B9 Differences

[COar]

I took my allroad in for warranty work on the subwoofer and it turns out the HPFP is on it's way out, so they have to keep it overnight (free replacement!).

They gave me a loaner: B9 premium plus A4 with S-Line.

It feels like a completely different car. Virtual cockpit is very nice, the MMI control knob is no longer backwards, the seats are much more comfortable and have softer leather (and ventilation!), and it has a heated steering wheel. We'll see when I get my allroad back (turns out my sub was just unplugged), but the stereo on this B9 has way more bass. It actually has USB ports. Not sure if it has apple carplay, but I don't really care about that with my 15 min commute. Interior materials in general are a touch nicer than the B8.5. I don't care for the shifter though; not a pan of the park button, it's not intuitive. No panoramic roof.

Steering is, I wouldn't necessarily say better, but it seems to have a bit of a dead spot tuned in. Less twitchy on the road, especially highway speeds. The B8.5 is very direct and requires more steering corrections (possibly my alignment?). The B9 had Drive Select but even in Dynamic mode it's a good bit lighter than my allroad. I strongly prefer heavier steering.

Suspension tuning is excellent. Very well damped, minimal body roll, and handles bumps more comfortably and with less upset than the allroad (figured an S-line would be noticeably harsher but that's not the case).

And the best part of the B9: less weight + more power + DCT. The ZF is not bad at all but the DSG is in another league. This thing is way faster than my allroad. Haven't driven a stage 1 or 2 tuned B8.5 but they're probably close to this. I'd say my allroad has adequate power but it's far from quick. My last car was a tuned S40 T5 and with that car I never worried about high speed passing power or getting ahead of another car from a stoplight. That's not the case with the allroad. I basically lost a 'race' to a Tacoma the other week. Figured I could get ahead with ~3/4 throttle, but nope. He was a few feet ahead until I let off at ~40mph. The B9 OTOH has enough power to push you back in the seat, which makes it much more enjoyable to drive. Doubly so with the dual clutch. And you get a slight DSG fart on upshifts.

I'd say the B9 has given me modification fever, but not sure if it's worth risking the warranty...

[Nano909]

I took my allroad in for warranty work on the subwoofer and it turns out the HPFP is on it's way out, so they have to keep it overnight (free replacement!).

They gave me a loaner: B9 premium plus A4 with S-Line.

It feels like a completely different car. Virtual cockpit is very nice, the MMI control knob is no longer backwards, the seats are much more comfortable and have softer leather (and ventilation!), and it has a heated steering wheel. We'll see when I get my allroad back (turns out my sub was just unplugged), but the stereo on this B9 has way more bass. It actually has USB ports. Not sure if it has apple carplay, but I don't really care about that with my 15 min commute. Interior materials in general are a touch nicer than the B8.5. I don't care for the shifter though; not a pan of the park button, it's not intuitive. No panoramic roof.

Steering is, I wouldn't necessarily say better, but it seems to have a bit of a dead spot tuned in. Less twitchy on the road, especially highway speeds. The B8.5 is very direct and requires more steering corrections (possibly my alignment?). The B9 had Drive Select but even in Dynamic mode it's a good bit lighter than my allroad. I strongly prefer heavier steering.

Suspension tuning is excellent. Very well damped, minimal body roll, and handles bumps more comfortably and with less upset than the allroad (figured an S-line would be noticeably harsher but that's not the case).

And the best part of the B9: less weight + more power + DCT. The ZF is not bad at all but the DSG is in another league. This thing is way faster than my allroad. Haven't driven a stage 1 or 2 tuned B8.5 but they're probably close to this. I'd say my allroad has adequate power but it's far from quick. My last car was a tuned S40 T5 and with that car I never worried about high speed passing power or getting ahead of another car from a stoplight. That's not the case with the allroad. I basically lost a 'race' to a Tacoma the other week. Figured I could get ahead with ~3/4 throttle, but nope. He was a few feet ahead until I let off at ~40mph. The B9 OTOH has enough power to push you back in the seat, which makes it much more enjoyable to drive. Doubly so with the dual clutch. And you get a slight DSG fart on upshifts.

I'd say the B9 has given me modification fever, but not sure if it's worth risking the warranty...

I had one for a day as well, fully loaded A4. It was definitely a better car. Sad to say that a stage 1 B9 would probably kill a k04 B8. They beat stock B9 S4's with a remap and we have to do extensive mods to beat a stock B8 S4 (if we even can).

[Zuzuwu]

I had one as a loaner too but mine was an a4 ultra, basically a base model fwd car. Still much faster than my b8.5 allroad, even with the ultra having less hp than the "real" a4. Interior is definitely better, the base interior still felt nicer than my nearly fully loaded car. The b9 steering is way smoother, I love the light steering, it makes it feel nimble.

[ps2cho]

Isn’t the new B9 engine just the 2.0T with a few injection modifications and a bump in turbo pressure?

[Nano909]

Isn’t the new B9 engine just the 2.0T with a few injection modifications and a bump in turbo pressure?

It's an ea888 gen 3. Ours is the lame gen 2.

[spin0rz]

Isn’t the new B9 engine just the 2.0T with a few injection modifications and a bump in turbo pressure?

Lighter by 236lb or so.

It does have injector design changes. APR stage 1 puts it at 314hp and 388tq on 93. Quite silly.

Pretty sure it can host the is20 and is38 also. (Or comes stock with the is20?)

The internals could pretty much be capable of 450hp much like the GTI / R / s3. To be determined?

90E4D21E-D9DF-49CB-A2F0-D7CBB41A6C98-4398-000000A5AC4F9252.jpg

And is38
C1DF3E8D-4EA6-4B9A-900D-6CB0D456842D-4398-000000A64FED351B.jpg


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[BeerBrent]

I had the exact same loaner (except it was white) on Thursday - yesterday. It was amazing to drive. A huge difference compared to my 2010.

[NYDCB]

They fumbled big time on the styling though.

[NYDCB]

Speaking of design, I can tell the B8 was designed by the same designer as the VW Jetta, Passat etc. Is Julian Höenig the guy most responsible?

[COar]

I don't mind the styling. It's a progression of the B8. A bit sleeker and more modern (especially the taillights), but in typical Audi fashion, the lines of the car are pretty similar to the last gen. It means the older ones age well. Not like a C Class or an S60 where the new models look nothing like the outgoing ones and they're immediately outdated.


I really don't like the gear selector though. Having finite positions (and some tactile feedback) for PRND is much nicer.

[Theiceman]

having that tablet glued to the dash pretty well makes it a no go for me at any price ..

looks like such an after thought.

a company that won award after award for its interiors goes and does that ? seriously ?

[Depthcharge]

I really prefer the B8.5 styling over the B9.

[COar]

I was against the "ipad glued to the dash" for a while. However after driving a few cars with it (an Accord rental, and most recently this B9), I don't mind it anymore. The exception being Teslas where it's just too big to ignore.

It gives you a nice screen at eye level that's easy to see and use, which results in a lower dash line and slightly better visibility. To avoid the tablet look, you'd either have to have a dash that's several inches higher in the front, or integrate in the center stack a la XC90.


On a different note, I've had my allroad back for a few days now. I don't miss much about the B9. The exception is the seats- I found those to be much better. Wonder if I could swap those in a couple years.

[ps2cho]

I was against the "ipad glued to the dash" for a while. However after driving a few cars with it (an Accord rental, and most recently this B9), I don't mind it anymore. The exception being Teslas where it's just too big to ignore.

It gives you a nice screen at eye level that's easy to see and use, which results in a lower dash line and slightly better visibility. To avoid the tablet look, you'd either have to have a dash that's several inches higher in the front, or integrate in the center stack a la XC90.


On a different note, I've had my allroad back for a few days now. I don't miss much about the B9. The exception is the seats- I found those to be much better. Wonder if I could swap those in a couple years.

Do you have sport seats or standard?

[COar]

Do you have sport seats or standard?

Sport seats.

[SaigonDesign]

Biggest upside to the tablet issue is that you can press a button to hide the display. With it stashed away, the dash is far cleaner and sleeker, in my opinion. Most controls are duplicated on the instrument panel display anyway (except for HVAC - and how much do you adjust it anyway?).

[vdubjetta02]

The B9 also uses a different turbo charger.

Just as a modified B8 will beat a modified B7... The B9 will destroy the B8. Since the B9 S4 ecu can not be cracked, If I was buying a new car right now it would be a B9 A4 with Revo stage 2

[COar]

Biggest upside to the tablet issue is that you can press a button to hide the display. With it stashed away, the dash is far cleaner and sleeker, in my opinion. Most controls are duplicated on the instrument panel display anyway (except for HVAC - and how much do you adjust it anyway?).

Unless I missed something major, the tablet on the B9s doesn't retract.

[Smac770]

Unless I missed something major, the tablet on the B9s doesn't retract.

The C7 A6/A7 screen did; the B9 A4/A5 screen does not.

[NJRoadFan]

You can easily shut off the center screen on the B9 and use just the virtual console (if equipped), but why bother when the screen doesn't fold away?

Anyway, I recently replaced my oil burning B8 with a B9. Here are the biggest differences

-A bit more pep under the hood. The B9 is lighter combined with a bump in power.
-S-Tronic vs. the ZF 8HP automatic. I considered this a slight downgrade at first as my experience with early VW DSGs wasn't very good. They seemed to fix all the quirky behavior on the newer units. Plus launch control is available.
-Much faster navigation system. Finally something that boots up right away, no waiting for the system to initialize every time you turn the car on!
-Audi finally gives US bound B9 models options that were only available on European B8s. My car is equipped with ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, and a heated steering wheel (all but the latter were available ROW on B8)
-The steering wheel finally has track seek buttons on it!
-Nice LED headlights are available.
-Much lower insurance rates due to the standard safety and driver assistance tech. My premiums went down over $200/yr vs my 2013 A4!

Some cons:
-In cabin storage is horrible. There is no decent place to put a phone as the cup holders were moved to just under the climate control eliminating the ashtray. The center console storage has been downgraded to a tray and the glovebox is tiny. The manual has moved to a storage cubby on the driver's side below the light switch.
-You can't lock an iPod or iPhone in the glovebox out of sight and still connect it to the MMI as there are no USB ports in there. Its easy to see if something is in the center console where the USB/aux jacks are when the car is locked.

Audi's relentless cost cutting is evident in many areas.
-The door checks on the front doors had been downgraded to only have one stop halfway open like every other car out there.
-Only one baggage hook in the trunk on post 2017 cars.
-Plastic trunk threshold like VWs got (I think the allroad's is still chrome)
-No rear fog lights on MY2018 and newer cars
-No front fog lights at all. This seems to be a trend as BMW stopped including front fogs only to back pedal this year likely due to negative customer feedback.

One bizarre thing is the ECU is visibly mounted in the open in the engine bay.

[Nano909]

The B9 also uses a different turbo charger.

Just as a modified B8 will beat a modified B7... The B9 will destroy the B8. Since the B9 S4 ecu can not be cracked, If I was buying a new car right now it would be a B9 A4 with Revo stage 2

The first 10 second B9 S4 is using a drop on turbo with a piggyback chip. I doubt an A4 will do that even with an unlocked ECU.

[Shuga]

The C7 A6/A7 screen did; the B9 A4/A5 screen does not.

The B9 screen looks horrible. I never understood why they did this. I would never buy one. The way my A6’s screen tucks away is amazing, I love the way it looks up and down.

[Theiceman]

Biggest upside to the tablet issue is that you can press a button to hide the display. With it stashed away, the dash is far cleaner and sleeker, in my opinion. Most controls are duplicated on the instrument panel display anyway (except for HVAC - and how much do you adjust it anyway?).

Umm im not sure thats true.


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[Theiceman]

The B9 screen looks horrible. I never understood why they did this. I would never buy one. The way my A6’s screen tucks away is amazing, I love the way it looks up and down.

My sentiments. Exactly


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[COar]

-S-Tronic vs. the ZF 8HP automatic. I considered this a slight downgrade at first as my experience with early VW DSGs wasn't very good. They seemed to fix all the quirky behavior on the newer units. Plus launch control is available.
-Much faster navigation system. Finally something that boots up right away, no waiting for the system to initialize every time you turn the car on!

How do you activate launch control? I tried turning ESC off, gear selector in S, left foot brake, and right foot matting the gas. And it did nothing. No different from just flooring it from a stop.

I don't bother with the nav in my allroad, but I noticed the MMI overall in the B9 booted much faster. Mine can take up to a minute or 2 before it connects to Bluetooth on my phone.

[Shuga]

How do you activate launch control? I tried turning ESC off, gear selector in S, left foot brake, and right foot matting the gas. And it did nothing. No different from just flooring it from a stop.

I don't bother with the nav in my allroad, but I noticed the MMI overall in the B9 booted much faster. Mine can take up to a minute or 2 before it connects to Bluetooth on my phone.

In the Allroad you can’t take Traction off fully. But in other Audi’s you have to hold the ESC for a full 5 seconds until it shows off instead of just “sport”

[Nano909]

How do you activate launch control? I tried turning ESC off, gear selector in S, left foot brake, and right foot matting the gas. And it did nothing. No different from just flooring it from a stop.

I don't bother with the nav in my allroad, but I noticed the MMI overall in the B9 booted much faster. Mine can take up to a minute or 2 before it connects to Bluetooth on my phone.

B8 A4's with the ZF transmissions don't have launch control.

[Shuga]

B8 A4's with the ZF transmissions don't have launch control.

I think he meant the making your own launch control

[COar]

No, I meant launch control in the B9. I tried it on my loaner.

I don't care to put extra stress on my DD.

[Shuga]

No, I meant launch control in the B9. I tried it on my loaner.

I don't care to put extra stress on my DD.

So why do you want Launch control if you’re afraid of putting “extra” stress on it

[Nano909]

No, I meant launch control in the B9. I tried it on my loaner.

I don't care to put extra stress on my DD.

I tried it too and it didn't feel the same. Although it still isn't launch control, but a mere brake boost.

[COar]

So why do you want Launch control if you’re afraid of putting “extra” stress on it

I don't. I was talking about using it on a B9 loaner.

[NJRoadFan]

How do you activate launch control? I tried turning ESC off, gear selector in S, left foot brake, and right foot matting the gas. And it did nothing. No different from just flooring it from a stop.

I don't bother with the nav in my allroad, but I noticed the MMI overall in the B9 booted much faster. Mine can take up to a minute or 2 before it connects to Bluetooth on my phone.

According to the manual, you have to turn off the engine start/stop system as well. The ESC off button should only be pressed briefly and the system should be in Sport mode, not the full off mode. Car should be fully warmed up and wheel straight.