AndyC's car guide...

[Chewbacca]

Apparently the batteries take more charge after a few cycles. Also, I’m fairly sure the Audi lets you play an engine note through stereo to drown out the milk float noises.

 

[AndyC]

Apparently the batteries take more charge after a few cycles. Also, I’m fairly sure the Audi lets you play an engine note through stereo to drown out the milk float noises.

That’s true but a quoted range of 200-220 for a car in this price bracket seems a tad disappointing to me.

 

[Chewbacca]

That’s true but a quoted range of 200-220 for a car in this price bracket seems a tad disappointing to me.

To be fair, for 80 grand I’d be wanting a flat.

 

[AndyC]

Sorry fella, I know German reliability is a total myth. Worst car I ever had was an Audi and I wouldn’t touch another with John Holmes’ appendage

Well, having worked for both Audi (albeit many years ago) and Mercedes for many years, I’d suggest German build quality isn’t a myth.
Would also add that from two years with Toyota, their build quality is excellent too.

In all honesty, there’s nothing like the amount of build quality rubbish these days that there was 20 years - you would need to be a bit unlucky now to buy a poorly produced car of any marque in my opinion.

 

[Chewbacca]

JD Power surveys would suggest I’m not alone in my disappointment. I ran many company cars and the only one that ever left me at the side of the road (and it was more than once) was the Audi. Lovely interior, which made me choose it, panel gaps were perfect etc but when it comes to reliability my go to has always been Japanese cars made in a Japanese factory. I’ve had a succession of superb Mazdas and Subarus with zero defects.

I also run and old Mustang which is a rolling defect but the parts are so cheap who cares

 

[AndyC]

JD Power surveys would suggest I’m not alone in my disappointment. I ran many company cars and the only one that ever left me at the side of the road (and it was more than once) was the Audi. Lovely interior, which made me choose it, panel gaps were perfect etc but when it comes to reliability my go to has always been Japanese cars made in a Japanese factory. I’ve had a succession of superb Mazdas and Subarus with zero defects.

I also run and old Mustang which is a rolling defect but the parts are so cheap who cares

No experience of Subaru personally but I'd agree Mazda are an extremely well built car.
Just out of curiosity what model was the Audi that irked you ?

 

[SerenityNigh]

Well, having worked for both Audi (albeit many years ago) and Mercedes for many years, I’d suggest German build quality isn’t a myth.
Would also add that from two years with Toyota, their build quality is excellent too.

In all honesty, there’s nothing like the amount of build quality rubbish these days that there was 20 years - you would need to be a bit unlucky now to buy a poorly produced car of any marque in my opinion.

I know that build quality and reliability are not the same, although they do get confused, but this reminds me of Groucho's Midvale thread and a friend of mine who is... special. A few years ago he was buying a new vehicle and I recommend a used Toyota Tacoma (roughly the same as a Hilux, but trucks are more practical for Yanks.) His response, "I can't afford that, have you seen the prices!?!"

So he bought a 1-series BMW convertible. Now he can't afford to keep repairing it and although he's keeping it as a weekend driver, he needs a more reliable and cheaper daily driver. So he bought a 2 door Mini.

 

[Chewbacca]

No experience of Subaru personally but I'd agree Mazda are an extremely well built car.
Just out of curiosity what model was the Audi that irked you ?

A3 2.0Tdi S-Line. I’m sure the suspension was the root of many issues. It was so hard it was vibrating electrical connections loose. I could drive over a 10p and tell you if it was heads or tails.

 

[AndyC]

A3 2.0Tdi S-Line. I’m sure the suspension was the root of many issues. It was so hard it was vibrating electrical connections loose. I could drive over a 10p and tell you if it was heads or tails.

Funnily enough mate, the A3 Sportline is my next review... check in later tonight or tomorrow

 

[AndyC]

Today's review is the Audi A3 Sportline

This 70-plate A3 was a 6-speed manual petrol engine model and on an early morning run over to Stamford Bridge near York returned a very creditable 61.9mpg albeit without breaking any speed limits. The steering and brakes are fine, the suspension though felt stiff and transmits every little bump in the road surface into your backside, pot holes definitely need to be avoided !! It's a shame about the harsh ride really as the car is actually quite a nice drive.

This was a four door model finished with grey faux leather interior that was comfortable and with good wipe-clean quality.
All the controls, satnav, radio, phone etc are standard Audi fixtures with USB and USC charging ports beneath the satnav display screen.

If you stray slightly off your lane line, as well as the steering wheel letting you know, there's an audible warning and a visual warning in the instrument cluster that reads "Please take control of steering".

As a small family car, the A3 ticks a number of boxes but, that stiff suspension might not be too good for kids in the back seat.

My marks out of ten...
Comfort 6.5 - due to that suspension issue
Fuel Economy 8
Performance 8
Build Quality 8
Practicality 7

 

[Tramps_mate]

@Chewbacca might be interested in today's brief review - Audi E-Tron

Up front, let me say I only got to drive this car for about 15 minutes today so not really enough (yet) to offer a full opinion. Much of what follows are comments from a colleague who's driven it the most, over 300 miles.
Obviously, the E-Tron is the very latest model from Audi and being full electric is aimed at competing with the Tesla Model X and in this respect it doesn't match up to the Tesla... I've added a photo of a Tesla X purely for visual comparison, I'll get to a full review of the Model X soon.

Good points of the E-Tron are to be expected... it's German so build quality and the interior finish is excellent. The car drives very, very smoothly as do Tesla models thanks to the power from the battery cells going straight to drive. Acceleration is good, not as brisk as the Tesla on the short drive I had it but, certainly more than acceptable, brakes and suspension seemed excellent too.

One thing I did note that you don't get with the Tesla is a slight, certainly not annoying, whine of the electric power unit under both acceleration and braking. It's not obtrusive in any way but, it is there and in stop-start driving conditions, some might find it irritating.

The most noticeable new innovation from Audi are the exterior mirrors which are cameras mounted on stalks with the visual display on the interior door panel, so instead of looking at the mirror, you have to look slightly downwards at the door panel - see photograph 3.

As to the range of the electrics and Audi declare a range of 200-220 miles depending upon conditions - driving in rain at night will use more electric than driving in dry, daylight for obvious reasons. My colleague however advised that on the cars first full charge, he only achieved 170 miles before needing to hook the car up to a Type 2 charging point, so not as impressive a range as the Tesla X that will certainly achieve 280-300 miles on a full charge.
He advised that the T2 charge rate would need approx 10 hours (overnight) to fully recharge and on a standard 3-pin plug cable, a full charge would need 36-40 hours for a full charge.

The quickest charge would be at a 150kw Supercharger (Not a Tesla Supercharger!!) point becoming ever more common on the motorway services and from 25% full to a full recharge, my colleague guesstimated at least an hour.

The E-Tron comes with a significant price tag of £80,000+ depending upon specification and for me, with a lower range than the Tesla, people converting to all-electric and with deep enough pockets will likely choose the Tesla over the Audi. The E-Tron is a really nice drive but, range and recharge rates are all-important for electric car buyers/users.

As soon as I get chance to give this a longer drive, I'll update this quick review but, it might be a while as it's allegedly going out on a long-term contract.

I just don't see the point in a camera instead of wing mirror!!

 

[Tramps_mate]

JD Power surveys would suggest I’m not alone in my disappointment. I ran many company cars and the only one that ever left me at the side of the road (and it was more than once) was the Audi. Lovely interior, which made me choose it, panel gaps were perfect etc but when it comes to reliability my go to has always been Japanese cars made in a Japanese factory. I’ve had a succession of superb Mazdas and Subarus with zero defects.

I also run and old Mustang which is a rolling defect but the parts are so cheap who cares

Really! Hmmm what year? What's insurance like?

 

[Chewbacca]

Not that old. It’s from 2000.

4.6 litre V8. I’m old and have plenty of LHD experience so insurance is only £170

 

[SerenityNigh]

@AndyC so there's a guy in our office building who likes a bit of car... his "regular" car is an Audi S7 but he rotates his 911 Turbo. I've since once or twice his GT3, which I mistakenly asked if it was a new 911 and his response was "not even in the same league." The GT3 seems to rumble the garage when he turns it on. And today's he's driving what appears to be a Kleeman 55S8. I can't guess what else he owns that he doesn't bring to work. There are a few others in our building with nice cars (one driver has a Cayman S and an unidentified Ferrari along with his King Ranch truck), but this driver seems to have the most impressive collection.

 

[AndyC]

@AndyC so there's a guy in our office building who likes a bit of car... his "regular" car is an Audi S7 but he rotates his 911 Turbo. I've since once or twice his GT3, which I mistakenly asked if it was a new 911 and his response was "not even in the same league." The GT3 seems to rumble the garage when he turns it on. And today's he's driving what appears to be a Kleeman 55S8. I can't guess what else he owns that he doesn't bring to work. There are a few others in our building with nice cars (one driver has a Cayman S and an unidentified Ferrari along with his King Ranch truck), but this driver seems to have the most impressive collection.

Can't comment on the Kleeman mate nor the S7.
I've driven a number of Porsche models including Boxster, 911 Turbo, Cayman S, Macan, Cayenne and Panamera and three different Ferrari models and of those, if I had (both the money and the chance) to choose, I'd go for a Ferrari Portofino.
Personally, I find the Porsche sports cars a bit too cramped and noisy for my liking, the Panamera for me is the nicest drive. Hoping to try a their electric car, Taycan, soon... if the boss will leave the keys lying around instead of firmly in his pocket.