alvam

I have both. My 2013 A6 TFSI, a 2011 X5d and yet another diesel in my 2014 Cayenne. I like them all but for for me an SUV begs for a diesel engine while I believe the silky smooth TFSI is perfect for a car. Gas mileage arguments aside, I love them both and would do nothing different.

in2dwww

I picked up my A6 TDI on Friday. I drove it to the beach and back 450 miles round trip. I got 41mpg on the drive there and ended the entire trip netting 39mpg. I have 600 miles on the car and I'm still on the dealer's first tank of fuel with a 45 mile estimate range till empty.

audiman98

Thanks for all the replies, including the colorful ones. Member Audi 40 has a similar driving situation as myself, traded his 3.0T for a TDI, and has no regrets, making a pretty significant pro TDI statement for me. If someone out there bought a TDI and regrets it, they're not talking about it as far as I've seen, at least not on this site.

My minor lingering negative sentiments towards diesel are these: mild clatter with acceleration, longer cold weather engine warm up, rough restart when engine is deactivated at a stop, messier, smellier fueling areas compared to gas, and around here only about 60% of service stations have diesel. Also, the 3.0T has been around for several years with a proven track record, while the TDI is first year in this application. Longevity should still be longer and resale should be higher for the TDI than TFSI. Still, only 12% of A6 sales are TDI, with I'm guessing about 50% 3.0T and the rest 2.0T. I suspect with time the TDI share will increase, and the 3.0T decrease.

I realize my choice is really a win-win. I'm leaning toward the TDI, and will update in a day or two.

Going with the beige interior with walnut. I realize I'm in a definite minority when I say I'm tired of black interiors. They are ubiquitous and make me feel confined. I loved the vanilla leather interior I had in my '04 A6 2.7T.

Maverick61

Really - so you speak for everybody ?????

AudioBear

I have the beige and really like it. Can't stand black interiors. But that's they make different colored interiors.

You are right, diesel smells much worse than gasoline and the smell lingers longer if you get it on you. That's the biggest downside of buying a diesel. I have been driving them for more than 7 years and have never needed to go out of my way to find a diesel station, but I have had to pass a few that didn't sell diesel. Depends on where you live, up here in Northern Idaho where people drive a lot of diesel SUVs and trucks rare is the station that doesn't carry diesel.

My TDI doesn't makes the slightest clatter when first started but that's it. And it warms up a lot faster than my 2006 Jetta TDI but I can't compare that to a 3.0 TFSI since I don't own one. Maybe we should start a time to normal operating temperature poll (which of course is partially dependent on ambient temp). The restart has so far been instantaneous and quiet--the engine shut down is a lot more annoying until you get accustomed to it. And whatever you do, turn it off before you enter a car wash in which you put your car in neutral and get pulled along. If it shuts down then you have to put it in park to start it and the rollers will try to force your car along or jam themselves under the wheels (I have a friend with a BMW that had a bad experience with this and never uses the auto-shutoff feature).

The 3.0 TDI is new here. Has it been around in Europe for a while? I just don't know since I'm new to Audi. There's no doubt that the 3.0 TFSI is silky smooth. If I hadn't driven it I would have thought my TDI was silky smooth. Most people who ride in the car can't believe it's a diesel. And as a driver I am oblivious to it being a diesel until I need what a diesel can deliver. I have been told that 60% of new car sales in Europe are diesels--don't know if that's true, but I know a lot of them are not just because of economy, they are because of the performance a diesel delivers in the lower RPM range.

And yes, all things being equal most people would prefer to use less fuel. For some of us the diesel solution is equal or better. For others the 3.0 TFSI has clear advantages and appeal. For sure no one choice is the right or wrong choice nor is one better than the other. Both are great engines. Sometimes it comes down to a matter of taste. If I lived in a different place or had different needs I might have bought a 3.0 TFSI but I don't and I am absolutely delighted with my TDI.

Mike_L

Not everybody, but a large majority. Gas is always a factor. If it wasn't there would be no 6 cylinder 7 series, A8 or XJ. The fact that they exist, along with a Hybrid S-class, and outsell the V8s, says that it matters very much.

in2dwww

Yws! How much did the Hummer2 or Range Rover cost? North of $50k? Did they care about the price of fuel? Did they trade-in their cars for hybrids? Or did they all pay north of $80 for a Tesla to completely avoid buying fuel all together? What is the price point for someone who buys a car and thinks that operating costs are nothing? A v-12 owner? An SUV owner? Please, enlighten us.

in2dwww

I would venture to say that in Wisconsin, the temps get low enough for diesel clatter. Even at normal operating temps, compression ignition will dictate that the fuel pattern must change with pre and post ignition burn to reduce the clatter. This will burn slightly more fuel.

This is why you see truckers with mesh or tarp blocking their grill. It not only keeps the snow out, but it also pulls warmer air from the engine bay.

I was recently in Galax. VA during the cold snap and the temp was -3F. In my 2008 Mercedes BlueTec, there was clatter at idle and acceleration up to 1200rpm.

I also had an instance in my past 2010 Jetta TDI where I was at a rest stop in Tennessee for about 45 minutes with the engine idling. I leaft theheater and heated seats on and took a short nap. When I awoke, the engine was still on, but the coolant temp had dropped. This was because there was no load on the engine.

The quickest way to warm up a diesel is to get in it and drive. Also, turn on the heated seats, window defrost, headlights, etc to generate a load in the alternator. Also, in TDI models, there's a heater filament in the hvac that warms up in seconds to provide heat prior to engine warm-up operating temp. The Jetta could produce heated air the moment the car was turned on. The intensity of the immediate heat was less noticeable at 20F than 30F.

The biggest concern I would have in your region is the fuel gelling or waxing at cold temps. This would prevent a cold start in the morning. The fuel would need to be treated with anti-gel additives and most up North are come winter.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/...before-you-buy

snagitseven

Religion, politics, car brands and now engines. These kinds of discussions often lead to emotional arguments with virtually no practical result of changing someone's opinion.

In any case, please remember to keep the discussion civil, clean and devoid of personal comments.

Superfly_A6

People who spend $80k on Range Rovers and average 9mpg are throwing money out the window. Plain and simple. People who buy the Range Rovers, Hummers, etc don't buy them because they are capable off roaders or they are comfortable to drive, or they have `performance`. People who buy them are concerned about what others will think more than the practicality of the car. Everyone has one, especially the neighbours, so why not get a Supercharged RR for $80k. They also clearly don`t care about how much they spend on gas.

I also doubt that people who buy S-Class hybrid, buy it strictly for fuel economy. Its more like, `ooh, I want to try that`

I`m coming from a car that returned 15-17L/100km on my average drive ... and this is premium gas only. My TDI returns 9.6L/100km at this point and this is average for the lifetime of the car. On the highway, I've seen it as low as 42mpg and as high as 33mpg (hauling ***). By my calculations, based on 20,000km of driving per year, I would save $2,000+ in gas alone. This is not the only reason I bought the TDI. The smoothness, the torque and comfort were the biggest factors.

I have no issues of finding diesel gas stations - at all.
I haven`t driven the 3.0TFSI, so I can`t compare, but I was very satisfied with the diesel.

Oh I forgot to add. The innovations, cockpit and safety of audi/Quattro is what sold me as well.