[Krumplihámozo]

Hi Getmoving,
The tires were balanced though not using "road-force" tire balancing. I believe the 20" wheels and tires are only part of the issue. The Q4 is HEAVY and has a short wheel base, which amplifies any road imperfection.

My previous car was a 2019 SQ5 and driving on the same roads with 20" rims caused very little if any vibration. Driving my 2019 E-tron with 20" rims was even nicer, hence my reasoning with the air suspension though I might be wrong.

If you check Audi Canada website the Q4 comes with 19" rims as "standard"....
The "vibration" is annoying and it seems I'm not the only person complaining about it.

I believe the Q4 sportback is beautiful, but it's cheaply made. It's not the same class as the original E-tron and, sadly, it's WAAAAY overpriced.

 

[Krumplihámozo]

Have a standard Q4 50 with 20" rims (all season) and 19" rims (winter), both staggered. Have not noticed vibration on the 20" rims. Is there a particular speed band? Have you checked their balance?

• armrest / footwell vibrates between 50-65 km/hr

 

[getmoving]

We have the 20" wheels, not so much by choice as it came with the vehicle I could find at the time. I'm not sure what you mean by "vibration". We don't get any shaking or anything else I would associate with tire, wheel or suspension issues. But we do get audible buzzing from some of the interior trim on rough roads. I think that has more to do with low quality interior, so as you say, somewhat cheaply made. But there are solutions for buzzing interior pieces.

 

[Krumplihámozo]

Hi Getmoving,
You can fell the "vibration" by gently putting your hand on the center console, not on the steering wheel.
There was nearly none in the SQ5 or 2019 E-tron, so my thought is that the shorter wheelbase and cheaper suspension setup doesn't help.

I'm not a suspension expert, but am surprised by the lack of quality and cheapness in the Q4. I should have taken it for the weekend as the excitement of a "test drive" clearly blinded my judgement. This vehicle is INFERIOR in every aspect to the 2019 SQ5, even more so to the 2019 E-tron, the only exception is the augmented HUD and of course it's electric.

There is no doubt that I will get rid of it at a first opportunity.... and most likely not with another Audi!!

 

[getmoving]

I think what you are feeling is road surface vibration transmitted through the body of the car. This is a component of NVH ( noise, vibration, harshness) and mitigation thereof is a goal for any vehicle design, but especially for more luxury oriented vehicles. For Q4, Audi may have tipped the balance more toward weight reduction in order to achieve their efficiency and range goals. And probably some cost reduction to offset the expensive battery. This is a problem for the whole BEV industry.

I will note a particular issue is that the cover of the center console armrest is very firm and provides minimal padding to dampen vibration. If that is unbearable, an auto upholstery shop could probably create a solution.

 

[Krumplihámozo]

Hello Getmoving,
It's always a pleasure to hear from you.

You are correct and your explanation is very clear.
The only issue is, that when purchasing a "luxury" vehicle, I believe, it's the responsibility of the manufacturer NOT the end user to modify the vehicle to obtain the what the vehicle claims to be...

I still stand my view that the Q4 E-Tron is no way luxury by any standard and the price should reflect the value regardless if the front badge.

Ok, I'm just another sucker and Audi couldn't care less. But they will get hurt in the long run when people start to abandon their vehicles.

Take care, Steve

 

[the flyin scotsman]

......The only issue is, that when purchasing a "luxury" vehicle, I believe, it's the responsibility of the manufacturer NOT the end user to modify the vehicle to obtain the what the vehicle claims to be...

I still stand my view that the Q4 E-Tron is no way luxury by any standard and the price should reflect the value regardless if the front badge.

Ok, I'm just another sucker and Audi couldn't care less. But they will get hurt in the long run when people start to abandon their vehicles............

agreed, its not luxury and the manufacturer should provide a vehicle as stated. My q4 came stock with 20" wheels staggered tyres now currently running 19s with square rubber setup no vibration with either config.

This is my first Audi and probably last.........as stated previous its good but definitely not great.

 

[Krumplihámozo]

Hello Everyone. Can anybody have battery expertise clarify the following:

• is there a battery degradation (accelerated) by SLOW charging the battery @ 5.5 kW to 90 or 100% each night?
• What does Audi mean by "occasional" for the 100% charging level?
• and why is the vehicle advertised with a 400 km range, 100% battery level, if only 80% can be utilized?

Looking forward to hear your comments,
Steve

 

[the flyin scotsman]

Hello Everyone. Can anybody have battery expertise clarify the following:

• is there a battery degradation (accelerated) by SLOW charging the battery @ 5.5 kW to 90 or 100% each night?
• What does Audi mean by "occasional" for the 100% charging level?
• and why is the vehicle advertised with a 400 km range, 100% battery level, if only 80% can be utilized

not an expert but almost 1 year owner and ~28k kms:

• Ive read and watched opinion stating fast DC charging is bad for battery longevity and lower level is preferred albeit with Tesla having the older EVs and most mileage be interesting to know the actual battery replacement count
• most manufacturers state this perhaps given the time to charge the last 20% from 80-100 being as long or longer than 10-80% theres a concern over battey thermals? I dont worry about it and charge to 100% overnight at home prior to a long trip but never on the road unless the next charger is close to range limit and unfavorable weather (wind, temp.,) conditions.
• I challenged the dealership on this point.......if we're not to charge regularly above 80% and not go below 10% the true range is 30% less than advertised; 70% of 400km=280km.......dealership response, all EVs are same.

 

[Krumplihámozo]

Thanks for the reply and your honesty.

I reached out to egyedi Canada and to my dealership as well and will post their reply.

It's my understanding that slow charging does NOT degrade the battery, from a reliable source and 5 years of charging to 100% reach night, but it works be nice to hear from a battery expert.

Keep on flyin' Scottsman....

 

[Krumplihámozo]

Audi Canada

 

[Oenonee]

Hello Everyone. Can anybody have battery expertise clarify the following:

• is there a battery degradation (accelerated) by SLOW charging the battery @ 5.5 kW to 90 or 100% each night?
• What does Audi mean by "occasional" for the 100% charging level?
• and why is the vehicle advertised with a 400 km range, 100% battery level, if only 80% can be utilized?

This gets complicated but there are lots of factors to consider for range, in general minus 20% of quoted figures for all brands.

Real Range Estimation between 180 - 370 mi

City - Cold Weather *	250 mi
Highway - Cold Weather *	180 mi
Combined - Cold Weather *	210 mi

City - Mild Weather *	370 mi
Highway - Mild Weather *	230 mi
Combined - Mild Weather *	285 mi

Via EV Databse

This is also interesting

In general I think most batteries will out last the car even with fast charging but it's better to keep the battery between 10-80% most of the time and only charge for 100% when you need maximum range.

For example we only ever charge to 100% when we drive up to Scotland (550miles) as we want to keep going for as long as possible before we recharge. For our 3/4 stops along the way it's also the most economical to stop at 80% each time as getting to 100% takes almost as long as getting to 80%.

Hope that helps!

 

[getmoving]

It is recommended not to leave the battery at 100% charge any longer than necessary, no matter how it gets there. Same with 0%.

These suggested “gentle charging” practices are no different than other rechargeable devices with lithium ion batteries, such as the smart-phones most of us lug around. But it’s relatively cheap and easy to replace a phone battery, or the whole phone, every couple years. An EV battery, not so much. And in both cases, the batteries DO degrade, and charging practices can influence the rate of degradation. This is well known chemistry.

It doesn’t make much sense to complain about the driving range of the EV, then claim the battery will last forever no matter how you treat it. Decreased battery capacity = decreased range!

 

[ntmehan]

I concur with a lot of the quibbles mentioned here. But I think maybe I view it even more harshly than several others, likely because I didn't buy this car, so I'm not stuck with it for long.

Little backstory, I have a 2019 e-Tron Edition One that I purchased second hand in the beginning of June 2023. I came from a 2016 Tesla Model S 75 with very few options. The Tesla was very uncomfortable, and not great at being a car; I'll save the details for a different rant. So my e-Tron is by far the most comfortable and luxurious car I've ever driven. The gold standard before its purchase was my wife's air-suspended 2018 XC90 T8, which is completely decked with massaging seats and everything, even she agrees that my e-Tron is more comfortable.

So my car continually displayed an "Electrical System Malfunction: Safely Stop Vehicle" message, and when I scheduled a trip the dealership they promptly diagnosed a faulty Sx6 module and got it ordered. My last minute drop-off (they feared that if we waited the car could shut down on me on the highway at any point) got me a Q5 Prestige loaner (that I suspect was a manager's demo, as it had cross bars on the roof and was a much nicer spec than other loaners I've had) and since I assumed I'd have the car for 1.5-2 weeks at most, and appreciated the quick appointment, I didn't question it drove the 2hrs home. Parts ended up being slower than expected, and at the 2 week mark were still a week out from arriving, so I asked if the dealer had any e-Tron in the loaner fleet. I charge for free at work, so fueling the Q5 in the cold weather was costing me time and money, so I drove back and swapped for what ended up being a 2023 q4 e-Tron 40 Premium Plus. I've had it for a week and a half and I have lots of opinions.

Efficiency: Overall, barely better than my "fat" e-Tron. The cold weather absolutely annihilated it on the way home from pickup. Somewhere between 75-80% charge on pickup only got the car 118 miles to home with 7% left. I drove 5 over the limit, maximum 80mph just like I do in my own cars. 70% in my e-Tron would have taken me the same distance, with twice the power, 1400 additional pounds of air suspension and comfortable massaging seats. Considering the range of the q4 40 is supposed to be at least 25% higher than my e-Tron, that's pathetic. Since things have warmed that efficiency has improved but still isn't impressive by any means.

Comfort: The seats are not up to snuff for a $58k vehicle and to me feel like they came directly out of a Tiguan. They lack the adjustability of the Q5 I had just given back, and after 6000 miles they already look the like leather is stretched and wearing far more than 45k miles has worn the seats in my own car. Suspension damping is good, but the car is quite busy on the highway, which I attribute mostly to the short wheelbase. This example has 19" wheels, which I'm sure helps mask some of the suspension's "firm and bouncy" quality. McPhersons on a $58k Audi? Yikes. Cabin quietness is at the bottom of what I would consider acceptable for a car in this price-range and class. I think Premium Plus gets more laminated glass, but since this is a 40 it wouldn't surprise me if they took that upgrade away as well. I'm 6' 2" and while there's plenty of headroom, the floor is high, the pedals are too close together and I generally don't fit well in the car. It has plenty of room, it's just not apportioned well for my body shape.

Drive: 229 lb-ft of torque in a vehicle that weighs 4600 pounds is not acceptable at any price, in any class. 7.9s to 60mph IMO is slow enough to be a hazard on American roadways. The new Prius get's to 60 a full second faster if optioned right. This Q4's performance shouldn't exist at $45k much less for over $58k. The drivetrain programming is also odd: It creeps like an ICE car with an automated manual (i.e. it accelerates too quickly to too high a speed at "idle" with no accelerator input.) The Q5 also did this, which I didn't like even though I understand what is happening mechanically. This is starkly different from the behavior of my "fat" e-Tron, which just rolls once Auto Hold is no longer actively holding the car still. Why would a company tune two EV models so differently? The accelerator inputs are too quick at low speeds (in "Auto" drive mode) but then dull when the single motor starts running out of power, as if the pedal was only calibrated for the correct response on a dual motor model. The car sometimes applies a small amount of regen going down hill, when I want it to just coast up a few mph like my car, but doesn't do it the same amount each time, or in consistent situations every time. The brakes are even more inconsistent, somehow being more grabby than my wife's Volvo and then turning to mush midway through the pedal travel with fading brake power while the pedal continues to mash toward the floor. I've had at least one occurrence every day where I suddenly felt like I had no braking and might rear end traffic in front even though I was not following remotely close. The front and rear ends of the car, don't seem to be on the same page when braking to a stop, and stopping smoothly often has a tiny bit of roll back as the chassis settles.

Other irritations: The example I'm in was a victim of the chip shortage and doesn't have a 360 cam, but does have Park Assist Plus. I'd have preferred the opposite, but there was a piddly credit for the 360 cam's absence. The rear cam shows the light bar above which worsens picture quality and generally looks dumb/unpolished/untested. Every time I start it there's a presense error that clears itself after I drive for 30s-1min and the The MMI lost it's mind when I was trying to set the charge limit one morning, showing a different current SOC than the VC display, and allowing me to change the charge limit for 2 secs before going back to the previous setting. (Yes I had toggled the battery protection mode off already.) I wasted nearly 10 minutes doing the same thing repeatedly, finally restarted MMI and everything synced back up and worked like I wanted. Lock dimples in the door handles are awkwardly small and I keep missing them when I'm in a hurry. Why is there a start button if I don't have to use it? Half the time I hit the brake pedal, and then the button (like my car requires) which quickly cycles the car on, then off. The VC display is awkwardly small and feels very bezel-tastic. Can't imagine what the even smaller display is like in a base model. The climate buttons below the display are not illuminated, so you can't see them to change temp, etc at night? Why did this need to be different from the climate pod in the Q5 and it's fantastic touch-preview functionality?

Summary: This car is far too expensive and is such a different experience from a "fat" e-Tron. Comfort is middling, feature content is average, driving dynamics are poor in this class/maybe considered fair for something 3/4 of it's price, or an ICE car that's half its price. I'm not sure if it was half-baked or just a really poor rebadge of the VW but IMO is not worthy of the Audi badge. I'm not sure the better looks would warrant paying $10k more than an equivalently equipped (and much faster) RWD Model Y, especially when considering resale. I'm just really not impressed, and can't wait for mine to be back in my garage.

 

[Krumplihámozo]

I concur with a lot of the quibbles mentioned here. But I think maybe I view it even more harshly than several others, likely because I didn't buy this car, so I'm not stuck with it for long.

Little backstory, I have a 2019 e-Tron Edition One that I purchased second hand in the beginning of June 2023. I came from a 2016 Tesla Model S 75 with very few options. The Tesla was very uncomfortable, and not great at being a car; I'll save the details for a different rant. So my e-Tron is by far the most comfortable and luxurious car I've ever driven. The gold standard before its purchase was my wife's air-suspended 2018 XC90 T8, which is completely decked with massaging seats and everything, even she agrees that my e-Tron is more comfortable.

So my car continually displayed an "Electrical System Malfunction: Safely Stop Vehicle" message, and when I scheduled a trip the dealership they promptly diagnosed a faulty Sx6 module and got it ordered. My last minute drop-off (they feared that if we waited the car could shut down on me on the highway at any point) got me a Q5 Prestige loaner (that I suspect was a manager's demo, as it had cross bars on the roof and was a much nicer spec than other loaners I've had) and since I assumed I'd have the car for 1.5-2 weeks at most, and appreciated the quick appointment, I didn't question it drove the 2hrs home. Parts ended up being slower than expected, and at the 2 week mark were still a week out from arriving, so I asked if the dealer had any e-Tron in the loaner fleet. I charge for free at work, so fueling the Q5 in the cold weather was costing me time and money, so I drove back and swapped for what ended up being a 2023 q4 e-Tron 40 Premium Plus. I've had it for a week and a half and I have lots of opinions.

Efficiency: Overall, barely better than my "fat" e-Tron. The cold weather absolutely annihilated it on the way home from pickup. Somewhere between 75-80% charge on pickup only got the car 118 miles to home with 7% left. I drove 5 over the limit, maximum 80mph just like I do in my own cars. 70% in my e-Tron would have taken me the same distance, with twice the power, 1400 additional pounds of air suspension and comfortable massaging seats. Considering the range of the q4 40 is supposed to be at least 25% higher than my e-Tron, that's pathetic. Since things have warmed that efficiency has improved but still isn't impressive by any means.

Comfort: The seats are not up to snuff for a $58k vehicle and to me feel like they came directly out of a Tiguan. They lack the adjustability of the Q5 I had just given back, and after 6000 miles they already look the like leather is stretched and wearing far more than 45k miles has worn the seats in my own car. Suspension damping is good, but the car is quite busy on the highway, which I attribute mostly to the short wheelbase. This example has 19" wheels, which I'm sure helps mask some of the suspension's "firm and bouncy" quality. McPhersons on a $58k Audi? Yikes. Cabin quietness is at the bottom of what I would consider acceptable for a car in this price-range and class. I think Premium Plus gets more laminated glass, but since this is a 40 it wouldn't surprise me if they took that upgrade away as well. I'm 6' 2" and while there's plenty of headroom, the floor is high, the pedals are too close together and I generally don't fit well in the car. It has plenty of room, it's just not apportioned well for my body shape.

Drive: 229 lb-ft of torque in a vehicle that weighs 4600 pounds is not acceptable at any price, in any class. 7.9s to 60mph IMO is slow enough to be a hazard on American roadways. The new Prius get's to 60 a full second faster if optioned right. This Q4's performance shouldn't exist at $45k much less for over $58k. The drivetrain programming is also odd: It creeps like an ICE car with an automated manual (i.e. it accelerates too quickly to too high a speed at "idle" with no accelerator input.) The Q5 also did this, which I didn't like even though I understand what is happening mechanically. This is starkly different from the behavior of my "fat" e-Tron, which just rolls once Auto Hold is no longer actively holding the car still. Why would a company tune two EV models so differently? The accelerator inputs are too quick at low speeds (in "Auto" drive mode) but then dull when the single motor starts running out of power, as if the pedal was only calibrated for the correct response on a dual motor model. The car sometimes applies a small amount of regen going down hill, when I want it to just coast up a few mph like my car, but doesn't do it the same amount each time, or in consistent situations every time. The brakes are even more inconsistent, somehow being more grabby than my wife's Volvo and then turning to mush midway through the pedal travel with fading brake power while the pedal continues to mash toward the floor. I've had at least one occurrence every day where I suddenly felt like I had no braking and might rear end traffic in front even though I was not following remotely close. The front and rear ends of the car, don't seem to be on the same page when braking to a stop, and stopping smoothly often has a tiny bit of roll back as the chassis settles.

Other irritations: The example I'm in was a victim of the chip shortage and doesn't have a 360 cam, but does have Park Assist Plus. I'd have preferred the opposite, but there was a piddly credit for the 360 cam's absence. The rear cam shows the light bar above which worsens picture quality and generally looks dumb/unpolished/untested. Every time I start it there's a presense error that clears itself after I drive for 30s-1min and the The MMI lost it's mind when I was trying to set the charge limit one morning, showing a different current SOC than the VC display, and allowing me to change the charge limit for 2 secs before going back to the previous setting. (Yes I had toggled the battery protection mode off already.) I wasted nearly 10 minutes doing the same thing repeatedly, finally restarted MMI and everything synced back up and worked like I wanted. Lock dimples in the door handles are awkwardly small and I keep missing them when I'm in a hurry. Why is there a start button if I don't have to use it? Half the time I hit the brake pedal, and then the button (like my car requires) which quickly cycles the car on, then off. The VC display is awkwardly small and feels very bezel-tastic. Can't imagine what the even smaller display is like in a base model. The climate buttons below the display are not illuminated, so you can't see them to change temp, etc at night? Why did this need to be different from the climate pod in the Q5 and it's fantastic touch-preview functionality?

Summary: This car is far too expensive and is such a different experience from a "fat" e-Tron. Comfort is middling, feature content is average, driving dynamics are poor in this class/maybe considered fair for something 3/4 of it's price, or an ICE car that's half its price. I'm not sure if it was half-baked or just a really poor rebadge of the VW but IMO is not worthy of the Audi badge. I'm not sure the better looks would warrant paying $10k more than an equivalently equipped (and much faster) RWD Model Y, especially when considering resale. I'm just really not impressed, and can't wait for mine to be back in my garage.

Hi NTMehan,
I wish to be in your shoe, no kidding....
I did own a 2019 E-tron for a 1.5 yrs and loved it. Absolutely the best overall vehicle I ever owned.

Unfortunately I sold it, drove a 2019 SQ5 for nearly 2 years and was delighted to get back to another E-tron (Q4), thinking it would provide at least a similar experience.
What a mistake!!!! Everything you say is "BANG ON". The Q4 is a JOKE and Audi should be ashamed to have even released it in the same family.

I believe the Q$ MMI interface is designed by a 14 yrs old playing video games as any kind of ACTUAL logic is completely missing. Why do I need my seatbelt on to drive out my garage and how do I get something out of my trunk with the seatbelt on? Oh yeah, just click in the passenger seatbelt in the driver's spot, that really makes sense (the new German logic?)....

I'm glad you have a chance to discover the lack of quality in every aspect this vehicle offers. Hopefully your 2019 baby will be returned soon so you can get back to some "happy motoring".
Cheers, Steve

 

[ntmehan]

I concur with a lot of the quibbles mentioned here. But I think maybe I view it even more harshly than several others, likely because I didn't buy this car, so I'm not stuck with it for long.

Little backstory, I have a 2019 e-Tron Edition One that I purchased second hand in the beginning of June 2023. I came from a 2016 Tesla Model S 75 with very few options. The Tesla was very uncomfortable, and not great at being a car; I'll save the details for a different rant. So my e-Tron is by far the most comfortable and luxurious car I've ever driven. The gold standard before its purchase was my wife's air-suspended 2018 XC90 T8, which is completely decked with massaging seats and everything, even she agrees that my e-Tron is more comfortable.

So my car continually displayed an "Electrical System Malfunction: Safely Stop Vehicle" message, and when I scheduled a trip the dealership they promptly diagnosed a faulty Sx6 module and got it ordered. My last minute drop-off (they feared that if we waited the car could shut down on me on the highway at any point) got me a Q5 Prestige loaner (that I suspect was a manager's demo, as it had cross bars on the roof and was a much nicer spec than other loaners I've had) and since I assumed I'd have the car for 1.5-2 weeks at most, and appreciated the quick appointment, I didn't question it drove the 2hrs home. Parts ended up being slower than expected, and at the 2 week mark were still a week out from arriving, so I asked if the dealer had any e-Tron in the loaner fleet. I charge for free at work, so fueling the Q5 in the cold weather was costing me time and money, so I drove back and swapped for what ended up being a 2023 q4 e-Tron 40 Premium Plus. I've had it for a week and a half and I have lots of opinions.

Efficiency: Overall, barely better than my "fat" e-Tron. The cold weather absolutely annihilated it on the way home from pickup. Somewhere between 75-80% charge on pickup only got the car 118 miles to home with 7% left. I drove 5 over the limit, maximum 80mph just like I do in my own cars. 70% in my e-Tron would have taken me the same distance, with twice the power, 1400 additional pounds of air suspension and comfortable massaging seats. Considering the range of the q4 40 is supposed to be at least 25% higher than my e-Tron, that's pathetic. Since things have warmed that efficiency has improved but still isn't impressive by any means.

Comfort: The seats are not up to snuff for a $58k vehicle and to me feel like they came directly out of a Tiguan. They lack the adjustability of the Q5 I had just given back, and after 6000 miles they already look the like leather is stretched and wearing far more than 45k miles has worn the seats in my own car. Suspension damping is good, but the car is quite busy on the highway, which I attribute mostly to the short wheelbase. This example has 19" wheels, which I'm sure helps mask some of the suspension's "firm and bouncy" quality. McPhersons on a $58k Audi? Yikes. Cabin quietness is at the bottom of what I would consider acceptable for a car in this price-range and class. I think Premium Plus gets more laminated glass, but since this is a 40 it wouldn't surprise me if they took that upgrade away as well. I'm 6' 2" and while there's plenty of headroom, the floor is high, the pedals are too close together and I generally don't fit well in the car. It has plenty of room, it's just not apportioned well for my body shape.

Drive: 229 lb-ft of torque in a vehicle that weighs 4600 pounds is not acceptable at any price, in any class. 7.9s to 60mph IMO is slow enough to be a hazard on American roadways. The new Prius get's to 60 a full second faster if optioned right. This Q4's performance shouldn't exist at $45k much less for over $58k. The drivetrain programming is also odd: It creeps like an ICE car with an automated manual (i.e. it accelerates too quickly to too high a speed at "idle" with no accelerator input.) The Q5 also did this, which I didn't like even though I understand what is happening mechanically. This is starkly different from the behavior of my "fat" e-Tron, which just rolls once Auto Hold is no longer actively holding the car still. Why would a company tune two EV models so differently? The accelerator inputs are too quick at low speeds (in "Auto" drive mode) but then dull when the single motor starts running out of power, as if the pedal was only calibrated for the correct response on a dual motor model. The car sometimes applies a small amount of regen going down hill, when I want it to just coast up a few mph like my car, but doesn't do it the same amount each time, or in consistent situations every time. The brakes are even more inconsistent, somehow being more grabby than my wife's Volvo and then turning to mush midway through the pedal travel with fading brake power while the pedal continues to mash toward the floor. I've had at least one occurrence every day where I suddenly felt like I had no braking and might rear end traffic in front even though I was not following remotely close. The front and rear ends of the car, don't seem to be on the same page when braking to a stop, and stopping smoothly often has a tiny bit of roll back as the chassis settles.

Other irritations: The example I'm in was a victim of the chip shortage and doesn't have a 360 cam, but does have Park Assist Plus. I'd have preferred the opposite, but there was a piddly credit for the 360 cam's absence. The rear cam shows the light bar above which worsens picture quality and generally looks dumb/unpolished/untested. Every time I start it there's a presense error that clears itself after I drive for 30s-1min and the The MMI lost it's mind when I was trying to set the charge limit one morning, showing a different current SOC than the VC display, and allowing me to change the charge limit for 2 secs before going back to the previous setting. (Yes I had toggled the battery protection mode off already.) I wasted nearly 10 minutes doing the same thing repeatedly, finally restarted MMI and everything synced back up and worked like I wanted. Lock dimples in the door handles are awkwardly small and I keep missing them when I'm in a hurry. Why is there a start button if I don't have to use it? Half the time I hit the brake pedal, and then the button (like my car requires) which quickly cycles the car on, then off. The VC display is awkwardly small and feels very bezel-tastic. Can't imagine what the even smaller display is like in a base model. The climate buttons below the display are not illuminated, so you can't see them to change temp, etc at night? Why did this need to be different from the climate pod in the Q5 and it's fantastic touch-preview functionality?

Summary: This car is far too expensive and is such a different experience from a "fat" e-Tron. Comfort is middling, feature content is average, driving dynamics are poor in this class/maybe considered fair for something 3/4 of it's price, or an ICE car that's half its price. I'm not sure if it was half-baked or just a really poor rebadge of the VW but IMO is not worthy of the Audi badge. I'm not sure the better looks would warrant paying $10k more than an equivalently equipped (and much faster) RWD Model Y, especially when considering resale. I'm just really not impressed, and can't wait for mine to be back in my garage.

A couple other things I've been reminded of since I posted. The Q4 derates power delivery far more than my car. Just below 20% the max power starts to slowly drop off (but it's available down to 6% in my car.) I suspect the power availability is also limited at much less extreme temps than the fat e-Tron, as I've regularly seen a slight regen derate at mildly cool temps (40-50F) and at roughly 40-60% states of charge on the Q4.

Adaptive cruise stops and requires input after 3secs of sitting still. My e-Tron will sit for at least 20-30s before it times out and requires a tap of the stalk or accelerator. Speaking of that cruise stalk, it functions almost the same as mine, but it's not illuminated at night, and instead of being able to change set speed by 1 or 5mph with a soft or hard press up and down, the Q4 changes 2.5mph at a time. How much more could it have cost to just use the same part...?

I just confirmed that while my e-Tron will roll the window up and down with the fob or door handle sensors, the Q4 will only roll them down.

Such an exercise is nickel-and-diming...

 

[Canucker]

@ntmehan Seems like several of the issues you've noticed are likely why the 2024 model has been uprated in power. I've a Q4 50 and it is smooth and lively (didn't try the 40 as only the 50 version is sold in Canada). The range can be an issue for longer trips and when it's cold. I'm 6'1" and am comfortable in the seating position (maybe urated in the 5 model?). I only touch the start button when switching off the car, never when I start it. Foot on brake, select direction, go. Haven't used a level 3 charger yet as I've a home L2 charger but have noticed charging is occasionally finicky (app says no charge available when it clearly is and so I unlock, unplug, plug and lock and all is well). Brakes take some getting used to. I've ventilated discs on my ICE car and it stops on a dime. Not so the Q4 with it's rear drums and mass. I have to remind myself... Overall, though, the Q4 has been great but YMMV.

Looking forward to your Model S rant as I always thought of that as the leader in EV performance.

 

[getmoving]

The brake response you are feeling probably has more to do with regenerative braking for energy recovery. The friction brakes don't kick in unless they are really needed. Same deal with hybrids.

In a generation or two the kiddies won't know what the heck we are complaining about cuz they will have never driven an ICE car that's not a hybrid.

 

[ntmehan]

The brake response you are feeling probably has more to do with regenerative braking for energy recovery. The friction brakes don't kick in unless they are really needed. Same deal with hybrids.

In a generation or two the kiddies won't know what the heck we are complaining about cuz they will have never driven an ICE car that's not a hybrid.

I drive an OG e-Tron daily, my last car was a Tesla Model S, I drive my wife's Volvo PHEV regularly and at work we have a Prius, Camry Hybrid and Accord Hybrid, so I'm well aware of the regen-to-friction transition. I've never felt like I was lacking brake force in any of those cars, this Q4 is completely different. Even then if it was an inherent quality of regen and/or blended braking this implementation is terrible and feels dangerous. If it was consistent, you could adjust to it, but it isn't. I wonder if the breaking feel changes based on drive mode. Since it's software controlled it makes sense that it might be. I should try driving in in dynamic and see how that changes things.

 

[getmoving]

I’m not sure if it has changed with the 3.2 software, but some time ago I was advised that Dynamic mode isn’t necessarily active even if the display claims it is. I believe it was a wise Brit that suggested that. Darned if I know how he figured it out.

But it doesn’t sound like Comfort mode would be your cup of tea.

I haven’t noticed anything especially pathological about Q4’s braking performance, but I don’t drive it like a race car. I do drive a Honda hybrid sometimes. But I also willingly drive a Jeep sometimes, so my expectations may be somewhat dulled. 🤪