seinsmeld13

I posted this over on Audizine.

I picked up my 2013 on Halloween. My prior ride was a brilliant red with Srronic, sports diff and alcantara. New ride is a loaded Stronic, Phantom black, black/red nappa, with titanium rims and heated rear seats. I had two unresolved ssues with my 2010 a gearbox malfunction warning and awful low speed steering shudder. The new steering for me is fantastic, I love it. In my old ride I had the wheel set as low as possible and had to raise it in order to get out. Now set and forget it. New gearshift **** looks and feels great. The old one was very cheap. New MMI layout very polished. I loved my alcantara seats. The new seats look and feel very upscale. The new tranny is in my opinion vastly improved. I did take out the six speed but in the end went with the Stronic. The new sport setting is excellent and similar to my GTI. This will be great for autocrossing. You can actually drive this in auto where the previous tranny I drove it only in full manual. I now drive this one in autoS on the highway only. At 120km/h in seventh it is turning over at about 1800 rpm's which seems too low for me so I have been driving her in fifth or sixth at this speed. Fuel economy is of no concern to me as my gas is paid for. Seventh for me is geared for high speed driving on the Autobaun. With the new gearing ths thing is rocket off the line. This new one is definitely faster. I will not be doing any engine mods with this car for now at least until out of warranty given my previous rides tranny issues. I had my AWE transferred from my old ride to my new one, therefore, I can't comment on how the new exhaust sounds. I can say the AWE is a must mod and worth every penny. My wife and coworker have driven this car and both commented the new one is much much faster off the line. In closing I love this new one and I am very happy I made the switch. Its been raining non stop since since I picked her up. I'll post some pictures after I have cleaned her, anyway..........

primetime

Pics or it didn't happen... Lol. Gearing is different which is why 7th is turning so low of rpms. As for acceleration other then 1st all gears are taller so thecar won't be faster... Also, I hear they don't shift over 6500ish... Those two things equal slower not faster... Probably just your perception... Congrats and post some pics...

seinsmeld13

It feels faster price time. I know it shouldn't but it does. It's the placebo effect I guess. I'm not the first to moment that the 2013 feels faster then the B8. Others who have driven my car commented as well that it felt faster. Those people also drovemy previous car. When I go to Cayuga( drag-strip )next that will confirm if my seat of the pants feeling is right.

DrGP

Comments and questions. 1) I thought the new DSG gearing was changed toward better fuel efficiency rather than better performance. 2) I didn't realise you could get 2 tone red seats in alcantara. Used to be a leather only option? 3) If you just got the car, the engine and all other parts are still very tight. Performance should get better with more mileage. I would have thought that it would take a little more time for you to recognise any performance improvement. Not saying your observations are inaccurate, but I wouldn't think there would be any noticeable performance improvement especially with low mileage. You know that with any car model there will be some cars that are just naturally faster or slower than others. It could be possible that your previous car was at the lower side of the bell shaped curve and the new car at the upper end. Anyway enjoy.

Toecutter

1. Congrats! Pics ASAP please.

2. Everyone let the man enjoy his new car instead of peeing in his Cheerios. The gearing question is covered in another thread.

seinsmeld13

Doctor GP, my seats are nappa my previous seats were alcantara. Canadian model is nappa only. I love the look of the nappa but the alcantara are the better choice.

seinsmeld13

Thanks Toecutter. Pictures to come. I'm going to post a video with the AWE. There certainly is a noticeable difference in the gearing which sucks atleast for me.. This is useless unless the road is perfectly level. There is a little drone at 120km and below in seventh when going up a grade. The rpm's at 140 on the 2013 are what they were at on the 2010 at 120km/h. Our traffic flows at 120km/h or 74 mph.

zulujams

Congrats seinsmeld! I know you were less than pleaseed with the issues on your B8. Enjoy the B8.5!

PsYkHoTiK

I drove my buddy's B8.5 S4 and it was great. The interior is improved and I love the steering wheel. The B8 wheel feels thin and uninspiring in comparison. Love the metal pedals and accented window/trunk switches. Absolutely love the new MMI.

The electronic steering was interesting. My buddy's car didn't have the dynamic steering, but even then, it didn't feel as 'organic' as our hydraulic steering (I could tell it was 'assisted' especially when winding back from cornering). That said, steering is fantastic - just different 'feel'. Should be interesting how the RS5's feels like...

DrGP

That makes sense. But I think Black/Magma Altantera seats would look great. Too bad audi doesn't offer it as a standard or low cost option.