Leaderboard

Greetings from New Zealand! I imported this used car from Japan with 116,000 km on the clock. All used cars have to go thru a "compliance check" when they arrive. The workshop replaced the front and rear brake pads, "front bush", "front straight bush" and all 4 tyres. When drving out of the workshop, I noticed a grumbling/grinding sound from the front wheels while turning in either direction at low speed. I initially assumed it was surface rust on the rotors, and drove on home. However, this sound continues, only while moving off from a standstill and turning either left or right. It does not occur above about 20kmh. The workshop (indie) says this is typical of Audi vehicles, but I find that hard to believe. To check this out, I test drove a C7 at a car yard, and experienced the same sound, while at another dealer there was no sound whatsoever! Has anyone come across this issue? Thanks.

Hi Yay!, ...or Denzil, And greetings from the opposite side of the Planet - the UK. I was also concerned at this 3 months ago when I 'adopted' my first Audi, also an A6... But it is indeed common amongst all Quattro, or all wheel drive, Audis as far as I know... So the first car you tried may have been a Quattro like yours, the second maybe just Front Wheel Drive...? The issue, as I understand it, is that you have all four wheels trying to drive the car forward, whilst the fronts are trying to turn the car - the noise you're hearing is a tiny bit of 'tyre scrub' where the rear wheels are pushing forwards and causing one of the front wheels to slide just a little at most extreme left or right lock - turning as far as you can, basically. I think most likely the 'inside' front tyre in the turn is just being dragged slightly as it turns at more of an angle than the outer front wheel - that's what it sounds like on mine... I'm sure an expert will explain this far better than me, and even give the technical details as well... But from my experience, having checked the alignment of all 4 wheels and consulted a Senior Audi Technician, with brand new matched tyres on all 4 corners - what you describe would appear to be 'normal' and expected behaviour. And after 3 months there is no discernible 'extra wear' or scrubbing noticable on the fronts compared to the rears. Hope that helps... Best Regards, Tigger

My mate had his Q8 in at Audi about 4 weeks ago after it breaking down by refusing to go in gear. It’s done 12k and Audi told him the 48v battery was knackerd but saying it wasn’t covered by warranty and would cost £1800 to replace. He rang Milton Keynes Audi where he bought it from who said it should be covered and to get it sent to one of their branches. They sorted it for him and did a software update on the alternator. Apparently the alternators are overcharging the batteries and killing them making them not hold charge. They called it a smart alternator and should put more charge in as the battery gets older.

Glad I could help and glad you got sorted 🙂

This should be the Interior Door Card & Trim Panel Clips- Audi 8E0867276 here's a link: https://www.vehicleclips.co.uk/interior-door-card-trim-panel-clips-audi-8e0867276/

Just a quick bump on this as I have also been looking at sound improvement. Recently got my hands on a 2022 SQ7 TFSI and most certainly agree the sound is seriously muted on the new ones. I have been looking at several options so far. The active valve controller by Cete has been fitted by them on a SQ8 with no major sound improvement. It appears both cars share the same exhaust system. It seems the gap between valves open and close are almost identical so not worth the £'s for this. It is my preferred option instead of sound systems being pumped through speakers. I was hoping to get nicer rumble on low revs but it looks difficult to achieve without a major mod. The other option would be the active sound systems from Kufatec or Cete but as said, I am very much against fake sound. Unless I am terribly mistaken, the 2017 SQ7 is pre opf/gpf times and so you getting pure sound out of it as opposed to the having the dreaded filters killing the experience of owning a machine like ours... I had someone do a backbox and resonator mod on my previous RSQ3 which improved the sound so I have booked my SQ7 so he can work his magic again on this one. If this does not work, I will have no other option but to consider a custom exhaust/catback exhaust system. Have you or anybody else got anywhere with squeezing more sound out of the SQ7? Cheers!

Great recommendation 🙂 it can be hard getting good quality carpet mats at reasonable prices.