As the title says...

Shame it's only -1 deg C!

My last car to have noises emanating at low temps was my now-ex Primera, at -15 overnight, developed a frozen water pump bearing, ripped the belt to shreds, lost PAS and water pump drive, so a bit inconvenient.

I was abroad as well at the time.

So noises at -1 were a bit embarrassing driving down my street!

First time I heard it and can only assume that the overnight temp into the negatives might have provoked it. Very strange noises, metallic-like, disappeared after around 500 meters.

MY immediate suspicions are: alternator clutch, or power steering pump.

Any thoughts? It was obvious as soon as I gave it a bit of throttle (it's auto box, so revs go up straight away as torque converter slips). Metallic noises, chirping, grinding, changed in tone, and wasn't just audible in the car, when I opened the window the whole street was reverberating. Then it all went silent. Have not heard it since, though the temps have not gone negative since. This was 3 days ago.

Frosty frosty. I find most cars sound unusual at first on cold start up.

Wow. That's properly frosty. These were very loud noises that were definitely abnormal.

My 2.5 sounds like a bag of spanners when i start it on frosty mornings,Takes a little cranking to start but by the time i have gone 1/2 mile it sounds ok. I did think there was a problem until i heard a 2.5 audi outside work, that sounded like a bag of spanners and it was hot

MIne sounds OK, hot or cold really. But injection is a bit more advanced when cold so a bit more diesel combustion noise when cold yes indeed. Glowplugs are PWM controlled during the first minute or so of running too, this reduces white smoke and is meant to reduce noise too. If the glow plugs pack up this obviously does not work and the engine will be noisier. WHen they switch off I can hear the relay click in the dash.

Have you checked yet or had checked, your Antifreeze strength for sufficient protection?

george

Got genuine 7 litres of VAG antifreeze 3 years ago, so should be ok