Please tell me I'm not imagining!

[hanbury]

I'm curious, purely because I have not had this misfortune hanbury, but what sort of driving conditions to you encounter? Mostly country roads, high cornering forces, adverse cambers? I wonder how you have been unlucky to manage to have your shocks replced so many times yet in 17000 miles of driving this last 12 months I have not had an issue and wonder if some of it is down to how we use our cars and where?

Obviously I have asked myself why I have been so unlucky too - I know there are people who have had no problems after many more miles than I have done and I spoke to a chap only yesterday with a 20,000 mile cabriolet and he hadn't even heard of the issue.

I drive a variety of roads but rarely anything of any extremes and I have never tracked the car. I like a 'spirited' drive as much as the next man but this will typically only ever be on well surfaced A & B roads.

One thing I have wondered before is whether there is a difference in the level of failures between those cars with standard suspension and those with sports suspension plus which mine has.

[P_G]

It couls well be, or the other factor I considered is whether those cars less frequently used versus high milers where the former are sat around unused for a number of days could be a contributing factor. I know some only use their RS4 as an occasional toy, lucky sods!

[William_Blake]

Have you bought an RS4 yet? I've now had mine over a year and it is two years old and touching wood as I write this no problems.

Like said preiously I do not believe this site is a wholesale representation of all RS4 owners, I would suggest perhaps only 100 of 4000 are on this site so although it is a highlighted problem, not quite as drastic as you make out William but a pain nonetheless and my sympathies to those who have the issue.

I'm still looking for the perfect one, with warranty still running and with ceramic brakes, recaro seats, ..etc

[P_G]

Better hurry up then because you're running out of time! Put your money here your comments come from!

[PetrolDave]

Just seen this thread on AudiWorld http://forums.audiworld.com/rs4b7/msgs/97579.phtml

Looks like a DRC poll in the US shows 41 with no DRC problem, 11 with a DRC problem.

[Fake]

100 of 4000

More like 1 in 2
No RS for me until sorted! Cannot see Audi spending money on a retro fix now production has stopped?

[P_G]

Where did you get 1 in 2 from?

[APM]

Audi will just keep fixing under warranty,then when your warranty is up, tough.mine had been replaced twice in two years under warranty
now its out of warranty i've just had KW v3's fitted.I had SS+ before,the KW set up is lower and much more comfortable on potholed
roads.

[Fake]

Where did you get 1 in 2 from?

Where did they get 100 in 4000 from, if some cars are being repaired 3 times?

[PetrolDave]

Let's not get back to arguing figures - there clearly IS a problem, and there are indications that Audi are planning to do something (what we don't know, and whether it will be enough we don't know).

[al'srs4]

I would echo what P_G said, I have also done 17000 miles and not had any issues to date. But, have wondered on many occasions whether this is due to driving style, road surface or style of roads. All these variants play their part maybe some of us owners are lucky enough to have conditions etc working in our favour. I generally have mixed urban, fairly low speed roads, having said that when you sign up for the car there is no disclaimer about various driving styles or conditions not being suitable. My view is simple, tramlining etc, makes the car unpredictable to drive particularly at high speed therefore, it is unsafe and not fit for purpose. So wether it is 100/4000 or 400/4000 there is an implicit fault in the system. Audi should stop f**king about and deal with the issue professionally, after all someone may not live to regret their purchase - then its too late!

Anyway, keep up the pressure guys, only hope I don't fall victim to this issue. Alex

[jackWood2]

My knocking and tramlining is back, for the 3rd time now. The tramlining is a dead give-away now theproblem is coming back. Poor turn in, and very vague steering is another side effect.

Plus the car is going back in on Wednesday for an engine-out repair to a cracked hose (diagnosed from CEL light coming on) behind the manifold. Don't know which one it is yet, but will report when I have more details.

[SimonC]

This DRC thing is, in my opinion, a bit of a pain for Audi but a proper headache for owners. RS6's had the same issues and Audi apparently did nothing about it.

I have reservations about buying a used DRC-equipped car and I'm sure I'm not the only one. This must have some effect on resale value. Do German owners have the same issues? If so, how is Audi responding to their complaints?

If Audi come up with a cure for this Achilles' heel then not only will they eliminate the hassle of taking it back whenever the problem occurs (and what is your own time worth? - it all adds up), but also when a future buyer does their homework before parting with a lot of money it won't put them off.