David Wilson

Nick Eley at Leicester Audi - they were cagey about what they did, but the problem has largely gone away..... Kudos to them!

Another update, end of August 2018 : (2018 3.0 TDi Quattro Sport Avant , so 218ps not the 272 engine, but auto) After a bit of discussion with the business manager at the supplying dealership, I was told that Audi does in fact now have a (not very well publicised) fix for the problem. Took it in and they did something arcane to the gearbox mapping algorithm. (Took them a couple of hours, and only certain technicians are allowed to get that deep into the system setup) There is still a very slight hesitation at take-off from standstill (I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't being hyper-critical), but the lurch that I used to get as the power came in has gone, as has the slight lurch when accelerating gently from a steady speed. Seems like a win! (Thank you Leicester Audi for trying harder....)

Has anyone managed to adjust the balance of the instrument lighting? Just done nearly 500 miles in the (very) dark on unlit roads, and I've turned the brightness rheostat right down (to the point where the main bean warning light disappears entirely) , but everything else is still distractingly bright and destroys my night vision completely. (I have the tech pack, & MMI plus) I've tried turning off the central display and the aircon etc lighting (which rather defeats the point of paying extra for the tech pack), but the bit in front of me doesn't seem to have enough adjustment in the rheostat. Map is (obviously) in night mode. I was always a fan of the old Saab "night panel" - everything went off except for the segment of the speedo & tacho that you were actually using, and any warnings. This is the complete opposite! At the very least, there needs to be an option in the dashboard display to add <nothing> to the ==> map ==> phone ==> fuel consumption etc ==>radio etc display display cycle. Just because there's a TV-style display in the middle of the steeering wheel, it doesn't necessarily mean that it needs to be filled with information all the time! (...and don't get me started on the random picture of a car that appears when you minimise the tacho/speedpo dials!) More is not always better......

Update another thousand miles on: (2018 3.0 TDi Quattro Sport Avant , so 218ps not the 272 engine, but auto) There is a noticeable lag when pulling away from a standstill. With engine running and park brake off, in Drive - but any mode - foot off brake, gently on to throttle, revs rise but nothing happens for just long enough to think "more revs" and press harder - at which point it pulls away and all the power comes in suddenly. Appears to be gearbox management, not engine. The rest of the time it's fine: overtaking, kickdown, whenever. Smooth, quiet, feels well-planted and the quattro system feels as if it could defy all the laws of physics in a wet corner. Shame about the take-off....

Just over a thousand miles in and I'm getting suspicious of my 3.0D Avant Sport (auto)for the same reason. Pulling away from rest, (autostop "off", so not waiting for it to restart) Foot off brake and gently on to throttle to ease into traffic. Short pause, so just have time to think to self "more throttle" - foot down harder and it all happens at once.... Not very intuitive - or safe. May just be me getting used to it. Can't tell whether it's engine management or gearbox management.

My new 3.0 Sport does the same thing. Set it to "Efficiency" and it stays showing "E" till you turn off the engine, then on restart it displays "D" with "EFFICIENCY" underneath. Feels like the "efficiency" gearbox mapping though, but not quite so willing to go into freewheel - that may just be me not being used to it yet. Don't know why. (Seems there's no reason for it - it's just policy.... It holds all the other settings after restart)

How on earth do I adjust the screen washers on my new A4 avant? The washer jet is under the lip of the bonnet, and one of the jets sprays out to the RHS of the car and hits the A pillar, but I can't see (or reach) underneath to adjust it with a pin as you would usually do. Weird!