Introducing Hermann - no really...
 

Hello all.

I've been away for a while - again - and had a further change of circumstances and car.

Very sadly a close relative died recently and we are having to deal with the issues surrounding that, complicated by the fact that they were 200 miles away from us requiring long drives and round trips.

Family and work have been (mostly) excellent about it all but now it is time to rejoin "life" :thumbup:.

The outcome is that we have inhereted a dog and therefore a requirement to holiday "at home" (i.e. in the UK) and probably by car - so time to get something bigger. Mrs A is tied to the company Prius so it was George who got traded. Seeing as again I'm aiming to keep this thing for a long time we went for something "spendy".

So please meet Hermann.

http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-eW...812_112901.jpg

He's a 2006 Audi A6 2.7 TDI Quattro Avant. For us he has the positives of being big (dog + people + luggage carryingly big), comfy, and relatively cheap for a car of that size.

For an Ecomodder he has some positives. For a start he is a TDI and therefore a Diesel - which is "god's own fuel". He is also quite aero and very long geared - 60MPH is about 1,600 RPM in top - and he has 6 of those gears to choose from. He also does not "benefit" from the curse that is a DPF so we won't be wasting fuel burning off carbon or filling the sump with Diesel at the behest of WWF.

And he also has some Ecomodder negatives. For a start that TDI engine is 2.7 litres and a V6, he also has 4WD (Quattro). Also a DPO (Dreaded Previous Owner) has fitted "BIG" wheels from an A8 (I think). And worst of all his 6 gears are autotragic. :rolleyes:

On the medium side his gears can be selected with "flappy paddles" but there are restrictions - e.g. changing up to anything under 1200 RPM is verboten. And I don't mean it tells you that this is wrong, it just ignores you and probably guffs off in your direction as it does so and shakes his head at the same time...:rolleyes:

The aim for me is obviously to get he best MPG I can out of him, and get to the ecomodder "Hypermiler" EPA+ measurement taking the EPE measurements and adapting them. Hermann will never be in the top 10 unless he spends a month being dropped from a cliff with the engine off and a following wind.

@America - this is a European F-150, Mock me... :D

So how did we start - not good. For a start taxing him was the equivalent of 20 x George - for a single year. :eek:

And when I brimmed the tank it took £107 (~$170) to do it. :eek::rolleyes::eek:

But then it got better.

The on board MPG machine calculates tank range based on the previous driver, so it immediately said 500 miles.

Oh cr@p, I did this mileage for 1/2 that with George.

But after 2 miles in my hands it kind of decided I was gentler so extended this to 550. And then 570. And then 590. And then 600. I can only assume the previous driver was a power mad loon with more money than sense. As he left his phone numbers in the Bluetooth system maybe I should phone him and let him know ?

So what ecomods have been done ?

1. Tyres are up to 47 PSI which is the full luggage rating for the car (according to the sticker on the inside of the fuel flap - putting £107 of Diesel in I had plenty of time to read it...). I will go higher at some point.

2. Scangauge my old trusty friend. Reset and told he is talking to a 2.7 Diesela.

http://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-hr...812_194148.jpg

Other than that nothing so far. We plan to use Hermann for a trip down south and then get him checked over by my fave VAG specialist who used to look after Helga.

After that we go for MPG. We've got to save some of his costs somehow :eek:

EDIT - Hermann does have an on board computer, actually 2 of the things. From experience VAG MPG calculators are as optimistic as Lord Haw Haw - hence the SG2.

What a monster! Ditch it a.s.a.p.! You have been converted to the dark side !!!

Beautiful.

I love Audi estates. They have such nice contours.

Jumping Jeeps, reading on the cost of a fillup from our European friends sure does put American fuel prices into perspective.

why ?

They do look nice :D The cost of a fillup is the main driver here but it would also be brilliant if corpulent Hermann made it to 50 mpg initially and then a kilotank.

I think the most efficient passenger car engine ever produced was an Audi 5 cylinder diesel, something like 43%.

regards
Mech

I do love the Audi estates. I love all estates, but the premium ones, BMW, Volvo, Audi, the one Maserati I've seen (images, not in person), the Ferrarri FF (might be considered a hatch but I think of it as an estate by Ferrarri standards), CTS-V estate, C63 estate, so on, they are all gorgeous.

It reminds me that somewhere deep in the basement of these companies, someones little voice is heard... "hey...hey...someone out there has a dog and children and likes to take trips...guys?"

One of the many reasons I love my Jetta wagon. 50mpg+ on the highway, and plenty of room for passengers and gear. I can't imagine a more practical vehicle.

That is a very nice Audi you have there. I'm glad to see nice wagons at all, with all the SUV nonsense I've endured over the last decade I once despaired of ever seeing decent transportation ever again. Enjoy the 2.7 when you need the power, I'm sure it's quite exhilarating. :-)

It's amusing to think of that as a European pickup truck... the diesel pickup we're looking at for farm chores has a 5.9L V6 in it, and has an 8 foot long bed. Do you not have farms locally? Surely work vehicles are actually available to those who need them.

I took it more as 'in the US, if you get groceries once a week, and take a child to school, you better at least have an F150.' It may have just been a comparison of fuel economy- but I don't think it's totally valid, since there seems to definitely be a reason for the extra, and it's not overkill. Usually here there is little to no justification for vehicle choices.

A friend of mine has a wife. She wants a Dodge Ram 1500. She wants a chrysler, so one can already tell she does not know much about cars, but regardless of branding, she wants it because she "likes the way it looks." I could never fathom spending money, and so much at that, for something based solely on it's looks, without any other consideration. A brand new Ram 1500 to commute back and forth to work.

I fail to understand it, but continue to understand why things that should have gone away years ago are still around (chrysler, alcohol, so on).

<----- feels that he may have added evidence for the "ignorant American" stereotype.

I guess it is a good sign that I didn't get his joke, although sad that if he had substituted a luxury SUV that will never see dirt I would have been on board with the humor. It is odd, now that I think of it... I have literally never seen a European post about their work vehicles. Surely a few of them here or there have trucks, but I have seen absolutely zero evidence of this in my limited experience. Educate a man whose travels are limited to this side of the Atlantic: are work vehicles generally owned by companies? Is there no remaining tradition of small-scale agriculture or rural land ownership that would necessitate the private possession of true utility vehicles similar in function to our pickups in this country? Admittedly, the proportion of rural to urban population must be even greater in Europe than the US, but still.

I agree about the irrational choice of vehicles. I'm not sure who gave so many women the idea that a vehicle is a thing to be chosen with emotion as the primary criterion, but it does seem to be true in many cases. Drives me nuts, because if it weren't so, we logical shoppers would have a better selection.

Very entertaining post Arragonis. You have a gift for writing in an interesting and humorous way.

What year is your Jetta wagon, and have you had to fix anything on it yet? I'm considering an '03, but very hesitant due to reliability concerns.

What pickup is this? I got the smallest diesel truck I could find in the US; a Dodge Ram 2500 5.9L turbo inline 6. If only they offered the Hilux here... one can dream, one can dream.

Surely you can fathom desiring something solely based on looks. A good 75% of the reason I choose my wife is based on her lines. If she possessed the character and personality most compatible with my ideal, but was not aesthetically pleasing to me, I would never have been inspired to pursue her and make her my wife.

Women typically make "irrational" choices based on appearance and prestige because a large portion of their security and self worth are wrapped up in those seemingly vain attributes. Ask a woman if she would rather be a successful and domineering CEO, or a beautiful princess; most will say the latter.

So in general, it is more important for a woman to be found in something cute and prestigious; with economy and performance being secondary considerations.

I could be very off base by this comment, but I get the impression that the English tend to rely more on specialization than Americans. My imagination has this idea that if you are English and need bread, you go to the bakery to get a loaf. If you are English and need furniture moved, you hire movers to do it.

In the US, we tend to value autonomy more than other countries. If we need bread, we go to a general store such as Costco and get it along with batteries and a TV, or any other thing we might need. We might purchase a truck for moving the occasional large item instead of hiring someone else to do it. Come to think of it, I don't have a single friend that has hired a professional mover. They always ask for help from people that have a truck (me).

I think it's a different mindset about the importance of autonomy coupled with the fact that fuel and taxes for large vehicles are bloody expensive abroad.

I like the following article by Mr. Stoner on his explanation of the general difference between men and women.

redpoint;

I completely understand your point with women, but ignorance and apathy is a terrible turnoff to me. I'm not above walking away from a stupid person in mid conversation. If you've seen the SNL skit with the girl you regret talking to at a party,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pRCeof-NKM

I have talked with and spent time with drop dead gorgeous women- whose looks clearly have paved their way. No thank you.

And I've met some women who were attractive, until I got to know them, and now I can't help but remember them as super models lol It may be strange or unordinary, but personality and mind do matter. But of course, some physically attractive qualities are important.

Do looks matter? Yes- but if looks are perfect, its not enough to qualify [alone].

"Pick a number between one and ten.
7.
Wrong. Genocide. "

Listening to that even makes my head ache.

Actually, my car is a 2003 exactly as you are considering. I keep up with scheduled maintenence myself, except for the timing belt, which I don't feel comfortable doing. I have had three unscheduled issues: clogged intake manifold, a CEL thrown for glow plug issues, and a failed alternator pulley bearing.

The clogged intake was probably partially from the LSD used early in its life and partially from incorrect driving habits of myself and the previous owner. We were ignorant of the fact that it is best to rev the diesel to 3000rpm for most shifts when warmed up, and had taken no steps to deal with the oily crankcase vapors which combined with EGR carbon. Both of those are addressed at the moment, we'll see if I ever have to do it again.

The the glow plug code indicated that the resistence of the plugs was imbalanced, and the easiest and cheapest first course is to replace them, which I did. It turned out that the harness was to blame, which is expensive to replace if you replace the whole thing, but cheap if you keep a small relay or switch or some such device. I replaced only the cheap part, and have had no trouble.

The failed alternator pulley seemed to be a completely random failure, although in hindsight I can see (or rather feel) that it had been failing when I got the car, and I simply didn't know. It wasn't cheap to repair, but I got it fixed at the same time as a timing belt service, and so saved a considerable chunk of change.

At this age, I'm beginning to look for failing rubber boots and such, and I imagine I will have to replace a few on the shocks within a few years to prevent damage. However, at that point it may be time to replace the shocks anyway. I've also installed both an Amsoil bypass filter for the engine oil and a 2-micron fuel filter to protect the expensive fuel components. In general I've been pleased with the car and plan to keep it as long as possible.

I misspoke (mistyped?), it is as you stated, a Dodge 5.9L inline 6 rather than a V6. The one we have our eyes on needs a little work, but it should last forever if we take care of it.

When I bought my Prelude I became familiar with the current offerings, of cars that I might actually own, so the Civic, Accord, and competitors. Comparing the Civic and Cavalier seemed unreal, yet I met one girl after another that had a Cavalier or Sunfire. I tried to casually asked why they made that choice and they almost exclusively responded "Because it's cute!"

I do remember someone telling me it had the highest horsepower in its class. So why was it's 0-60 the slowest?

I chose Bacon because I chose the wrong girlfriend and she was more interested in me purchasing something cute and returning my full attention to her.

The first girl that I took on a date with Dad's F150 seemed to like the truck more than me.

She hardly waited for me to come to a stop before she got out of the truck and ran inside. To add insult to injury, she had asked me to take her home early for girls' night.

Any Cavalier owners care to punch me? :D

I agree. I have met many beautiful women, but I know from experience that if I can't respect the judgement and intellectual competence of a person then I will not be happy with them, and I won't be able to trust them to do anything important. Since trust is the foundation of any relationship, it then follows that if a person does not meet some basic standard of mental ability, I cannot maintain a close relationship with them.

Even more, I have found that my greatest delight is derived from learning new things from others. If a potential partner is not both intellectually capable and socially inclined to pursue learning for themselves, does not take delight in new ideas and facts, and doesn't possess at least some reasonable degree of faculty and knowledge I do not personally possess, then they are not going to be a viable companion.

Basically, you've got to be smart, you've got to have common sense, you've got to enjoy learning and sharing, and you've got to be able to do and comprehend things that I don't. Once you leap those hurdles, then we'll get into appearances. I may say that the list of women I have met that actually meet these standards is very very short. And those aren't the only requirements. I'm just glad I found my wife!

I like wagons more than soccer-mom vans :thumbup:


Europeans were already used to smaller vehicles for a long time. Compact pickups are more usual among farmers, and almost every Euro-spec pickup is fitted with a 4-pot turbodiesel under 3-litre (few have a gasser, usually converted to LPG or CNG). It's hard to find a commercial vehicle with anything but a 4-cylinder turbodiesel in the European market, and it's usually either a medium-duty or a heavy-duty truck, altough even medium-duty trucks can be found with a 4-cylinder turbodiesel...

It's nice, I don't know diesels that well but there are simple things to improve the turbos efficiency therefore the cars. A manuel boost control will help, heat wrap the hot side and downpipe, most likely a front or side mount intercooler keep it as cool as possible shielding around it do not block the fins and wrap the ic hoses. Do plenty of research on other forums (search Audi or tDI) before doing anything too serious.

Exactly right, and the reason I qualified my explanation of the importance of looks by saying that physical attraction was only 75% of the reason I choose my wife. Maybe 75% is a bit high, but if a girl had no physical appeal, I would have no motivation to pursue a romantic relationship.

When I met my first girlfriend, I found her appearance to be mildly attractive. After getting to know her and really loving her personality, I was wildly attracted to her.

A woman that is very beautiful and either doesn't know it, or doesn't use her appearance to manipulate others, adds to her attractiveness. I found that trait in my new wife. She is also the most rational girl I have dated and subjects her emotion to reason. While she still has the strong emotions that women have, her actions are dictated by logic (usually).

So my point isn't that appearances are everything, just that they tend to be more important to a woman.

This is one of the reasons why I broke up with an extremely hot, young and sweet girl. Despite her many extremely attractive qualities, she was very driven by emotion.

When I met her, she drove a late model Aveo. One day she called me up saying a salesman wanted to sell her a new Aveo in a really cute color and credit her trade-in. She called me under the guise of asking my advise, but what she really wanted was for me to validate her irrational desire for the crappy car and horrible financial decision.

I validated her enthusiasm, but mentioned that it wasn't a sound financial decision and, at the very least, needed to sleep on the idea before committing to it. Perhaps I should have told her that our relationship hinged on her at least waiting 24hrs to make a decision, but if it wasn't the stupid Aveo, it would have eventually been many other things that drove me crazy. Needless to say, she traded in for the damned car. It took me 6 months and 3 break ups to finally end things. (did I mention she had many attractive qualities).

Men are just as irrational as women when it comes to purchasing vehicles. Women might buy a car because it's cute and red, but men just as often buy a car because it's macho and fast. There is no denying that a woman's interest in a man can be influenced by the vehicle he drives, and men know this.

Women have said I look manly driving my big truck, and they have said I look hot riding my sport bike, but none have said anything about being attracted to me driving a practical Subaru Legacy.

My point is that women are crazy for wanting a red car, and men are crazy for wanting one with 500hp.

Perhaps this is true of you, but just the opposite for most others. If you are a stranger to online dating, then you might not realize that the first thing both men and women do when browsing profiles is to look at the pictures. If they like what they see, then they are interested in reading more about the person and getting to know them.

The thing is, physical attraction can be quickly assessed. If there is none, then there is no point in investing further in pursuit of romance and a relationship. In the context of romantic relationships, aesthetic qualities are the first and primary motivator for both sexes. I'd even argue that most men don't move much further than aesthetics when considering a long term relationship, with women giving more consideration to other qualities.

So based on that, it seems we could argue that women are crazy because they are women, and men are crazy for the sake of women... ;-)

Less and less so for shops - we have Tesco - think Wallmart but much much more predatory... Specialist shops are becoming very rare, city high streets (aka Main Streets) are being swept away here as they are in the US.

Moving stuff depends, if you can do it yourself you get (or borrow) a van - Transit sized. If bigger then get a "Man with a Van" to help, or then if even bigger get a mover. Its not (for example) a weekly thing so we don't go buy a van or a pickup just in case.

Crew-cab type pickups became popular a few years ago but that was because they could be treated as a business vehicle for tax reasons - amazing how many people suddenly had their own business which seemed not to do much other than own a vehicle...

My joke was intended to be on myself.

I've commented on "why do Americans need a Pickup Truck when nowhere else in the world feels the need" before (e.g. just above). And now I have my own fuel guzzling road ship which only has me in it 5 days out of 7. ;)

There are other reasons, some sensible and some women style. Sensible - I intend to keep it for a while (costs willing) so it needs to be able to last and be "interesting", we needed something bigger and it is bigger, and it is AWD so when the snow comes back it should be OK (other option was a BMW 5 series which I would stack into a wall when the snow hits). Its also done all of it's depreciation and someone else has paid for that.

The women style reasons - it looks good, it is very nice inside, has toys and I've kind of wanted an A6 for ages.

First trip to work today. On the SG2 it registered about 23 MPG in very heavy stop start traffic, the on board said 38. I think without the stops and starts and periods of sitting in jams I could get it to mid-40s.

The SG2 is still reporting colonial gallons and needing to be calibrated (may take a while on a tank this size - hopefully). Remaining tank range is still in the 580-600 range and I've done 60 from this tank already.

Maybe a Kilo-tank would be a good aim.

(on why Europeans seldom buy pickup trucks)
A big pickup truck in Europe is very expensive to insure, very expensive to run (esp. on gas), and impossible to park anywhere; the whole infrastructure is based on car size.
Also it rains quite often around here.
The typical European farmer has a small van rather than a pickup truck, or maybe a Land Rover, Suzuki Vitara etc. along with special farm equipment.

Arragonis, I love your Brunel avatar. That guy was an over-the-top Brit.

He always reminds me of a famous quote from Churchill: "I like a man who grins when he fights." I think Brunel in a dustup would look entirely too enthusiastic.

I actually like the European specialist paradigm. You go to the boulangerie for baguettes, you go to the tea shop for tea, you go to the milliner's for fabrics, you go to the shoemaker's for shoes.

In the States, you go to Walmart.

Frikkin Walmart. I live in East Tennessee where there are lots of smaller towns, and in the towns too small to support a Walmart, if they're more than 20 miles away from a town that does have a Walmart, those little towns' downtown areas are doing okay. The little hardware stores, the little shoe stores, the little barber shops are still in business. Not thriving, but hanging on. A bigger town/small city, something the size of Farnborough, Hampshire (about the size of Eau Claire, Wisconsin for my North American friends) could easily support a very vigorous downtown...but that's also a juicy target for a Walmart. And a Target, for that matter.

The old paradigm of specialization was attractive in that it got you out to meet more people, to be more involved in your community. But the siren song of convenience has more consumers looking for quick, easy one-stop shopping, and leaves us more and more inside our own heads, thinking about only ourselves, and not meeting people.

Sorry. This is off-thread, and this raveled fiber has touched a nerve.

Funny, I have the opposite problem in Portland. When I need something simple, I can't find it because it's all specialty shops. I went to find Walmart so I could just quickly and easily purchase something, but found that Portland doesn't freakin' have a Walmart. It's impossible to find cheap groceries too.

There is nothing efficient about running all over tarnation to accomplish errands, and paying top dollar for the inconvenience.

But if everyone is at different shops, you see less people. If everyone is at Wal Mart, you can meet everyone there! I see your point, and agree in ways, I just wanted to play devils avacado (30 Rock anyone...).

Arragonis -- Nice ride. :thumbup: Sorry for your loss. :(

Is the doggie going to be behind a dog car barrier or will you strap it down?

If you were going to spray 4 or 5 coats of PlastiDip S to protect the original finish, what colour would you prefer? Their matte pearlescents are nice.

If I mastered time and space, I would punch a guy before he married a certain young lady, who was always telling him about me, which, of course, she told me after they got married.

All kinds of things wrong there.

She loved my Prelude, which got decent mileage. We once walked past an Aveo and she said that those cars should not exist because they were too small for me.

She did like trucks and motorcycles. Hey, I preferred driving my dad's truck to Bacon, even after I fixed the air conditioning, but it was more comfortable, and handled better.

I still wish that I had my Focus.

For those of you that were not able to watch that YouTube video, here it is on Hulu, although I recommend that you skip it: https://secure.hulu.com/embed/cIfD8rJtAO2ePQ1KXtKBpw

Nice Audi, especially as it won't suffer from DPF problems!

Sorry to keep the thread of topic....

Daeker, I think in most cases, work vehicles are exactly that and aren't privately owned. Most businesses use vans, so pickups are rare, and as gas costs the equivalent of roughly $8/ US gal, most working vehicles are diesel fuelled.

Land Rovers and small diesel pickups are often used on farms.

Ive added photos of some typical working vehicles, none of which have automatics. The combo van uses a 1.7 litre engine and the rest are 2-3 litre.

Freeb old bean glad you found me!.

I took Connie (will add a pic or two) to the beach yesterday as a test and she's OK without a net or fence, plus Hermann is low enough for her to get into without help, or maybe with a step if her back hips start to play up.

I would go for red - I wasn't sure about this car but I saw a red one and "saluted" so that decided me.

Thanks, and your comments on vans etc. are spot on. Turbo Diesel Crew Cabs are popular but I'm not fat and/or bald enough to own one - yet. :rolleyes:

Hermann update - learning a few bits and pieces - good and bad.

Auto - At standstill in Neutral it eats 0.35 GPH, Drive it eats 0.7 on my uncalibrated SG2. So shifting to Neutral when I come to a stop. Not sure on Neutral for coasting yet (tried it and it works but don't want to "lunch" the gearbox).

Anyone with info confirming or refuting this is OK on a "C6" Audi A6 please post - with links. FYI it doesn't have the same trans as the 2.0 or petrol models.

Coasting - it coasts pretty well on the open road. The Auto changes down when the pedal is up so the engine is DFCO. I would prefer it to hold a higher gear longer but it is better than I thought. I might have a sticky brake but not sure yet. It goes to my fave specialist next week and the weeping begins.

Doing a few "reset fuel computer, try that again differently" experiments - e.g. acceleration firm vs slow, slowing quickly vs keeping momentum, and some flappy paddle shifting up requests vs leaving it alone.

On the last of those -

4th - Auto is 35MPH, flappy will change at 30.
5th - Auto is 43 (ish), flappy will change at 38.
6th - Auto is 47 (ish), not got a flappy figure yet.

Have to say the Auto is super smooth so it's hard to work out exactly when it changes without checking the display, which means not watching the road so I don't.

On another sociological note, I was worried when I got George (1.0, 3cyl Aygo) that I would suffer from a lot of tailgating, bullying etc. It rarely happened. It seems to work in reverse. In Hermann (not small for the UK) I have been tailgated, raced and cut up quite a few times already, only had it 2 days. :rolleyes:

That's why Europeans don't care so much about an F350
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-odGrcoBtjW...de+madeira.jpg


Time to consider a manual transmission swap? :D

Anyway, since you won't have any DPF issue, have you ever considered one of those kits to run on veg oil into it?

A look into Veggie is on the list at some point. I need to be able to live with the MPG as is or improve it to a reasonable level before I start experiments. Starting point is technique before mods :D

Plus your image is kind of wrong, this is why Europeans think F350 is how much they would pay for a beer in Paris :

http://www.asiavipa.com/image/ford-transit-mey-hong.jpg

That is 100+ Hypermiling Tip number 76. Cannot believe I missed that!

The I2 forces me to select Park before I can restart it, so I'd rather not kill the engine when the red light outlives the shortish AutoStop and the engine restarts. In N it idles unloaded, no doubt using less fuel and causing less wear than in D.
Thanks for teaching this ignorant Dutchie ;)

I like Koral Rot, but you might want to consider the manliest pink—Mountbatten Pink—RGB=997A8D
Mountbatten pink - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To paraphrase the old "Speed costs money...": Efficiency costs money, how much do you want to save?

Don't you guys just keep the dog on the leash, tied to the bumper?? :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkT5g...yer_detailpage

C'mon, you got what I meant with the picture of a Sprinter, with the dropside flatbed :p

Regarding electronic tuning, have you already found some way to overcome that issue about the shifting RPMs?

What about in Park? :)