Swap '15 4.0 @ 29k for '15 TDI @ 12k ??
11-19-2018, 08:12 AM
#1
D4 in PA
Thread Starter
Swap '15 4.0 @ 29k for '15 TDI @ 12k ??
Having returned to the A8 fold last May with my D4 4.0, I have had some massive amounts of fun. This car exceeds my expectations in virtually every arena, and therein lies the rub.
I rarely, if ever, use the car to its potential. I'm over 60 and as much as I like tooling around and clipping every apex imaginable, the fact is the primary passenger (the wife) does not go for those shenanigans. On a recent jaunt across Pennsylvania's glorious twisty-curvy turnpike, I scared the hell out of her more than once. As has been noted in other posts, you really have to re-calibrate your senses to match the potential of this engine... it is that good and I have adapted superbly. But then I have to re-program myself when she is with me, which is more than half-to-three-quarters of the time I spend in the car. Now if my daughter were the primary passenger, she'd be reaching over to press the accelerator for me....
So I came across this Corporate fleet TDI about 3 hours away that ticks all the required boxes for me, has a lot fewer miles ( a four year old car with 12k ?!?! ), and will still give me 90% of what the 4.0 offers up. I see two divergent characteristics (fuel differences aside):
1 - I have a NWB with Sport Package, the TDI is an L without the Sport Package steering benefits (how often do I really engage the sports differential?)
2 - TDI has upgraded Valcona sport/contour seats & Cold weather package, both of which my NWB lacks.
So it boils down to a little more comfort and length in a diesel package or a lot more oomph and panache in the shorter wheelbase.
Either way, I win. Right? I did peek at a 2016 Panamera...a dangerous thought!
I rarely, if ever, use the car to its potential. I'm over 60 and as much as I like tooling around and clipping every apex imaginable, the fact is the primary passenger (the wife) does not go for those shenanigans. On a recent jaunt across Pennsylvania's glorious twisty-curvy turnpike, I scared the hell out of her more than once. As has been noted in other posts, you really have to re-calibrate your senses to match the potential of this engine... it is that good and I have adapted superbly. But then I have to re-program myself when she is with me, which is more than half-to-three-quarters of the time I spend in the car. Now if my daughter were the primary passenger, she'd be reaching over to press the accelerator for me....
So I came across this Corporate fleet TDI about 3 hours away that ticks all the required boxes for me, has a lot fewer miles ( a four year old car with 12k ?!?! ), and will still give me 90% of what the 4.0 offers up. I see two divergent characteristics (fuel differences aside):
1 - I have a NWB with Sport Package, the TDI is an L without the Sport Package steering benefits (how often do I really engage the sports differential?)
2 - TDI has upgraded Valcona sport/contour seats & Cold weather package, both of which my NWB lacks.
So it boils down to a little more comfort and length in a diesel package or a lot more oomph and panache in the shorter wheelbase.
Either way, I win. Right? I did peek at a 2016 Panamera...a dangerous thought!
11-19-2018, 08:24 AM
#2
I have a 2014 TDI, and while have never driven the 4.0 to compare it to, love driving it. It will still pin you back into your seat and it is not a slouch by any means. I would go and test drive it, that will tell you right there if it is right for you. Then there are the fuel mileage gains, I consistently get 32+ MPG and I far from baby the throttle...
11-19-2018, 10:47 AM
#3
AudiWorld Member
Having returned to the A8 fold last May with my D4 4.0, I have had some massive amounts of fun. This car exceeds my expectations in virtually every arena, and therein lies the rub.
I rarely, if ever, use the car to its potential. I'm over 60 and as much as I like tooling around and clipping every apex imaginable, the fact is the primary passenger (the wife) does not go for those shenanigans. On a recent jaunt across Pennsylvania's glorious twisty-curvy turnpike, I scared the hell out of her more than once. As has been noted in other posts, you really have to re-calibrate your senses to match the potential of this engine... it is that good and I have adapted superbly. But then I have to re-program myself when she is with me, which is more than half-to-three-quarters of the time I spend in the car. Now if my daughter were the primary passenger, she'd be reaching over to press the accelerator for me....
So I came across this Corporate fleet TDI about 3 hours away that ticks all the required boxes for me, has a lot fewer miles ( a four year old car with 12k ?!?! ), and will still give me 90% of what the 4.0 offers up. I see two divergent characteristics (fuel differences aside):
1 - I have a NWB with Sport Package, the TDI is an L without the Sport Package steering benefits (how often do I really engage the sports differential?)
2 - TDI has upgraded Valcona sport/contour seats & Cold weather package, both of which my NWB lacks.
So it boils down to a little more comfort and length in a diesel package or a lot more oomph and panache in the shorter wheelbase.
Either way, I win. Right? I did peek at a 2016 Panamera...a dangerous thought!
I rarely, if ever, use the car to its potential. I'm over 60 and as much as I like tooling around and clipping every apex imaginable, the fact is the primary passenger (the wife) does not go for those shenanigans. On a recent jaunt across Pennsylvania's glorious twisty-curvy turnpike, I scared the hell out of her more than once. As has been noted in other posts, you really have to re-calibrate your senses to match the potential of this engine... it is that good and I have adapted superbly. But then I have to re-program myself when she is with me, which is more than half-to-three-quarters of the time I spend in the car. Now if my daughter were the primary passenger, she'd be reaching over to press the accelerator for me....
So I came across this Corporate fleet TDI about 3 hours away that ticks all the required boxes for me, has a lot fewer miles ( a four year old car with 12k ?!?! ), and will still give me 90% of what the 4.0 offers up. I see two divergent characteristics (fuel differences aside):
1 - I have a NWB with Sport Package, the TDI is an L without the Sport Package steering benefits (how often do I really engage the sports differential?)
2 - TDI has upgraded Valcona sport/contour seats & Cold weather package, both of which my NWB lacks.
So it boils down to a little more comfort and length in a diesel package or a lot more oomph and panache in the shorter wheelbase.
Either way, I win. Right? I did peek at a 2016 Panamera...a dangerous thought!
11-19-2018, 11:26 AM
#4
D4 in PA
Thread Starter
11-19-2018, 11:37 AM
#5
AudiWorld Member
You can get (certainly in Europe) a 4.2L V8 diesel but the 3.0L V6 is by far and away the more common engine. I have this in my car and it's certainly no slouch. My wife complains that I drive faster now that I have this car. You can also get it remapped to wake it up even more and that gets good reviews.
11-19-2018, 12:21 PM
#6
AudiWorld Member
For the longest time I was convinced I would pursue a TDI when I could get a 3 year old one in my price range. Then diesel gate happened and I had to wait for that to sort out and for the used cars to be more available in the market. What actually turned me away was my routine commute of 20 miles to work. My concern (without actual basis) was that the slower to warm up engine wouldn't get to run long enough at temperature and the possibilities of detrimental effects on the engine. If I had a longer commute or had regular long road trips I would have got the TDI.
11-19-2018, 12:58 PM
#7
AudiWorld Member
For the longest time I was convinced I would pursue a TDI when I could get a 3 year old one in my price range. Then diesel gate happened and I had to wait for that to sort out and for the used cars to be more available in the market. What actually turned me away was my routine commute of 20 miles to work. My concern (without actual basis) was that the slower to warm up engine wouldn't get to run long enough at temperature and the possibilities of detrimental effects on the engine. If I had a longer commute or had regular long road trips I would have got the TDI.
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11-19-2018, 01:39 PM
#8
AudiWorld Member
Having returned to the A8 fold last May with my D4 4.0, I have had some massive amounts of fun. This car exceeds my expectations in virtually every arena, and therein lies the rub.
I rarely, if ever, use the car to its potential. I'm over 60 and as much as I like tooling around and clipping every apex imaginable, the fact is the primary passenger (the wife) does not go for those shenanigans. On a recent jaunt across Pennsylvania's glorious twisty-curvy turnpike, I scared the hell out of her more than once. As has been noted in other posts, you really have to re-calibrate your senses to match the potential of this engine... it is that good and I have adapted superbly. But then I have to re-program myself when she is with me, which is more than half-to-three-quarters of the time I spend in the car. Now if my daughter were the primary passenger, she'd be reaching over to press the accelerator for me....
So I came across this Corporate fleet TDI about 3 hours away that ticks all the required boxes for me, has a lot fewer miles ( a four year old car with 12k ?!?! ), and will still give me 90% of what the 4.0 offers up. I see two divergent characteristics (fuel differences aside):
1 - I have a NWB with Sport Package, the TDI is an L without the Sport Package steering benefits (how often do I really engage the sports differential?)
2 - TDI has upgraded Valcona sport/contour seats & Cold weather package, both of which my NWB lacks.
So it boils down to a little more comfort and length in a diesel package or a lot more oomph and panache in the shorter wheelbase.
Either way, I win. Right? I did peek at a 2016 Panamera...a dangerous thought!
I rarely, if ever, use the car to its potential. I'm over 60 and as much as I like tooling around and clipping every apex imaginable, the fact is the primary passenger (the wife) does not go for those shenanigans. On a recent jaunt across Pennsylvania's glorious twisty-curvy turnpike, I scared the hell out of her more than once. As has been noted in other posts, you really have to re-calibrate your senses to match the potential of this engine... it is that good and I have adapted superbly. But then I have to re-program myself when she is with me, which is more than half-to-three-quarters of the time I spend in the car. Now if my daughter were the primary passenger, she'd be reaching over to press the accelerator for me....
So I came across this Corporate fleet TDI about 3 hours away that ticks all the required boxes for me, has a lot fewer miles ( a four year old car with 12k ?!?! ), and will still give me 90% of what the 4.0 offers up. I see two divergent characteristics (fuel differences aside):
1 - I have a NWB with Sport Package, the TDI is an L without the Sport Package steering benefits (how often do I really engage the sports differential?)
2 - TDI has upgraded Valcona sport/contour seats & Cold weather package, both of which my NWB lacks.
So it boils down to a little more comfort and length in a diesel package or a lot more oomph and panache in the shorter wheelbase.
Either way, I win. Right? I did peek at a 2016 Panamera...a dangerous thought!
My vote is for you to keep the 4.0, but for your use case, the TDI does make sense. I don’t know if the wife would be any more ‘comfortable’ in the Panamera. But that TDI would certainly be a great option.
11-19-2018, 02:22 PM
#9
Hi Elviss,
Well if you followed my thread on here, you'd see I was thinking of going the other way, from a 3.0TDI to a 4.0, but after seeing the threads on the oil screen to the turbos being gunked up and the potential of losing them, plus the downpipe issue. I think I'm going to keep what I have and enjoy the extended warranty covered under the TDI settlement. Plus if I were to get bored of the existing power, I can get a Malone tune and shake things up a bit.
Well if you followed my thread on here, you'd see I was thinking of going the other way, from a 3.0TDI to a 4.0, but after seeing the threads on the oil screen to the turbos being gunked up and the potential of losing them, plus the downpipe issue. I think I'm going to keep what I have and enjoy the extended warranty covered under the TDI settlement. Plus if I were to get bored of the existing power, I can get a Malone tune and shake things up a bit.
11-20-2018, 06:33 AM
#10
I generally like fast cars and generally modify all my cars. One of the cars I had was an 07 A8 with 4.2 V8 - loved it but decided to replace it. Found a 2014 Audi A8L 3.0TDI in May of this year that had not been "fixed". Purchased it for with 34,000 miles on it for 33,500 dollars. I filed the claim and got the emissions fix done. I received 11,250 dollars back on the claim. Making the cost of the car about 22K.
I posted this information and another forum member sent me a pm recently telling me that after seeing the post also went out and found one and is getting about 12,000 dollars back on his purchase. There are still some out there.
I promptly ordered the Malone Stage 2 tune for the TDI and it added quite a bit more power making the car even more fun and faster than my 4.2. While it is a far cry from a twin turbo V8 performance wise I have to say that with my 4.2 I was getting about 340 miles out of a tank, now I get over 600 miles out of that same sized tank. So I get the two things that normally cannot be had... performance and economy. Love this car, love this motor it is smooth and with the tune it achieves 405 ftlb of torque which puts you back in the seat nicely.
Notes - I do have 3 regrets moving from my 07 to my 14 TDI - 07 had the B&O (miss it), 07 had Adaptive Cruise (really miss it) and my gigantic trunk in the A8 went down to a MUCH smaller trunk in the A8L. So get the B&O and get adaptive cruise control and learn to live with the smaller trunk.
I posted this information and another forum member sent me a pm recently telling me that after seeing the post also went out and found one and is getting about 12,000 dollars back on his purchase. There are still some out there.
I promptly ordered the Malone Stage 2 tune for the TDI and it added quite a bit more power making the car even more fun and faster than my 4.2. While it is a far cry from a twin turbo V8 performance wise I have to say that with my 4.2 I was getting about 340 miles out of a tank, now I get over 600 miles out of that same sized tank. So I get the two things that normally cannot be had... performance and economy. Love this car, love this motor it is smooth and with the tune it achieves 405 ftlb of torque which puts you back in the seat nicely.
Notes - I do have 3 regrets moving from my 07 to my 14 TDI - 07 had the B&O (miss it), 07 had Adaptive Cruise (really miss it) and my gigantic trunk in the A8 went down to a MUCH smaller trunk in the A8L. So get the B&O and get adaptive cruise control and learn to live with the smaller trunk.