Getting closer

Yes. And that’s probably better than the “long life” (that’s the oil not the engine!) system where the car decides based on usage which might be 50% more than that.  Our TT was on that regime for its first 48k and had two oil changes according to the records. The first wasn’t all that long either (relatively). Engine is rather more filthy inside at 115k than the A6 at 368k. And people wonder why the oil strainers block up!

Incredibly, the first service interval for the 2016 A6 was 24 months/20,000km.

It’s a bit new for me.  With most modern diesels it seems that usage profile and service regime have a big effect. Higher mileage (not starship at that age!) motorway cruiser likely to be better (lower hours too) than something that’s be pottered about. I would tend to avoid anything that’s had extended service (car decides!) intervals, but not sure avoidance is even possible at that age. They are very complex engines and there are quite a few variations of them, some with more issues than others. Worth finding out the engine codes (three letters generally) of prospective buys and googling! Bearing in mind that googling tends to bias to the negative!

Hamish Assuming you have the 3.0tdi in mind, I'm sure others will offer you vastly more competent feedback than mine, but from a user perspective (A5 3.0tdi single turbo followed by an A6 3.0tdi bi-turbo), it seems the older the better. Admittedly, I wasn't particularly gentle with either car, but the A6's power (330bhp) translated into dire consumption - I rarely got more than 30mpg on longer trips, and around town it would average below 20mpg. A chum with an RS6 gor better figures... Apparently, the latest version has a rep for chewing its camshaft gear, comprising far more plastic, and leaking more frequently from more locations. Also, whilst appreciating that you have towing in mind, you may be disappointed swapping from the A5 to an A6, which is a far more anodine experience (and very scary at the upper limits, if you ever have the opportunity to explore them). Paul

I’m thinking of upgrading my A5 sport back 2.0 170 I'm considering an Audi 3.0 (to get a good 2T tow capacity) A4 preferably or 6 allroad style it’ll be 2-4 years old I guess is there any engine issues I should be aware of !

And shortening the gap each run! Yes. Enjoyed that. Interesting - I learnt things. Not sure about the tea-cosy. Shamefully I’ve never been to Shelsley. It’s a fairly hefty day-trip, but doable so I need to sort myself out.    

Yes only just watched that. A good piece well done.  the top single seater pilots are incredible it must be done on instinct  but I’m only 16 or 17 seconds behind them 

Hamish, looks like you were there the day after John of Auto Shennanigans! His summary of the speeds for the current record holde are frankly terrifying. It rather puts into perspective what a 22 second time actually means I rather like his Youtube channel, worth looking at a few more

They are 5.5 x 13 Dunlop steel wheels with 185/60 tyres. They have slightly more offset than the similar Triumph 5" wheels along with the wider rim which puts them further out in the arch. And the lower wishbone brackets are spaced out from the chassis with 10mm blocks each as well which all adds about an inch to the outside of each tyre over. Back end has the short halfshafts on the swing spring as the 5.5" are too wide with the long halfshafts without wheelarch surgery.