I'm undecided whether I will order a 2016 A6 2.0 premium plus vs wait for 2017 for Audi to work out any bugs with the redesign.

My concern is that a redesigned car in the first model year has a greater risk of problems. I've always avoided buying the first model year of a car that has significant changes (e.g. engine or transmission) so as to avoid having future issues. I assume the manufacturer will correct any problems in a later model year.

Comparing the 2016 v4 2.0 liter engine, the 2015 model was formerly rated at 220 horsepower. For 2016 it gets a boost to 252 horsepower .

Does anyone know exactly what changed ? What is the risk of problems based on the particular changes ?

I asked the sales manager at my local dealer if he knew what changed. He said that he didn't know for certain. Most likely it was the ECU software combined with a changed exhaust . He said 2016 has the same engine as 2015... but the ECU software and a new exhaust might be what Audi did to give it more power.

He said that there are after-market kits that can be installed that do a engine power boost. I googled and found this example of an after-market kit: APR 2.0 TFSI ECU Upgrade Audi B8.5 A4/A5/Q5 and A6 - Including Flex Fuel Engine

He said it was likely that Audi made similar changes as the after-market kit.

I'm most concerned with changes in the drive train. The upgraded electronics are a risk I'm OK with because it shouldn't be difficult to fix any problems.

Thank you.

 

I've always avoided first year models for the same reason you do. But VAG's quality has been improving steadily so risk is lower. I would assume small tweaks would increase hp, but the biggest gain is to increase turbo boost like the "chips" do. The stage 1 chip for my A6 2.7T increased hp from stock 250 to 318, or 27%. There are stage 2 and 3 chips (really different codes that change boost and other engine parameters) and other parts that can almost triple the hp from this same engine. Your 252 hp is a conservative increase of 14.5%. I would not worry about this increase in hp. But I also buy 2-3 year old Audis. :-)

 

aftermarket engineers push stock components into the higher risk of failure area. Audi designs it for a more perfect balance. Audi has to maintain high levels of emission restrictions where aftermarkets do not.

This engine and this version A6 are just face lifted versions of their predecessors. It's basically the same 2.0 that's in the earlier years but hardened with reliability since 2013. 2009 - 2012 were very problematic. But it's seem they got a handle on them cause weren't not seeing any real issues anymore.

I share the same reserve for first year model release, but this car isn't in the completely redesigned category. The next A4 will be.