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I know the op might not be here anymore, but for others here: I recently had the chance to drive two identical specked 2024 A3’s, both built within a month of each other with identical speck, 1.5tfsi DSG, with very similar mileage. The only difference was one was running a set of new Bridgestone Potenza Sport, the other was on a new set of new Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6. Both were on 235/35R19 V91 After driving for over a month on different road conditions both cars, the difference in tires was quite noticeably different. The Goodyear were noticeably quieter and felt more comfortable on our rough UK pot holed roads, the Bridgestones by comparison felt harsher and noticeably noisier, handling wise, not that they were pushed to their extreme, the Bridgestone felt better cornering in the dry, but I personally preferred the Goodyear in the wet on the bends. I was not expecting to notice much difference between the two, but a difference of tire brand made the cars feel completely different to drive on a daily basis, the Goodyear were far better for me.

Hi its obviously in its early stages, the reason it is slipping in higher gears is because of the torque load in higher gears, it used to be the old way of testing the clutch, find a nice hill and change up to early floor the throttle and if the clutch was good the engine would labour, if not it revved up, I would get it checked ASAP as when the clutch slips it creates a phenomenal increase in gearbox temps and cooks the rear crank seal which is a whole different story, having had it happen to me I can say its not a good day out. Steve.

Don. If you can smell the coolant it must be escaping somewhere, though at a mere 1500 miles per year the loss may be so small that you don't get a warning before the garage tops it up during annual servicing.

That makes sense, and fits Audi's push for subscription services.

Hi, this may or may not be of interest to anyone, but I have finally managed to fix the issue about a month ago. Here's the summary: Electronic parking brake on the left side stopped working more than six months ago. There was a warning on the dash ("parking brake malfunction") accompanied by a loud beep every time I turned the ignition on. I have unplugged the wire from the electric motor on the left. The same warning remained on the dash. Parking brake on the other side was working correctly. Then life and other things got in the way and I did not do anything to rectify the issue, except for making sure that the wire does not dangle under the car and the socket on the electric motor is waterproofed (plastic bags and zip ties). I continued to use the car daily. I kept using the parking brake as and when required and it was still holding the car even on fairly steep inclines, even though it was only working on one side. I finally got some spare time and replaced the electric motor and also the plug with about 20cm of wiring. Apparently it is not unusual for this to rust and cause issues. I only bought the cheapest plug and the cheapest parking brake motor I could find on ebay (probably about £30 total). Fitted the parts, but the parking brake still did not work. As it happens it was engaging, but not disengaging. So in the end I replaced the brake caliper. Again, the cheapest one I could find, which was about £60. I replaced brake discs and pads at the same time, but only because they were quite worn (this was not related to parking brake issue). After I replaced the caliper the parking brake issue was resolved. The warning disappeared from the dash and I did not need to reset any faults with the code reader. Also, the parking brake is now almost silent when engaging/disengaging. To the point that when I first tried it after fitting the new parts I thought it was not working at all (it was fairly audible before). It has been about a month now and all is well. I almost miss the loud beep that accompanied the ignition being turned on every time when the fault was still present. PS. If anyone is replacing the rear brake discs, there are some videos and guides on the internet that tell you to remove the brake caliper carrier, but you can actually wiggle the disc out carefully without removing the bracket or damaging the disc.

Hi it sounds like the clutch is either contaminated on the friction plate or on its way out. Steve.

An impossible question to answer because you have not revealed the brand in question.

There’s an aftermarket upgrade to the MMI & maps you can get. Not sure if it dies anything with the DAB radio but you could ask: Satnavmapupdates.co.uk MMIupdates.com I used the 1st one to update my maps but don’t know if it did anything to the radio.

Thanks Lee. I am sure that information will be useful to many. Unfortunately it will not help Mark because he has not been back to the forum since he posed his question on 5th February.