cinci (I S'edTFA)

gentle driving does warm the car more effectively than letting it idle, but the only thing you will do by letting it idle is waste gas and generate more CO2 (big freakin' deal). I have a hard time believing Audi tells you to start driving because it will increase engine longevity. You basically have it down - don't get into the boost until oil is 175+, don't flog it then shut it down right away. Always use good quality synthetic oil (M1 0w-40 is excellent) and OEM quality filter and change it often - 10k is too long IMO.

Locopor

I live in Illinois and my car sits outside during the winter, it can get very cold here i'm talking some days with 0 degrees.

Is that gonna cause a problem, should i just use 5w-30 instead?

S4_Cinci (I S'edTFA)

protection it needs at full operating temperature. The first number is the cold viscosity (thus 0 is "thinner" than 5 - in theory anyway) and the second number is hot viscosity (thus 40 is thicker than 30). It's not just about those numbers, but also about the approvals, and the 0w-40 meets the ACEA A3 specs - any of the Xw-30s do not. this spec is for engine wear protection, the A1 spec (which the xw-30 ones meet) is only for fuel economy. I use the 0w-40 year round in Cincinnati, which can get to -25 F and it's fine. If you really want to go for a 30 weight oil, use the 0w-30 instead in the winter. I did try that one, but it was too thin at temp and resulted in more valvetrain noise than the 0w-40.

Look at the spec sheets on the Mobil 1 website to get all the details.

drbob_1

He's right, change the oil (0W-30 or 40) every 5 K with synthetic, it's cheap turbo insurance.

Driving it slowly for warmup is the best for your entire car. Since it warms up the rest of the car trans, rear, etc) as well. Gently varying engine speed and load is the best way to warm it up. When turbos and oil are cold so shaft lubrication is minimal is where most wear occurs. I also found, unexpectedly, and only with a boost guage, that there was boost at times of part-throttle acceleration.

AoA extended my warranty for all the time, several months, it spent in the shop, for warranty work, but didn't address terrible dealer service, so extension wasn't that helpful. And now AoA is not helpful at all. They point to dealer and dealer points to AoA. How did you get them to offer cash back?

S4_Cinci (I S'edTFA)

still stonewalled me (after each BBB win, they would do some work, but never fixing the root cause of the problems), I contacted a lawyer. AoA acted like they didn't care until a court date was set and then they capitulated like a little girl and asked "what will it take to settle this out of court?". I gave them a pretty hefty figure, my lawyer marked it up a lot (as they took a large %) and AoA said yes - thus this equals a big rebate check as all I wanted was decent service in the first place.

AoA and dealer attitude, at least with regards to service, is the main problem with buying an Audi in the US. The cars are excellent (well, except for reliability and quality control...) but the dealer network and the attitude of AoA sucks in a big way!