Hello everyone,
I`m in a mood of finally drop some coin on my 99 A8.Here are some questions if someone can help:I`m doing all the work myself,having some mechanical skills and decent tools.Planing on replacing both tie-rods and all the worn out front pieces,including(will see) front bearings.Does anyone have any experience with the quality of those kits being sold on e-bay?Any other source?I`m not a high income person so I`m trying to save some if I can...
Second question is about the MPG.I get between 10-12(city driving90%).Is this normal?I`m a pretty agressive driver but since the gasoline got so expensive it started to hurt(thanks GWB).I was sharing the car before so I didn`t noticed this till recently.The car has 95K.
Thirdquestion is about transmission behavior.Looks like when I keep the car at about 2000RPM the car is shifting back and forth,abviously the RPM drops and rises.Looks like it doesn`t know wich gear she wants to be into.Any quik,cheap fixes or just ignore?
Forth:Mirrors are not longer working.Got to reach out and change the position.Not really a problem since I`m the only one driving it lately and being used to those things from the previous VW and Audi`s owned.
Thank you in advance and this forum is a good find
Cheers

 

10-12mpg??? Good god, thats like what armored D2 A8L 6.0 W12s get, and they're driven pedal to the metal with an extra tonne of metal beneath the skin.

I get 17-22 in town, and 24-28 on the highway in my '99 A8 4.2. I've even glimpsed 34-36mpg if I keep it nice and easy at 55mph on the highway.

Tranny - the causes for "hunting" in the first 3 gears could be diff, there are tons of threads in this section dealing with tranny issues.

 

one other thing to check, from wha I hear, about the tranny "searching" is the MAF. Get them cleaned, then see if the hunting goes away. If not, move on to a more expensive solution...

 

^^^^^ +1 for the MAF cleaning.

 

^^^might help out with that mileage issue you don't realize you have, too! 10-12 is VERY, VERY low. I avg 18-20, mixed, and half my 45mile commute is inner-city (Wash, D.C.) driving. Straight hwy, I'm up near 28-30 @ 60-65mph