The storageforum Audi S4 Thread

Handruin

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Does the google maps MMI/Nav continue to function when the 90-day Audi connect expires or am I about to be surprised and pissed off that I need the connection to use the Nav?
 

Stereodude

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Does the google maps MMI/Nav continue to function when the 90-day Audi connect expires or am I about to be surprised and pissed off that I need the connection to use the Nav?
I think it's a 6 month trial. Reportedly 2GB oh the HD holds the Google earth data (cached) if you've driven in that area before vs. always downloading it on the fly. The maps / nav still work without the 3G data connection.
 

Stereodude

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BTW, I confirmed yesterday that my order is currently "Factory Order Bank". No estimated date of production yet.
 

Handruin

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BTW, I confirmed yesterday that my order is currently "Factory Order Bank". No estimated date of production yet.

Last update I got when I changed color is the status of I.S. Order Bank (05) *. No idea what that means vs Factory Order Bank. Did you contact the dealer to find out or is it somewhere online?
 

Handruin

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Also, when the guy emailed me the confirmation, he pasted in the entire website page and it's interactive in my email which is a riot. All the dropdowns work and I can select stuff. If I try to actually make a change or look, I have to log in...which I don't have access there.
 

Handruin

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I think it's a 6 month trial. Reportedly 2GB oh the HD holds the Google earth data (cached) if you've driven in that area before vs. always downloading it on the fly. The maps / nav still work without the 3G data connection.

Hmm...so the way I'm understanding it is that there is both google earth and the basic nav? Is the basic nav like it was in 2012? If that's the case, I'm fine with google earth not having everything. I saw posts by someone (maybe it was you) who mentioned just getting pre-paid SIM cards if more internet access was needed after the 6-months (sorry, I thought it was 90-days for some reason).
 

Stereodude

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Last update I got when I changed color is the status of I.S. Order Bank (05) *. No idea what that means vs Factory Order Bank. Did you contact the dealer to find out or is it somewhere online?
Factory order bank means the order is in an allocated build slot. I.S. order bank means there isn't an allocation for the car yet. This post explains the different steps.
 

Handruin

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Factory order bank means the order is in an allocated build slot. I.S. order bank means there isn't an allocation for the car yet. This post explains the different steps.

Nice, thanks. Looks like I'm just queuing around waiting for an allocation. I'll email my SA next week and see if the status has changed. I'm guessing I would not have been able to change the color if it was in the later stage...oh well, I hope I got my order in early enough to get one of the first productions.
 

Stereodude

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Hmm...so the way I'm understanding it is that there is both google earth and the basic nav? Is the basic nav like it was in 2012? If that's the case, I'm fine with google earth not having everything. I saw posts by someone (maybe it was you) who mentioned just getting pre-paid SIM cards if more internet access was needed after the 6-months (sorry, I thought it was 90-days for some reason).
My understanding is that you don't get the satellite view (Google Earth) without the 3G connection if the data isn't cached. It's still Google maps loaded on the HD (as I understand it). The traffic data reportedly comes via Sirius/XM (not 100% sure).
 

Stereodude

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I'm back to making friend at Audizine. :rofl:

The benevolence that at least some posters believe APR has toward their customers is mind boggling.
 

Handruin

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Sounds like you are pretty hard on the APR guys. Did they do something to you to get so much attention?
 

Stereodude

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Sounds like you are pretty hard on the APR guys. Did they do something to you to get so much attention?
Their style of business has really rubbed me the wrong way. IMHO, they're pretty consistently out attacking their competitors with vague empty accusations and conducting themselves in an often unprofessional manner on the forum. Their fanboys eat it up and carry the torch.
 

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I'm sure people want to justify their purchases. You're certainly fighting an uphill battle with them. This isn't the first time I've seen someone try to dismiss/devalue your opinions due to not (yet) owning an S4. That cracks me up. It's like he saying "hey you can't comment in with the cool club because you don't have one yet".
 

Stereodude

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This isn't the first time I've seen someone try to dismiss/devalue your opinions due to not (yet) owning an S4. That cracks me up. It's like he saying "hey you can't comment in with the cool club because you don't have one yet".
It's an absurd argument whenever and wherever it's tried across many areas of life. I chalk it up to elitism in this case. It doesn't bother me any.
 

Stereodude

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Nothing much new to report.

I'm trying to dig into the reports of the crown-gear center diff on the facelift B8. The original German brochure for the facelift car said
quattro
permanenter Allradantrieb mit asymmetrisch-dynamischer Momentenverteilung;
selbstsperrendes Mittendifferenzial mit radselektiver Momentensteuerung,
fahrsituationsabhängige Aufteilung der Antriebskräfte auf jedes einzelne Rad für ein präzise kontrollierbares Fahrverhalten;
in Verbindung mit S tronic® mit Kronenrad-Mittendifferenzial
The last line translates to
in conjunction with S tronic ® with crown-gear center differential

I noticed the last line about the crown-gear differential has been removed from the December 2011 update to that brochure. It now says:
quattro®
permanenter Allradantrieb mit asymmetrisch-dynamischer Momentenverteilung;
selbstsperrendes Mittendifferenzial mit radselektiver Momentensteuerung,
fahrsituationsabhängige Aufteilung der Antriebskräfte auf jedes einzelne Rad für ein präzise kontrollierbares Fahrverhalten
However, there is still a reference to a self-locking diff in there (selbstsperrendes Mittendifferenzial). My understanding is that the Torsen type 3 (Type "C") unit used on the pre-facelift model can't lock which then still points to the crown-gear center diff.

Ultimately, I've got no idea if the crown-gear center diff is on none of the US B8.5 MY2013 S4s, only the S-tronic models, or all US B8.5 MY2013 S4s. :confused:
 

Stereodude

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I have it on good authority that the crown-gear diff is only on the B8.5 S-tronic S4s. The 6MT B8.5 S4s keep the older torsen style unit.
 

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That's a bummer. I can't really say I'd be able to notice the difference except in extreme cases of wheel slippage. Maybe this is just more proof that the 6MT will no longer be offered in future revisions? Why bother adding/developing for a transmission they no longer plan to offer...
 

Stereodude

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That's a bummer. I can't really say I'd be able to notice the difference except in extreme cases of wheel slippage.
That's basically what was suggested to me. While the crown-gear diff is the new shiny tech the difference is unlikely to be noticeable.

Maybe this is just more proof that the 6MT will no longer be offered in future revisions? Why bother adding/developing for a transmission they no longer plan to offer...
I'd guess you're hitting the nail on the head. It's likely Audi will phase out the 6MT (at least from higher performance offerings) so there's no reason to spend money to continue developing and improving it.
 

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Saw this on the Audiworld website for a video example of the Estoril Blue
[video=youtube;POxwokOM1Zw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POxwokOM1Zw[/video]
 

Handruin

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I wrote the SA about my order. It's still in I.S. Order Bank. She doesn't know when it will change, but she said it could happen at any time.
 

Stereodude

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Saw this on the Audiworld website for a video example of the Estoril Blue
I'm not real thrilled with the way the color looks in that video. Of course the video is not properly exposed in my opinion and they only shot video of the shade side of the car so that probably accounts for my tepid opinion of it.

I wrote the SA about my order. It's still in I.S. Order Bank. She doesn't know when it will change, but she said it could happen at any time.
That's because someone else got their first S4 allocation and they haven't gotten another S4 6MT allocation yet. So, your order will sit in I.S. Order Bank until they get an allocation for a 6MT S4. Allocations usually come once a month, but the first S4 allocation came sort of halfway between the normal schedule.
 

Handruin

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I'm glad it wasn't just me. I wasn't thrilled either. The S7 pictures look a lot better than the video. The exposure does look off to me also.

Oh well. Guess it'll be in August when I get mine if they won't get another allotment for a while. I did order later than you, so it's possible someone else got the order slot.
 

Handruin

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Those pictures I like. They look processed though. They also look less purple than in some of the renderings and S7 images.
 

Stereodude

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After 2 weeks my Forgestar order hasn't progressed any. :(

fsstatus427.png


I didn't bother to check with the dealer on the car this week. I'll hit him up for an update on Monday since it will be 2 weeks since I checked in and 3 since I ordered.
 

Stereodude

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Those pictures I like. They look processed though. They also look less purple than in some of the renderings and S7 images.
I like them as well. I'm sure they're processed. To what extent I'm unsure beyond desaturating all the other colors in the picture. I'm not 100% convinced they're Estoril Blue Crystal. I haven't see a list of all the colors available on the S6. I do know Estoril is offered on the S6, but it is also possible they have another blue.
 

Handruin

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After 2 weeks my Forgestar order hasn't progressed any. :(

fsstatus427.png


I didn't bother to check with the dealer on the car this week. I'll hit him up for an update on Monday since it will be 2 weeks since I checked in and 3 since I ordered.

Ouch. Guess I should get to work on ordering wheels. I don't feel as compelled with a car that's not even in the queue yet. I thought you were getting the titanium finish, why does it say hyper silver?
 

Stereodude

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I thought you were getting the titanium finish, why does it say hyper silver?
That was my first question to my salesperson at Modbargains after getting my tracking information to monitor the status of my order at Forgestar. Apparently that's their internal system's name for the powdercoated Ti finish.
 

Stereodude

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mmm.....S6 Avant....
Dare to dream... I'd love to be able to get a 6MT Avant. If it existed and was sold in the US I'd probably stick with the S4 Avant (mostly for cost) though the twin turbo V8 S6 would be sweet. The turn signals in the headlights of the S6 are awesome.

[video=youtube;x4mOxxrM7Ug]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4mOxxrM7Ug[/video]
 

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I love those turn signals also. I noticed them in the first video that was posted and thought, why aren't those in the S4!? I'd love to retro fit those, but I doubt it would be cost effective. This video looks much better than the other one.
 

Stereodude

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So I pinged my dealer for an update today. He said my S4 is scheduled to arrive Week 29 (week of July 9th). There is still no scheduled build date in the system though.
 

Handruin

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Wow, that's better than I would have guessed. I'm not having even the next checkpoint in the system for a build slot makes me think I won't see mine until August. :-\ I should probably still order the wheels if those will be a long wait also. Worse case I just put all seasons on the stock wheels and bring home the summer tires.
 

Stereodude

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Wow, that's better than I would have guessed.
It's about what I expected based on what I was told when I ordered. Now I just need to hope that Forgestar will make some progress in the next 2 months.

I also need to get my order in with Matt at oCarbon.com in the next few weeks. He told me lead time on a set of silver "carbon fiber" (aluminum coated fiberglass) trim is 4-6 weeks since it's more difficult to work with than the normal carbon fiber.
 

Handruin

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It's about what I expected based on what I was told when I ordered. Now I just need to hope that Forgestar will make some progress in the next 2 months.

I also need to get my order in with Matt at oCarbon.com in the next few weeks. He told me lead time on a set of silver "carbon fiber" (aluminum coated fiberglass) trim is 4-6 weeks since it's more difficult to work with than the normal carbon fiber.

I thought you had to send them the pieces to get the carbon trim put on them? Do they already have the pieces in stock and you just send them yours when the oCarbon pieces come in (kinda like a hard drive advanced replacement)? Are you sure the trim is the exact same dimensions as the 2012?
 

Stereodude

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I thought you had to send them the pieces to get the carbon trim put on them? Do they already have the pieces in stock and you just send them yours when the oCarbon pieces come in (kinda like a hard drive advanced replacement)?
They can do it either way. You send yours and wait, or they send you trim and then you send back your original trim and get the "core" charge refunded.

Are you sure the trim is the exact same dimensions as the 2012?
Matt seemed to think it is. I'm not what I would classify as "sure".
 

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This just in! People are going to confuse the B8.5 S4 with Chrysler and/or Hyundai products due to the light pipes in the headlights instead of the discrete LEDs. link
 

Handruin

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Meh, two people with opinions. I don't bother to get into the debates of MY2012 vs MY2013. They both look fine to me, but I do prefer the front-bottom lip on the 2012 and how it extends out a little further. On the other hand, I do prefer the solid daytime light vs the individual LED bulbs in 2012.


20122013
audi-s4-2012-124-1-800-600.jpg
04-2013-audi-s4.jpg
2012-audi-s4-side_7556_001_580x435_2y2y.png
03-2013-audi-s4-570x378.jpg
 
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