Pistonheads - C6 RS6 Buyers Guide -Jan '17

[IanH755]

Hi all,

Pistonheads have just released their "buyers guide" to the C6 RS6 so, now the price is dropping to £20k and the popularity of PH, there might be a few new potential owners popping in for advice and help. I know myself and few other owners on PH were asked for their opinions and from what I've read the guide is pretty accurate to what most of us have been saying about the car but I really feel that the "buying one may be 'cheap' but owning one can be expensive with parts/servicing etc" message wasn't pushed as much as I'd like as the last thing I'd like to see is for the C6 to become the latest "buy it on the cheap, do no maintenance, rag it and then flog it before you get a big bill" car.

Anyway, Linky - http://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph- ... uide/35668

[stevo55]

That's a good guide and nice that they actually consulted you on an article this time!
The £700 coolant line fix-who would that be with? I've heard £1500-2000 before. My lines are holding up so far but worth knowing when and if they need doing in the future.
Also the comment on buying from a 'main dealer' is misleading-if they meant Audi dealers then most won't sell a C6 now and you would probably fare better by buying a forum members well cared for example that other members can vouch for. Maybe they should have included a link to this site as it's pretty much The Bible when it comes to fast Audis.

[Jim Haseltine]

The £700 coolant line fix-who would that be with?

Suspect that's going to be a cut'n'shut fix - chop out the corroded sections and bridge with hose.
Not that there's anything wrong with that sort of thing, it's what I'm planning to do if my pipes start weeping before I get the chance to do things properly.
If there is somewhere that does the full job for £700 quid they'll have a queue of cars back to the nearest motorway junction.

[rs6_sid]

I'm in the middle of manufacturing a quality fit and forget pipe repair kit that' should be better than the original.

[stevo55]

I also see that the article reopens the can of worms ceramic disk argument

[RS6chris!]

Expect the C6 to fall into the hands of people who have no concept of how much these things cost to run and maintain.


Il give it a year to eighteen months there will be dozens back up for sale with bodged repairs, chavvy mods and Ling Long tyres.

[don0301]

Regarding the coolant pipes:

the short pipe can be fairly easily replaced in situ, it cost me £43.86 (genuine part) + labour

the long pipe my mechanic cut and replaced with rubber hose (picked with same bore dimension) and double clipped. He also made up a plastic shield to protect stones etc flicking up off the wheels.

All in, it cost me £202.74 and in my mechanics view although a "temporary repair" he viewed it as a "permanent repair" in comparison to replacing with original that would just go the same way. The cost included running and testing it.

The pipe took 10 days to order as it came from Germany, just a heads up for those looking to get in future.

[bam_bam]

What was wrong with a braided hose?

[don0301]

What was wrong with a braided hose?

Why would you need that?

[doodlebug]

Won't collapse or expand, won't sever if impacted for starters.

[Jim Haseltine]

The pipe took 10 days to order as it came from Germany, just a heads up for those looking to get in future.

Three weeks ago I ordered both pipes on Saturday morning, available for collection the following Wednesday morning.
I'm in two minds as to powder coating them or using them as patterns for stainless items.

[don0301]

Won't collapse or expand, won't sever if impacted for starters.

The pipes aren't even in the main pressurised part of the coolant system, not that even that is that high pressure.

If you read my previous post, you would know I had a shield fitted so impact is irrelevant too.

I'm very happy with what I had done. you crack on and fit your braided hose tho.

I'll let you know in 1,2,3,5,10 years whether it lasted...but at a fraction of the cost of oem replacement, and highly likely to be much stronger safer than oem I'm pretty sure it will.

[Jim Haseltine]

Unless there are some fancy valves somewhere that I don't know about, the whole coolant system runs at the same pressure. True, it's not a high pressure (can't remember the figure, it's a bit over +1Bar I think) but it will expand the hoses slightly.
Any significant breech in a closed system when pressurised will result in almost total loss of coolant as it boils off.
I suspect that the use of hard lines is to avoid chafing of flexible hoses against the body - something which would be exacerbated by road grit and debris thrown up under the arch.
Braided hoses are not exempt from the effects of grit - in fact they suffer slightly more because the grit gets in between the braid and the hose matrix.
Nothing is wrong with any of the suggested fixes - just don't think that they'll last forever.
But then neither does the OE setup anyway.

[rs6_sid]

Jim would you be able to do me a favour and take a picture of them and give me some lengths ? Thats my only hold up getting some braided stainless units made up as I'm flat out working. also we can look at a coating or cover for exposed areas.

[stevo55]

Trouble with the article being on Pistonheads is it attracts the usual dribblings in the comments section! The stand out one so far:

'Don't do it. There isn't a modern car on the road that is less reliable and more of a night mare than these things. EVERYTHING goes on them and EVERYTHING is a fortune. I could list endless examples of customers cars costing jaw dropping amounts. Fast, yes but the steering is lifeless and Quattro or not, they feel nervous and uncommunicative at speed. Not what you want in a car that can achieve the speeds these can. But that's irrelevant. Audi will have it more than you do and the relentless monster bills will render your pay check equally irrelevant. Guaranteed nightmare, avoid avoid avoid.'

Oh dear.