[BiturboS4] RE: Warranty on battery (well it was originally)

[Ti Kan]

I guess I agree with most things you say, we do get a nice deal here.

I have to point out, though, that even though our fuel is cheaper than
yours it is also inferior (lower octane and higher sulfer content).
This is particularly bad in California where the maximum octane now
at most stations is 91.  This is the main reason Audi de-tuned the
US spec S4 to maintain a good safety margin.  Getting back the Euro
level of power/torque or beyond is no problem, but then it becomes
necessary to buy high octane, catalyst-friendly race fuel.  That is
neither cheap nor convenient.

As to the US polluting the planet, I'd offer no argument there.  At least
our Audis are relatively clean running compared to most behemoth SUVs.
Funny you should mention this subject, because the reason for California
fuel to have lower octane than other states is because of the additives
claimed to reduce emissions.  Well, recently they found that one such
additive, MTBE, is actually polluting our ground water...

-Ti
2003 A4 1.8T multitronic
2001 S4 biturbo 6-sp
1984 5000S turbo
1980 4000 2.0 5-sp
--
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    ti at amb.org
 //////  http://www.amb.org/ti/
///

Edwards, Dave writes:
> Well I noticed your smiley, but nevertheless I have to bite back ;-)
>
> Even if you compare your deal to mainland Europe, your benefits outweigh the
> difference in spec. You pay about 10% less for the car but get 4 year
> warranty including service costs. Europeans get an inferior 2 year warranty
> and pay for their own service. They also pay around $4.50 per gallon for 93
> Octane (equivalent) gas.
>
> Of course in the UK we do so much better as we get a 3 year warranty,
> although still not as good as a US warranty and we pay for services too. Of
> course for this luxury we pay around 25% more than the other Europeans (yes
> about 40% more than Americans) for the car, and our gas is over $5 per
> gallon.
>
> Of course everything you can get on a Euro car can be added to the US car,
> particularly the performance. I've read enough about US owners who have two
> ECUs (i.e. a stock one for when the car is at the dealer).
>
> No, you have to accept that you're getting a good deal: Now that AoA is
> importing the RS6, I'm sure you'll get the next RS4 too, all at cheaper
> prices than Europe.
>
> Of course regarding the price of gas, we'd all like to pay US prices, but
> we'd prefer not to have the US's reputation on pollution of the planet :-(
>
> Cheers,
> Dave