Stereodude
Not really a
Branching off from the discussion here in the I don't want to buy a used car thread... It's time to talk Audi S4.
The storageforum Audi S4 Thread
- Thread starter Stereodude
- Start date
CougTek
Hairy Aussie
Hasn't everything already be said about it? I let go any Audi desire when I learned that justin thimberlake represents them. The guy who ruined the 2004 SuperBowl. No way.
ddrueding
Fixture
I read a lot about Audi and have never heard of Justin Timberlake.
Stereodude
Not really a
So, I'm pretty sure I will be ordering a 2013 Audi S4 6MT as my next car.
Assuming the 2013 has the same options as the 2012 currently I plan to get a Premium Plus 6MT with the following options:
1) Replaces the center stack display from a 6.5" LCD to a slightly larger 7.0" 800x480 LCD. Reportedly the 6.5" LCD isn't as high resolution and doesn't looks as good.
2) Adds HD Radio
3) Adds the MOST bus to the vehicle. MOST is digital audio bus which transports audio to the amp via digital over a fiber optic cable instead of twisted pair analog. In the case of B&O system this digital audio connection unlocks an additional feature called Sound Focus which is basically digital time alignment and allows you to time align the audio system to a particular seat or area (driver/front/rear/all).
4) Replaces the read monochrome Driver Information System (DIS) display in the cluster with a higher resolution full color DIS.
At this point the thinking is that the rear airbags are for when I have customers in the car.
I plan to get the standard Aluminum inlays and replace them with a carbon fiber trim set from ocarbon.com instead of getting the Audi carbon fiber inlays.
Assuming the 2013 has the same options as the 2012 currently I plan to get a Premium Plus 6MT with the following options:
- Monsoon Gray Metallic
- Silk Nappa leather upholstery in Black and Red Interior
- Audi MMI Navigation plus
- Audi advanced key
- Sports differential
- Bang & Olufsen® Sound System
- Rear side airbags
1) Replaces the center stack display from a 6.5" LCD to a slightly larger 7.0" 800x480 LCD. Reportedly the 6.5" LCD isn't as high resolution and doesn't looks as good.
2) Adds HD Radio
3) Adds the MOST bus to the vehicle. MOST is digital audio bus which transports audio to the amp via digital over a fiber optic cable instead of twisted pair analog. In the case of B&O system this digital audio connection unlocks an additional feature called Sound Focus which is basically digital time alignment and allows you to time align the audio system to a particular seat or area (driver/front/rear/all).
4) Replaces the read monochrome Driver Information System (DIS) display in the cluster with a higher resolution full color DIS.
At this point the thinking is that the rear airbags are for when I have customers in the car.
I plan to get the standard Aluminum inlays and replace them with a carbon fiber trim set from ocarbon.com instead of getting the Audi carbon fiber inlays.
Stereodude
Not really a
Who cares if he did some advertising for them for a car not even sold in the US? It's not like Justin Timberlake is painted on the hood or is the start up image in the center stack LCD.
Here is what I'm interested in ordering:
2013 premium plus with 6-speed manual
In addition to this ill be looking for deals on winter tires and wheels for the next season.
2013 premium plus with 6-speed manual
- phantom black pearl (unless if I like the blue)
- black and red nappa leather
- mmi nav
- sports diff
- bang & olufson
- rear side air bags
- carbon inlays
In addition to this ill be looking for deals on winter tires and wheels for the next season.
I cant say ive read a lot but ive also never heard of Justin timberlake associated with audi. I did recently see the movie Bad Teacher and he was driving the R8 for a brief scene. Anyway I don't care, I have nothing against him.
Question on the bluetooth hands free, is the mmi required for that option? I thought it was which is another reason to add to the list of reasons why I would add that feature. I wasn't aware of the fiber connection and time delay features.
Stereodude
Not really a
Which Blue are you looking at? In either case I don't think you'd want to mix the black and red nappa leather with blue paint.
No advanced key?
I originally wanted the Audi carbon inlays, but the ones from oCarbon look so much better, plus you can get carbon fiber on the instrument and MMI surround carbon fiber pieces. oCarbon can do some neat colored kevlar / carbon fiber trim also. Here's some of the colored kevlar / carbon fiber pieces.
Stereodude
Not really a
AFAIK MMI is not required for bluetooth on US B8 S4's. As I understand it the 2012 MMI adds voice commands. The 2013 has a updated MMI similar to what's in the Audi A6. I'm not very clear how exactly the feature set differs with the 2013 MMI.
I'm not real keen on the car having a 3G T-mobile cellular connection and wonder how much that's going to cost per month or how much functionality will be limited if I don't want it / cancel it (if it's even possible). Supposedly you get 6 months free and then have to pay. Here's what was offered on the A7:
I wouldn't get the red and black nappa seats if I went with the blue exterior. I'm not here which blue I would get. It wasn't until you posted the new color options that I knew two blue options existed. I will need to see them before deciding.
The advanced key didn't really excite me for the price. If there is some other feature that comes with it integrated that I'm missing, I don't mind removing the key from my pocket.
The link to oCarbon you posted was the first I had heard of them. I cant see pictures very well from my kindle so ill check them out more tomorrow. I know that popping out trim from a car can have hazardous results and if it gets tweaked when reinstalling it, it may not fit properly...Im not sure I want to deal with that on a new car. Plus the trim has to be sent out which I don't care for. It may look nicer but it seems like a pain to deal with. I just need to read up on it more.
I looked through the pictures for the oCarbon pieces and they look very well finished. The colored pieces look very sharp with the red woven into the carbon fiber. My concern was after seeing it actually installed. I felt like it was a bit much. I think it was a B5 S4 in the pictures. Its odd but I like the quality of the work, but it almost stands out too much. My opinion may change when I see a B8 example with the pieces installed.
ddrueding
Fixture
The Bluetooth voice commands are a nice feature, but at least on my current phone/car it can't handle contacts by name. I can say "dial number" and the number or I can use the steering wheel "mode" switch and scroll through the contacts on the DIS.
That's good to know. It wasn't clear to me if the mmi was needed. I'm sure we'll know more in a month or so on the features.
I was also curious how the 3G is done and who it was through. I wouldn't use that feature enough to warrant paying for it past the 6 months. I'm actually kind of surprised it comes with even 6 months. Hell the crappy XM that is integrated into my TL was only for 3 months and that's just receiving a signal.
ddrueding
Fixture
I cancelled the XM immediatly but would keep the Wifi; internet+Pandora is better than XM any day. Also, I suspect the internet plan is needed for the traffic reporting to work?
That's all I wanted for anyway. That's what I have now and even though my car supports contacts by name, all the phones ive ever had have been locked so they couldn't be transferred. I rarely need to call while driving its more for answering. Sirius does a decent job with voice dialing.
I get Pandora through my phone already and play through the car so having to pay an extra $30/month for it natively isn't worth it to me.
I would guess the same for traffic updates. I have that option in my car now and its part of the XM service at an additional cost. Ive never found it useful in the short time I had it. They wanted an extra $10 or $15/ month for that feature.
Stereodude
Not really a
Yeah, I saw pictures of a black & red Silk Nappa interior with the red Kevlar / CF trim installed and IMHO it is too much.
Stereodude
Not really a
The MMI in the 2013 S4 is newer than the one in your A3, though I'm not sure exactly how the feature set varies beyond it having a 3G connection. I would expect it to be more capable in terms of voice commands, but who knows.
Stereodude
Not really a
Well, when it was new XM / Sirius used to be free for 1 year and they gradually shortened the length of the free term. Same thing with OnStar in GM cars.
XM/Sirius would definitely not get renewed by me. I think it sounds absolutely terrible. Reportedly this new MMI supports bluetooth audio streaming so you should be able to do Pandora on your phone instead of paying $30 a month to T-mobile for your car to do it.
I would also suspect the internet plan is needed to get traffic.
Do you mean Siri? ;-)
It is too much for my taste. The quality of the work does look impressive, but the overall effect almost takes away from the car. It's too busy.
I also thought XM sounded awful. I wondered if it was the receiver in my car, because it sounded so thin and lifeless. There were a billion stations of variety, most of which I didn't want. Driving by a tall set of trees would cause it to fade out for a second or two. Large underpasses...forget it. When I would share my experience with other people, they didn't have the same experience, so I thought maybe it was something to do with the electronics in my car.
I'm curious how a phone handles the bluetooth audio streaming along with a bluetooth hands free connection. Not that I expect both features to work at the same time, but if it can transition from one to the other in the event of a phone call. If the S4 does come with this, that will be fantastic. Bluetooth streaming plus hands free is something I've wanted for a long time.
I did mean Siri. My phone auto-incorrected.
Stereodude
Not really a
Your reception issues sound worse (no pun intended) than I've seen firsthand in XM/Sirius equipped cars I've ridden in. However, I've found it to be complete unlistenable. I would listen to AM radio before I fired up XM/Sirius. I don't remember the exact numbers now, but I think all their channels fit within a 3Mbit/sec stream. Bitrate is allocated based on content and estimated listenership. The high bitrate any channel gets is still below 64kbit/sec. Most music channels are in the 30-50kbit/sec range.
I recently listened to a little XM/Sirius in a coworker's new car and it was better than I remembered it being in past listening, so it's possible they've made improvements to the encoders or that some radios have made receiver side tweaks to mask some of the artifacts. Still I don't see ever using it.
I've never used Bluetooth in a phone for audio streaming or even hands free calling. I haven't had a car with BT so far. I plan to use my 160GB iPod Classic in the Audi and not mess with streaming or anything else. I wonder if the newer MMI system is updated to show album art or not. The version in the 2012 does not.
ddrueding
Fixture
I was using my MP3 player via audio jack and phone via bluetooth. It handled that perfectly. Doing both via bluetooth is a great question, I wonder if the phone handles it?
My car and phone also handles that perfectly now. Incoming calls will stop the audio playback on the phone and also the car will mute the audio source (or stop the CD/DVD-A player). As a fallback, I'll continue to do the same in the S4 if the Bluetooth audio streaming isn't something that works well. I've seen some 3rd party devices available for iPhones that support both like I want, but the problem is I'd no longer use the Bluetooth in my car and it would now be through this device. My point being is that this device supported both at the same time, so I'm having hope this will be the case for the 2013 S4.
I didn't realize Justin Timberlake played football too.
If he did, that might be entertaining.
Stereodude
Not really a
While I'm not a raving JT fan, he is pretty entertaining when he's hosted SNL and when he's on Jimmy Fallon.
Now, back to the S4...
Handy, are you planning to get use the stock standard factory 18" wheels as your winter wheels?
Now, back to the S4...
Handy, are you planning to get use the stock standard factory 18" wheels as your winter wheels?
Stereodude
Not really a
Some pictures from the unveiling at the NAIAS today.
Originally I was thinking of getting some cheap wheels to hold the winter tires. Those wheels in the pictures you posted don't look like the stock ones in the European photos I've seen. I like them though. What are you planning on doing for winter wheels? I've been thinking about your suggestions on switching the summers to the Conti DWSs for those days when snow pops out to say hello unexpectedly. I do like the idea of dedicated summer tires even with all their cons that come along with them.
ddrueding
Fixture
Interesting that they chose red to show the car, I feel that is the least appetizing color of the bunch. I don't like reds in general, and that one is verging on a pink/orange more fitting of a Lambo.
Stereodude
Not really a
If the standard wheels on the 2013 Premium Plus are the same as the 2012 I plan to run them as the winter wheels and get different wheels for the rest of the year. I really like the B7 RS4 wheels shown on that red S4. I was thinking to get reproductions of them from VMR or Hartmann. However, the Forgestar F14 is also tempting with a somewhat similar design, and it's a lot lighter wheel.Originally I was thinking of getting some cheap wheels to hold the winter tires. Those wheels in the pictures you posted don't look like the stock ones in the European photos I've seen. I like them though. What are you planning on doing for winter wheels? I've been thinking about your suggestions on switching the summers to the Conti DWSs for those days when snow pops out to say hello unexpectedly. I do like the idea of dedicated summer tires even with all their cons that come along with them.
I actually remember those wheels on the RS4 and I really like them. It may just be the sample pictures, but I like the looks of the photos on the VRM website the best. They're otherwise really similar wheels. I didn't see any of the weights listed. Did you find them in discussions on other forums?
Stereodude
Not really a
FWIW, I think the VMR is more stylized and the Hartmann is a more accurate copy.
I have seen weights listed various places though I can't seem to find them now. The Forgestar F14 is just under 18lbs in a 18x8.5 size. The 18x8 Hartmann RS4 rep is just over 25lbs if I recall correctly. The VMR 18x8.5 is just over 26lbs if I'm remembering right.
An alternative strategy would be to get the optional 19" RS4 wheels from Audi and get 17" wheels (that clear the brakes) + 225/50/17 tires to run in the winter. Frankly, I'm not sure I want 19" wheels. Laugh at me if you want, but 255/35/19 tires are more expensive than 245/40/18 tires not to mention 19" wheels and tires are more at risk on bad roads than 18".
fb
Storage is cool
And 19" means more unsprung weight.
That is a light wheel at under 18lbs. I only saw prices on the Hartmann website, but going down this path looks to be a couple thousand for wheels and tires.
I wouldn't laugh at that logic. Around here we also have decent potholes and poor road conditions in some areas, though mostly noticeable in the winter when hopefully the snow tires would be on anyway. I agree that a 19" wheel could easily be damaged from poor road conditions. I've put dents in several of my 17" wheels on my TL and they're seemingly impossible to balance correctly.
I've seen comments on suggested ideal sizes in the 16" range for sport and racing. I'm sure most of it comes down to the unsprung weight like you've suggested. When I replaced my rotors on my current car with a 2-piece rotor, their weight was 5lbs less per rotor than the stock unit. That's another way to reduce the unsprung weight.
Stereodude
Not really a
Winter tires are likely to be at least $800 in a 245/40/18 size probably closer to $1k for the factory 18's. A stylish set of 18" wheels (that you like) is likely to be at least another $1k. So, yeah it'll be over $2k by the time your said with swapping rubber, mounting, and balancing, etc. Even if you kept the factory 18's for warmer months and went with the cheapest aluminum 17" wheels that will clear the brakes and decent snow tires you're not going to save a lot. It's not like you can get a inexpensive set of winter wheels / tires for $600 or something like you can for a Subaru, Honda, or whatever.
Now seeing the RS4 wheels as an option, I feel inclined to copy you and get a set for myself. I guess you're right. Even with inexpensive wheels, it's still not going to be inexpensive.
Some low-key videos of the 2013 S4. Nothing too exciting about the video. They're still showing off that red color. I usually gravitate to red cars, but not this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TV2R3LP7dw0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TV2R3LP7dw0