Maverick61

Actually, before 2014 the 19"s only came with high performance summer tires. Now, I believe you have an option of either the high performance summer tires or all seasons. So if you are buying one of the lot, you need to check what it is if you have a preference.

All that said, her best bet IMO is to go with the 18" tires if she is trying to avoid a harsher ride, and keep replacement costs low. I do not think my 19" are harsh, but there is a difference each step you go from 20 to 19 to 18. And you will have more / cheaper options of replacement tires with the 18"

snagitseven

I just had an opportunity to drive a 2013 A6 loaner, non-sport, with 18" wheels and all season tires. The ride was more noticeably more compliant and comfortable compared to my 19" sport package w/ultra high performance all seasons. I did notice that handling, particularly with cornering, was not as tight with a bit more body roll but that's the trade off with a sport suspension package. Still, the overall performance was great.

If she goes with 18" wheels and all season tires, she should be very pleased with the ride comfort on less than ideal roads, even for a normally tighter German automobile. Unless she will be frequently driving in more than 3-4" of snow, the all seasons will do a decent job year round without having to deal with swapping from summer to winter tires and back again.

As to selecting the TDI vs the 3.0T, well that's a personal decision - much has been discussed on the comparisons between the two. As has been said, with a TDI, she will have to be a bit more choosy with gas stations depending on her location. Either way, her grin should remain in place for quite some time.

After delivery and If she is so inclined, I think it would be terrific if she came back here to the forum and shared with everyone her impressions of the car from her perspective.

newmoon

I have the 18" without the sports package, with Continental ContiProContact all-season grand touring tires. Mine is FWD, I do a fair bit of highway driving, and I drive lightly around town anyway. From my tread depth measurements I think the tires will last about 40k miles.

The tires are noticeably quieter than high-performance tires. With bigger sidewalls and the higher load index, you can run lower tire pressures (I do 32/29), so combined with the non-sport suspension, the ride is very comfortable, yet absorbent and solid. There is some body roll but nothing extreme like, for example, a Lexus ES 350.

The brakes do produce a lot of brake dust. I'm not sure how long they will last. Actually I have never replaced the brakes on any car I have owned. The longest one reached 73k miles when I sold it with the original brakes. So really, it depends a lot on your driving style.

gtab55

Here it is! She is very excited and loves driving it around. The little bit I drove around the dealer was also nice, comparable to the previous ones we test drove. Metallic White/Beige with Premium Plus and 19" rims. The sport package isn't all that bad. She likes it and thats what matters.

I was trying to help her with the garage door opener. She lives in a gated commmunity and the gate programming worked flawlessly. We held the remote in front of the rings and let the MMI etc do its thing. The garage has bewildered me. I hold the remote in front, the car blinks three times and tells us to click the button on the HomeLink selection twice. We do that and it still does not open up. Perhaps the garage is different. We will work on it tomorrow again. Thank goodness she lives close.

snagitseven

The garage opener probably uses a rolling code. There should be a "training" button on the garage door opener housing somewhere. Once it's pressed, you usually have about 2-5 minutes (depending on the opener) to do the MMI Homelink process. Be sure to program a different button than the gate.

So, after test driving she decided on the Sport package with 19" wheels. Good for her. It's a great compromise between handling and comfort, IMO. Is it a 2013 or 2014 and which engine did she get? Can't tell from the photo.

audi40

2014 TDI (per title of his post)

snagitseven

Totally missed that. Need to get my eyes checked. Again.