I have been driving my mom's A6 '02 2.7t and as I accelerate the engine whines really loud and it has absolutely no pull or anything.. it accelerates really slow. If I rev the engine in neutral I hear no whining sound. Is this the turbos? I read that they are really hard to replace. Does anyone know how much it costs to do so?

thanks for the help

make sure you are using premium (91 octane or higher) fuel. 87 Octane fuel will cause the car to be sluggish and the ECU will tone down the turbos to compensate.

yes, i've always put in 91.

New turbo's with labor are somewhere around $4K
The labor will contribute >$2K

Me too. But a station gave me 87 octane out of a premium pump once. It happens. Has this been happening on only 1 tank of gas or have you filled up more than once and the issue is still there? Only ask because what you described is EXACTLY what happend to my 2.7T when it got fed a tank of regular.

I'll have to go fill her up again and check. It has just been all within this last week. I hope that would be the problem.

Absolutely impossible! Maybe the attended made a mistake a selected the lower grade octane.

First thing is first. Have the ECU scanned for any codes. Is there any sign of white smoke exiting the tailpipes? Thats a sign of turbocharger failure. Also is, a high pitch noise, similar to a police siren. Scan for codes. Any auto zone will do this for you for free. Get the codes,i if any, and post them.

The gas thing is not impossible... It's ignorant at best to make a comment like that. Stations up here in Vt have gotten in trouble for selling lower octane as premium. I have also seen reports of some companies gas routinely testing 1-2 octane points lower than advertised, hence the reason I only use sunoco and shell, as they sell 93.

UM... you been driving hard? Sounds like the tranny.