Is Quattro worth the additional cost in Ireland?

comerla

Anyone have experience or opinions on benefits of Quattro in Ireland, whether it would be worth paying an additional €5k for a similar car (218bhp) with AWD but higher mileage?

This would be used for mostly city driving.

whippet

Absolutely zero benefits in reality ... more thirsty than the fwd version too.

bazz26

Why do you think you would need quattro for city driving?

carsfan2

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757231#Comment_117757231

Essential for the traffic light gran prix on wet days.

comerla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757231#Comment_117757231

Hi Bazz. Funnily enough you were the one advising on multiple threads here that you'd really need Quattro for an A7 - even the entry level one.

I never said I think I need it. Just querying the experience of anyone who's driven Quattro and FWD.

bazz26

Yes, A7 is a big nose heavy car that is more suited to quattro than fwd for driveability. However lets put things into perspective, it was never mentioned it was an A7 in this thread, just quattro nor that an A7 would be used for mostly city driving in the other threads. I wouldn't be buying any diesel A7 for mainly city driving, they are just not very practical or useful for city streets as that sort of car is designed to waft on motorways eating miles.

XsApollo

Well if you don’t get it, the day you need it is the day you don’t have it.

:-P

comerla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757806#Comment_117757806

The A7 is basically the same as the A6 except for the boot. The 2 litre A6 now is 206bhp; so there's nothing in it in terms of power difference either really.

Anyway not looking to catch you out here but there's a lot of this sentiment on the web - i.e. you need Quattro, its only a real Audi if it has it, especially for V6s. I reckon a lot of it is a symptom of the success of the brand/ marketing. The comments here so far seem to be confirming that.

bazz26

I'm not worried about being caught out to be honest. Quattro is still way superior than the fwd equivalent however in city driving your not going to find any difference or benefit between a fwd A7 and a quattro A7 because the car will only be trundling along @ 50kph or 60kph at most in stop/start traffic.

Flinty997

Is better. Yes. Its more expensive in running costs. Yes.

I assume if you are looking at an A7, need doesn't come into it. Especially for the city.

Buddy Bubs

I have fwd audi a6 after a raft of rwd bmws. Do you need rwd? No. Do you need Quattro? No. If the car is on its limit Quattro will hold on longer but every day stuff....not really anything different.

Water2626262

I had a fwd auto a6 and found it would suffer from wheelspin if you put the foot to the floor from a standing start no matter the conditions. CV boots were relatively new too. I’ve since switched to a more powerful RWD car and it takes off very smoothly.

I rarely put the foot to the floor but it’s disappointing you can’t rely on it when you need it.

if I was buying an Audi again I’d 100% go with quattro.

John_Rambo

Do you do any sort of wet grass, mud ruts or soft sand driving? I do and have 4wd (not an Audi though) and it's got me out of a good few situations where front or rear wheel drive wouldn't have. If you do a simple tyre choice will get you out of most light off road driving.

PsychoPete

My A6 is quattro, for my everyday driving it really doesn't make a difference I find

Buddy Bubs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117759531#Comment_117759531

What engine was in it? I've a 190bhp 2.0 tdi and don't think I've ever spun wheels in dry. And I've floored it plenty of times

Notch000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117757450#Comment_117757450

No you need good tryres for this. not 4WD, plenty of quattro's going around on Chinese ditch finders too. quattro is for people who live in alpine areas or countries that freeze over for 6 months of the year. Not much sue in temperate Ireland for the school run

WacoKid

Depends on how you define 'worth it'.

For stability due to adverse road conditions then no not really in Ireland.

If you want/like the rear wheels to assist with momentum then yes as Audi don't do RWD only. They do FWD or AWD so you have to go Quattro.

I have driven RWD and AWD for the last number of years and there is a noticeable difference when you are not asking the front wheels to carry the weight of the engine and also provide momentum.

Flinty997

Somehow I think you won't be spinning the wheels or going off road much doing mainly "city driving"

But if you are, then quattro might be a good idea.

User1998

I had an Audi TT Quattro and loved it. Always felt planted to the ground and I could never spin the wheels. It had 250bhp. This was a 15 year old car tho so it didn’t cost me €5k extra