Test drive

Well, after months of waiting to test drive I can safely say it was worth the wait.

Without seeing and driving the car in various guises in the flesh I would never have been able to spec it correctly.

Many of my assumptions were incorrect (albeit this forum is invaluable) and I now know that if I can

a) wait 6 months because of my indecisiveness
b) get a decent price on my A5 3.0 TDI cab in 6 months and
c) put up with losing 50bhp.......

then it's an OG 5-door, SD4 prestige (the interior sold me) ambiance ivory, pana roof, with chrome shadow style 7's, privacy, meridian upgrade, tpms.

Notable bits from the drive for me - brilliantly smooth ride on standard 19's, dont think magnaride would missed from my point of view, OG somehow had the edge on black in the 5 door, rear doors (an essential for me with a baby on the way) were a little tight for access, powered tailgate a nice feature but likely to drive me insane as I am impatient, same applies to a coupe with electric seats.

So, a long weekend of number-crunching ensues

Hello Paul
Great choice, same spec as me pretty much apart from colour.

You say ride is great on 19s but are going for 20s...have you tried the 20s?
It's my only dilemma.

Nope. I didnt try the 20's, no demo. Personally I doubt they can have a huge amount of a negative on ride quality compared to the standard 19's but then I am coming from M Sport run flats and S Lines so anything is an improvement!

A bigger concern for me is kerbing and pot holes on the 20's as I my daily drive involves roads like the surface of the moon. The std diamond turned 19's have a nice two-tone colour effect and are hardly offensive so I may actually go standard if I order.

Wish I could be more decisive!

Saw the 19" standard diamond turned on a coupe and thought they looked really great.

Oh, and kerb or otherwise damage one shadow alloy and to get a colour match you're looking at re-furbing all four. I had an elise 111s which had to have it done so I have just talked myself out of the shadow effect and saved myself another couple of hundred quid in the process (helps me get over the pana roof price increase!)

Must admit the 19"standard diamond alloys do look nice with Orkney as there was a prestige at our local dealership, but they dont do a black Prestige justice imho.

I agree about the standard 19's. On the configurator I didn't care for them and had been looking at the type 3 five spokes. However, I saw one set of standard 19's on a prestige and the type 3, 5 spokes on a pure and I've really changed my mind. Personally, having read what RR test driver said about the difference in ride quality between the 19's and 20's, its the 19's for me. The 20's look great though.

The standards have an internal painted finish, which is, as near as makes no difference Orkney Grey and just suit the prestige. The five spoke still look good but best on the pure.

(10-09-2011 05:56pm)ytshome Wrote:  I agree about the standard 19's. On the configurator I didn't care for them and had been looking at the type 3 five spokes. However, I saw one set of standard 19's on a prestige and the type 3, 5 spokes on a pure and I've really changed my mind. Personally, having read what RR test driver said about the difference in ride quality between the 19's and 20's, its the 19's for me. The 20's look great though.

The standards have an internal painted finish, which is, as near as makes no difference Orkney Grey and just suit the prestige. The five spoke still look good but best on the pure.

Note my other post about Style 3s only being allowed on Coupes

(10-09-2011 01:55pm)paulcon Wrote:  A bigger concern for me is kerbing and pot holes on the 20's as I my daily drive involves roads like the surface of the moon. The std diamond turned 19's have a nice two-tone colour effect and are hardly offensive so I may actually go standard if I order.

Kerbing should be a HUGE concern for everybody! I have just refinished x 2 wheels on my Audi TTS (trade in for Evoque) - and as they were what's known as "tricoat" wheels, the repair bill was over $600 (just had to pay a third of this as I had a wear package policy). Yes, large alloys are attractive - but $600 to remove small scratches on a rim
For me, the smoother ride and reduced chance of curb-rash will trump the cosmetic motivation!

Note my other post about Style 3s only being allowed on Coupes
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Hi, I was talking about buying a full set in addition to the standards as my dealer advised that their parts department didn't have any stock and so couldn't do a swap but did offer to order a set from RR.