Kenny

You're right - the weight isn't much difference - I got 34-35mpg out of my Avant Tdi Quattro 2.5 and 29mpg overall out of the Octavia 4x4 (220bhp). The latter would give 38mpg on the motorway if kept to 70-75 and an all time best of 43mpg which was 50mph touring around and getting bored in Scotland !

Having had a load of 4x4 road cars I reckon that the engine & transmission combination you have is the best bet all round:-

- The A4 proper quattro driveline is the best I've had for grip (so what if the motoring press say it understeers a bit or is boring)' date=' traction, roadholding and sheer dependability.

- The 1.8T is not charismatic but boy can it deliver and still give reasonable mpg.

If I decide I want a 4x4 road car again I've decided I'm not a great haldex fan (its ok) so it would probably be an A4 Q or A6 Q. Trouble is, I'm starting to get tempted by the Superb if I don't !

Rob[/quote']

couldnt agree more, i have been stunned by how much grip the Quattro gives in comparison to fwd.

my octy vRS and A4 run similar power and figures are 0.1sec different to 60mph and 1-2mph off on top speed. so weight must be near similar as the A4 only has 190PS(187bhp maybe) and the octy had 180bhp. both feel as near the same performance wise too.

but the octy would avg a higher mpg but really the a4 can achieve 30mpg and above if on motorways so doesnt suffer much worse.

and the grip makes up for it

Kenny

Having had the Jabba experience already, I reckon a 230bhp A4 1.8T Avant Q (or maybe 260bhp with a little more than a remap) would be a great combo. You'd pretty much be on S4 (2.7T) performance but still with decent economy. Hmm......

Either than or a bargain used Superb 2.5 TDi with 205bhp, 320 lb/ft torque. Huge value.

yeah, i think im going the Custom code route with the A4, 235bhp is managable and at least the A4 i have has 2 side intercoolers

Although the Haldex doesn't send drive to the rear wheels do the rear wheels still turn the drive shafts?

If so that's going to sap a bit more fuel ontop off everything else that's mentioned.

Petrol 4X4 saloon cars are never going to be economy kings. My Scoob used to struggle to get into the 20's. Many years ago I had a 2.9V6 4X4 Sierra with twin turbo technics conversion. It used to average about 14mpg but fuel was around half the price of what it is now.

Cheers

Lee

Although the Haldex doesn't send drive to the rear wheels do the rear wheels still turn the drive shafts?

I've always wondered about that. Seems logical that they do, however, which would swiftly deal with the often heard claim that the Haldex system doesn't suffer from drive losses. I would be interested to know how much it would account for in terms of power and fuel consumption.

ok mpg -> l/km conversion anyone? Ours runs around 8.4l/100km. Tyre pressure 2.4bar in 205/55ZR16 Pzero Neros. Consumption will take a steep hike when winter strikes and I start to run with Hakkapeliita Q's ... Not so bad than with regular spiked winter tyres I hope.

l/100km = 100 / (mpg * 0.354)

or

mpg = 100 / (l/100km *0.354)

so 8.4 l/100km = 33.6 mpg

err I do it the long way round but yes comes out 33.6 mpg.

My diesel Octy break 4x4 gives me approx 44 mpg, diesel of course... french and well run in with 65,000 Klms in 2 years.

Codger