kozubik

2006 SWB a8. I've had it about 11 months now, and have put 15k miles on it.

7k of those miles were long haul highway miles ... a round trip from MN to CA and down the coast.

I've had the dealer do three oil changes, the last of which was in the 15k service.

No major complaints, it just sounds and feels old - something I wasn't expecting until 30-40k miles. I don't beat it up or max out the revs every time I get in it, and as you can see, half of those miles were extremely easy ones.

The engine is louder, the car vibrates at idle/stop ... it's just noisier overall in that "definitely not a new car" kind of way. And the power has settled into a "there, but you have to press to get it" mode. It's just not a spirited drive anymore.

Guess I need an s8. OR, I can just accept that these high-end flagship cars are really not superlative or qualitatively different from any other car on the road. They're _quantitatively different_, certainly - but mostly in the decoration and price.

ATL Markus

Tire wear can greatly influence driving characteristics. I don't have any Audi experience yet, but on other identical vehicles with different tires and similar mileage, I have noticed a marked difference in how the vehicles felt, due to the tires.

I don't know how any of that has anything to do with the vibration you feel. But the sluggishness may be corrected with new rubber.

I also noticed that Audi's tend to lose their "new car" smell quicker than others.

Good luck!

Markus

kozubik

I believe that the leather in new(ish) Audis is organically tanned, which should cause it to have less of an odor, etc.

A good thing, I suspect...

D3AeighT

Remember it "learns & remembers" how you have driven most of your miles, so perhaps a few "sport" tranny trips would/could have helped. Tires do make a difference and Pirelli's normally "suck" after 10K, very noisey and very rough as tread life denegrates, get Conti's, now have 26K on them and they are about ready to be replaced, but never got "loud" like the Pirelli's did after 6K of miles and the louder roaring began.

My '04A8L is as solid & new feeling as the day I got it, I sure hope "quality" hasn't dropped in 2 1/2 years but I may wrong.

derfA8L

I agree with the others about the tires and re-training the tranny. I also suspect that since the car is a bit under-powered, it is easy to feel an artificial "power loss" over time. Not that familiarity is breeding contempt, but I believe you can get used to the power output of this car very quickly, and after a while the 4.2 doesn't throw you many surprises. However, if you feel the engine is louder, then I'd bring it in and have it checked out.

My car also has displayed a tendancy to idle a bit roughly when a/c is not engaged--not a big deal, but it's there. I think there's a recall for earlier D3s ('04/'05) on this issue. Perhaps some early '06s will also be eventually pulled into this recall as well.

Hope you can continue to enjoy the car a bit longer :^)

D3AeighT

these bad boys, have lower idle RPMS vs my D2, unless my memory has gone.

derfA8L

...faint "stumble" at idle shouldn't be there. But I'm a perfectionist ;^)

06A8

hmm looks like we got our A8 at the same time, got 27000kms in 11.5 months...about the car being less responsive i believe derf8l is right..the tranny in D drive can be quite annoying when it tries to learn your shifting patterns...you probably go easy on it most of the time and the car opts for later downshifts and early upshifts in one of its so called 200 programmes...1 year and i still would take sport mode or tiptronic over D drive...unless its a traffic jam.

New car smell can be preserved if u regularly treat ur leather with some lexol, i do it every 3 to 4 months and it removes all the denim stains and rejuvantes the smell nicely too.

go push ur baby, turn off the esp, and feel some quattro fun.

darbikrash

My 2005 A8L has just 15,000 miles, owned it 13 months. Stock Dunlops are shot, going in for new tires next week.

I second the advice on the Conti's, that's what I'll be getting, I've used these on previous Audi's and they are the best tire.

No old car feel to mine, but I have been really PO'd at the transmission the last year or so, some kind of brake/throttle/lag has been really bugging me. At the 15k service last week, I made an issue of it, and the dealer replaced transmission fluid/filter, and changed some software, and it's much better.

Not totally gone, but better. I can live with it now, if had been returned to me (again) with the same off idle lag, I would have gotten rid of the car. Was worse in Sport mode.

After 1 year+, I still like the car. Mostly for the same reasons I bought it in the first place, I just like the lines of the car.

slvra8laudi

I love this car. Much better than the S500 and 745 I had. The car is a head turner and everyone asks me what kind of car it is. I am in Jville Florida and the other A8 I have seen is a black 07 at the Key Audi dealer. The sound of the engine is intoxicating and pushed to the limit the car is sweet. Guy at work was going to get the new s550 Benz until I let him drive the silver beast at lunch. BTW what is the max speed on the A8 because I chicken out at 135?