Just search "coil pack".

With all the electronics in the new car, if they only have one major issue I'd call it good.

Seems like every Audi we've owned has had one buggaboo part that's known to fail on each model. My A4, coil packs and then fuel pump. A8, instrument cluster. Our Q7 vent motors.

I still don't think of that as "unreliable".

or any other problems, for that matter. Not saying they didn't exist, but not everyone experienced that particular problem.

All new models will have kinks. I don't expect the B8 (A5/S5, A4/S4) to be completely free of issues.

All new cars have issues, it all depends on how well AoA takes care of you after the sale. I don't know how they are now, but in the past AoA had awful customer service.

and no oil cooler was hell

(or maybe it was 2002) because Audi had difficulty cleaning the milling chips/dust out of the cast cavity.

Generally they overbuild on a first year model run and then slowly pull back on quality of parts..

I've worked as a tech for both companies...

with an R version and presto, you have the same reliability as a 2004+ B6.

Some dealerships had 4-5 cars sitting on the lots waiting for coil packs. The parts department would not sell the a backup coil pack to you; well some would sell them for $150 each in 2003 due to the "demand."

So the 2 minute fix didn't work in 2002/3 when the "R" coil pack didn't exist. Hence, I would wait before I buy a 2008 B8's. We will have to wait until ~2012 to get the reliable parts.

I had one go after about a 10 min drive in -20 degree weather. It was awful, my car shut down in ice cold weather, on a sunday night. I had to wait almost 2 hours in an ice cold car for a tow. I can deal with that, but it's not a car I would recommend for my Mom.

I know how to change a coilpack, the problem is the dealer didn't have them or parts wanted "extra". I had a dealer say $150 each.

All you really needed was one backup, but they car didn't tell you which one was failing. So you have to change them until one started working. Trust me, I bought backups when they were available. But for a brand new car it sucked getting towed 3 times the first year.

I simply learned to live with it. Well actually no... I now run B5 coilpacks that work well and do not fail.

That being said I still have 4 spares in my trunk.

I think I had a total of 1 coilpack failure when I was stock and 4 after the K04 upgrade. I've been running B5 coilpacks since February w/o any problems.

It seems that excessive heat kills them. 4 of my failures were when it was warm outside and 1 failure during winter.

Just wasn't an issue for me.

From what I learned, it has something to do with the plastic not holding up very well to variable temperature changes. It becomes brittle, cracks and eventually shorts the circuit. I've heard the problem doesn't happen instantaneously. It starts out as small hairline cracks (during the cold winter months?) and eventually grows (maybe during the summer months?) due to vibrations and regular stress. The driver is really only able to detect the very last phase; when the coil pack shorts out.