markcincinnati

I will find out the "up charge" from the dealer and report back -- but I wanted to inform y'all that I hit 10K miles on my 7 month old 03 allroad and took it in for service (and for the PSK install).

I asked the dealer what kind of oil they put in Porsche's -- he said, Mobil 1. Not so in the Audi's. I had had the oil and filter changed at about 3,000+ miles, so I now had not quite 7,000 miles on the non-syn oil and filter.

I asked if they would use the Mobil1 and a new filter and the answer was yes and we will charge the diff between the Audi advantage oil and the Mobil 1. My best guess is that it will be a minimum of $5 per quart -- I can buy a 6pk of Mobil 1 at Costco for under $30, I think. So I will probably pay about $10-$12 premium at the dealer, which is high, but worth my time.

I also noted that no tire rotation is included in the Audi advantage -- so I had my tires rotated too, new wiper blades, and inflate front tires to #39 and rears to #37 (Sport A/S's 245 x 50 x 17").

So, I should end up with a sportier allroad (especially since I had the 402 mod done at -12mm earlier) with the new rear sway bar and "better oil" -- and I guess I'll, gulp, wait the full 10,000 miles before I change the oil this time.

The dealer told me the Porsche's are now 20,000 miles between oil changes and those that aren't are 15,000. I just can't get used to those kind of numbers between oil changes -- is Mobil 1 really THAT good?

Anyway, full report on the PSK and the price of the synthetic oil later.

@ 10K miles, my allroad just keeps getting better.

If the handling improvement is as has been advertised on this board, then the only "mechanical" thing I could gripe about is the brakes -- they're good, not great. Tirerack seems to have a Brembo upgrade that might be worth looking into.

So many mods, so little money. . . .

ar2002

What you might do is have your oil analyzed after 7000-10000 miles to see how it is doing. An outfit such as Blackstone Labs can do the analysis.<ul><li><a href="http://www.blackstone-labs.com">Blackstone Labs</a></li></ul>

markcincinnati

Svc mgr said 0w40 is what is being used!

All Italian

Mobil 1 is cheep at Costco but they don't carry 0/30 or 0/40 in my area? They cost $5/qt at the autozone!

Ibis

My dad commutes to work in a Chevy with 365,000 miles on it and he swears by Mobil 1. He uses it in all of his cars, but he changes it at no more that 7500 miles. I don't use it in my Audi because it's a lease that I had no intention of keeping for a long time and since they pay for oil changes I take what they give me. But if I owned my car and was going to put a lot of miles on it I would switch to Mobil 1 and I guess I could go 10K between changes.

Bargamon

Im sort of new here, but what exactly is the 402 mod?

Thanks!

markcincinnati

To make a long story short, it is the ability of the allroad to receive a code that will increase or decrease the ride height. The air suspension has some latitude, i.e. I had my Audi dealer lower my ride height by 12mm which is about one half inch.

In position one, the car is lower to the ground and the suspension is somewhat stiffer -- it is able to corner with "less fuss" than stock. As of this writing I now have the so-called PSK mod -- which is the order code for the A6 sport suspension. The PSK mod on an allroad is simply the replacement of the REAR anti-sway bar and bushings -- the OE sway bar is 15mm the PSK is 18mm and it decreases the understeer of the car and the "lean" into corners.

Corners and other twistie bits can be taken at higher speeds and the body does not "roll" as much as with the stock setting.

I have, because of this board, switched to Michelen Pilot Sport All Season tires at a plus zero size of 245 x 50 x 17, lowered the car with the 402 mod and replaced the rear anti-sway bar with the PSK bar and bushings.

Moreover, I have the front tires at 39PSI and the rears at 37PSI which also imrpoves the "turn in."

The allroad, thus set up is far more responsive.

This particular allroad is a 6spd stick shift and, IMHO, the character of the stick is nite and day different from the tip.

This ain't no S6 avant -- but it is, for want of a better analogy, the "poor man's" S6 avant -- total cost of the tires and the mods and the labor to make it all happen around $1250 (and most of that was for the tires, as I recall).

This allroad is a very satisfying ride.

markcincinnati

20,000 miles on Mobil 1 -- some new Porsches!?!

All Italian

Like Mark because of this forum I have swapped the OEM tires at purchase for the 245/50/17 pilot sports.
402 mod possibly this weekend then a PSK soon after that! Relatively cheep to do all that! Poor mans S6? Well I will be taken the AR on some roads this summer that an S6 would never survive on!
Ciao

Donegal TDI

....where reducing the ride height of one's vehicle is an option.

I bought the allroad for the INCREASED ride height due to the state of our B roads.

Sigh!