Anyone driving an Audi A6 40 Tfsi?
Tried one at the weekend, seems nice. Might go for it unless someone can tell me why I shouldn’t!
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Jamie
I haven’t been in one of the latest A6’s but do recall a friend’s older model (hence probably not at all relevant!) when I drove a BMW 5 series. The lasting memory was the contrast in seat comfort - the Audi’s front seats were remarkably hard and unforgiving on a long-ish run compared with the BMW sports seats which somehow combined excellent support and softer (but still firm) cushioning.
One thing to have eyes wide open with the exec saloons if buying privately, is that they can suffer pretty eye watering depreciation. Particularly as we leave the strangely depreciation resistant Covid/ Ukraine economic bubble.
Peter
I was a Quality Engineer back on the original Focus program - just saying 
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RPJ days👍
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Yes indeed - great man.
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Happy days……i met him only a few times at Dunton/Detroit, but he was such a nice man to be with, but a huge intellect……on almost everything, such a sad loss.
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Cheers for that
We bought a couple of products from Tesco Bank. Intro offer was great. They were extracting the Michael when it came to renewals. They were not interested in keeping the business.
Yes, probably my favourite period there - were you based at Dunton then?
Yes, apart from 4 years in Detroit.
Funny old world isn’t it. I was there from 96 until early retirement in 2019 although I had a team in Merkenich and spent an awful lot of time there.
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Glad i am out of it….been retired about 7 or 8 years……it looks a bit of a mess😥
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Yes, hope it improves soon, I have my eye on a 350 
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And @Gazza
Since this looks to have become Ford corner, I will share that I was just driving the 2015 Fiesta 1.2 that I’m teaching my son on, and what a cracking car it is. A few years back we had a 2006 Focus 1.6 automatic that was a hoot as well.
I grew up in Essex, we had Cortinas and a Mk3 Escort growing up, I started learning to drive on a Mk2 Escort 1.3, my first car was a Cortina 1.6 Mk4 1980 and my brother had an RS2000 droop snoot and an Escort R/S Turbo.
The father of one of my school friends worked at Dunton on the original Fiesta but mostly on trucks I think.
On holiday in the US we’ve twice rented a Ford Fusion (Mondeo). I even had an original Mondeo 2 litre for a bit.
The ride, handling, build, fun factor and capability of all these Fords over the years has been brilliant and when I look back at the cars I’ve owned over my lifetime and inevitably discuss with my brother ‘which did you like the best?’ those Fords are up there with much more expensive and rarified metal.
It’s a shame that Ford is not really in that same business now. I understand it but it’s still a shame.
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The latest cars gave superb handling which we take for granted……a few years back i got into a vintage RS2000 and really frightened myself😂
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My brother used to slide his around (in a very controlled manner I must add) despite the fact that at the time we thought his tyres looked like garden rollers. They were 205x14s I think, with a taller sidewall, which is not a lot by today’s standards.
It also had a Janspeed exhaust and electric fan which probably gave it a bit more oomph, but it weighed very little. It did have an absolutely staggering solid red paint job - the previous owner had worked in a paint shop and this had been a labour of love.
Eventually it was sold because my brother was approached in the street by someone who had to have it and just kept on upping the bid until even my brother thought the figure was ridiculous and they shook hands.
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Ride and Handling was really our key thing in Europe from Mondeo launch until perhaps when the U.S. started to take things back. Even standard cars were extremely capable, designed to flatter the driver but you could do much more than the average driver would dare.
I was on a work trip to São Paulo and was taken up to Ford’s proving ground by one of the professional test drivers in a standard locally produced Fiesta. I took it around the main test track there and did my level best. He then took me round as passenger, with me mostly laughing and trying to hold onto my stomach contents - amazing driving, mostly sideways round the corners, and a very capable car.
On the way back to São Paulo he decided to use one of the many red dirt tracks there as a short cut, essentially we went rallying. Brilliant memory.
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A call from my boss from Koln meet me in the foyer instead of our 1:1. Met up in the foyer and a quick chat where i now needed to replace him in a meeting at Warley with RPJ….Richard Parry Jones. Richard then turned up and my boss, smiled, Richard will drive you there and back.
He was testing a Focus prototype, not showing off……but i went down obscure back lanes to Warley. An amazing driver……giving me 1:1 feedback on driving dynamics.
At Warley……he was pushing climate change measures within the Ford group, including Volvo, JLR and others.
A special person.
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Coincidentally I was just reading something by Mel Nichols (Aussie) my favourite motoring journalist of all time.
“Richard Parry-Jones, Welsh boy whose influence as CTO of Ford made all cars better”.
I do recall the motoring journos being super happy about RPJs cars, the Focus being one of them
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Since we’re doing Fords … one of our last gas cars was a Ford Flex, a model that was sadly overlooked by too many in the US because they associate vehicles that look like wagons (estate cars) with old people and National Lampoon.
Our Flex enjoyed the benefit of being based on the Volvo S90 platform, as was the last generation of Explorer. The Flex was superior in just about every way and ours came equipped with the 3.5 litre twin turbo that dispelled any suspicion that Granny might be driving!
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