DJ's adventures in A2 land

Update: The eagle has landed!

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Merlin was delivered half an hour ago to my parents’ place near Maidenhead!

I couldn’t resist taking him for a quick blez up the (private) road and back - first impressions are
  • You sit very low down in an A2, I know I’m used to a Touran / MPV but even so I was surprised by how sporty the driving position is;
  • I’ve often read comments on the A pillars blocking vision at junctions, but I didn’t find it an issue at all (although it must be said that the Touran also has this quirk, the A2 is certainly no worse in this respect;
  • It’s a very quick car! Hardly any throttle needed to make the Rev counter whizz round the dial - it’s definitely much quicker off the mark than my Touran, which is both 1 1/2 times heavier and 1 1/2 times as powerful.
  • The PTW gearbox has a lovely, direct change, it almost feels like a quick shift in the way it snicks into gear with relatively little movement of the lever.
  • I went up the gears and popped it into sixth at 45mph - the revs dropped to not far above tick over, I can see why others with this mod say the engine noise is totally absent - even at that low road speed you can barely hear the engine.
  • As I was getting in for one last look before I parked it away, I noted that one of the LED interior lights in the back was flickering - dodgy connection perhaps.
Overall, I’m very impressed.
 
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dj_efk said:
Update: The eagle has landed!

View attachment 71900

Merlin was delivered half an hour ago to my parents’ place near Maidenhead!

I couldn’t resist taking him for a quick blez up the (private) road and back - first impressions are
  • Thou sit very low down in an A2, I know I’m used to a Touran / MPV but even so I was surprised by how sporty the driving position is;
  • I’ve often read comments on the A pillars blocking vision at junctions, but I didn’t find it an issue at all (although it must be said that the Touran also has this quirk, the A2 is certainly no worse in this respect;
  • It’s a very quick car! Hardly any throttle needed to make the Rev counter whizz round the dial - it’s definitely much quicker off the mark than my Touran, which is both 1 1/2 times heavier and 1 1/2 times as powerful.
  • The PTW gearbox has a lovely, direct change, it almost feels like a quick shift in the way it snicks into gear with relatively little movement of the lever.
  • I went up the gears and popped it into sixth at 45mph - the revs dropped to not far above tick over, I can see why others with this mod say the engine noise is totally absent - even at that low road speed you can barely hear the engine.
  • As I was getting in for one last look before I parked it away, I noted that one of the LED interior lights in the back was flickering - dodgy connection perhaps.
Overall, I’m very impressed.
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Thank goodness for that!!! You’ve basically taken what was already a very well looked after car and improved it markedly so it should now be amongst the ‘best of breed’ tbf.
 
>Thou sit very low down in an A2, I know I’m used to a Touran / MPV but even so I was surprised by how sporty the driving position is;

Have you used the height adjuster at all? There's a surprising amount of vertical travel - I've got the seats in all three of ours set to what is referred to in Range Rovers (& not referred to as such in Transits) as the "Command" position fully raised, and I couldn't not have them set up this way now - my other half graduated into an A2 from a (much-liked) Citigo and immediately preferred the higher seat position and general airiness.
 
Robin_Cox said:
>Thou sit very low down in an A2, I know I’m used to a Touran / MPV but even so I was surprised by how sporty the driving position is;

Have you used the height adjuster at all? There's a surprising amount of vertical travel - I've got the seats in all three of ours set to what is referred to in Range Rovers (& not referred to as such in Transits) as the "Command" position fully raised, and I couldn't not have them set up this way now - my other half graduated into an A2 from a (much-liked) Citigo and immediately preferred the higher seat position and general airiness.
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Ah! I didn’t even think to check for adjustment!

Thank goodness for that - like you, I prefer the command position (as it will now be called in my household!) and wasn’t sure I’d like the driving position where it is.

Another point I omitted to mention- the clutch pedal is mounted quite far towards you compared with the accelerator isn’t it? Strangely I didn’t notice the brake being the same, although it undoubtedly is.
 
Beautiful, more pics are welcome!! I was under the impression that you'd bought a blue colored A2, as per your avatar...... But this one is very nice! ???


Edit,
Sorry, I'm ashamed; the 1st post shows it's definitely red...... ?
 
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Good to read your update David and great to hear you're happy with Merlin.

I hope the service record & all the documents, second key etc made it in transit (in a folder in the boot)?
 
Another point I omitted to mention- the clutch pedal is mounted quite far towards you compared with the accelerator isn’t it? Strangely I didn’t notice the brake being the same, although it undoubtedly is.
[/QUOTE]

The perception of the clutch being quite high could also be a corollary of the seat height ; sitting higher will obviously impinge on your ankle / heel angle to the pedals ; as the vertical movement also involves a horizontal component (the adjustment is diagonal effectively), you may find that raising the seat then getting the spacing to the wheel corrected for your arm length (combination of fore-aft sliding the seat and the seat back angle) resolves this pedal positioning issue as well.
 
YorkshireHill said:
Good to read your update David and great to hear you're happy with Merlin.

I hope the service record & all the documents, second key etc made it in transit (in a folder in the boot)?
Click to expand...

Hello Hilary, yes I’m over the moon, the only issue I have now is the use case for this machine has evaporated now all travel for work is off the agenda for what seems like the foreseeable 6/9 months at least!

As members of my household are in the high risk category, after my little joyride I’ve parked Merlin up for a few days and thoroughly sanitised my hands etc. - I’ll have a poke around opening the boot etc. at the weekend to check.
 
I don’t know your first name your not far away ..? it looks like you have a lovely car here really nice spec and with what you have spent good for a good few years ..?look forward to seeing this one in the flesh ..well done .
 
Menno said:
Beautiful, more pics are welcome!! I was under the impression that you'd bought a blue colored A2, as per your avatar...... But this one is very nice! ???


Edit,
Sorry, I'm ashamed; the 1st post shows it's definitely red...... ?
Click to expand...
Ha - yes I do need to get a decent pic of Merlin and update my avatar.
 
Ok so I went and had a poke around tonight and plugged my CTEK charger onto the battery - which is comically massive by the way for such a small car - it looks like it’d be suitable for a lorry or at least my father’s BMW 7 series! - after working out the false floor and then the boot floor underneath

The CTEK showed it was down on charge - not surprising after having been little used by @YorkshireHill before lockdown and then having sat around / been moved in and out of the workshop while all the jobs were done to it - so Ihave left it to charge back to 100% and then go through the revitalise function to restore any lost capacity.

Happily, I found the height adjustment on the driver’s seat and after pumping it to almost as high as it will go I found a pleasingly “commanding” driving position ?

Questions:

1) This was in the driver’s rear door card - anyone know what it is / where it comes from?
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2) My standard-issue Audi tyre compressor was found loose in the boot - I have Bose and hence the subwoofer in the boot, ahead of this is a cage with some wires running to it that looked like the compressor fits into this, but is too large (I suspect this cage is for a CD changer although none is present) - so where does it live?

3) Can anyone suggest what is going on with the flickering rear interior lamp? It’s an LED upgrade so I wonder if it has failed. - I have a video of it but can’t post from iPhone for some reason.

Another discovery was how surprisingly roomy the rear seat is even when set to my driving position, yet the boot is still a generous size for such a compact car. Very clever!
 
dj_efk said:
Questions:

1) This was in the driver’s rear door card - anyone know what it is / where it comes from?

2) My standard-issue Audi tyre compressor was found loose in the boot - I have Bose and hence the subwoofer in the boot, ahead of this is a cage with some wires running to it that looked like the compressor fits into this, but is too large (I suspect this cage is for a CD changer although none is present) - so where does it live?
Click to expand...
Some pointers to your questions 1 & 2.

1. I can see Audi circles and and numbers but not clearly, if part number google it.

2. In an A2 with Bose, tools are kept in a special tool holder in the driver's side 'secret' footwell compartment. Lift up carpet, quarter turn the toggles of the silver lid and you will find it. The empty compartment in the boot is for a CD unit that was part of an early navigation system but very rare, most people store something in the empty slot.

Andy
 
dj_efk said:
Ok so I went and had a poke around tonight and plugged my CTEK charger onto the battery - which is comically massive by the way for such a small car - it looks like it’d be suitable for a lorry or at least my father’s BMW 7 series! - after working out the false floor and then the boot floor underneath

The CTEK showed it was down on charge - not surprising after having been little used by @YorkshireHill before lockdown and then having sat around / been moved in and out of the workshop while all the jobs were done to it - so Ihave left it to charge back to 100% and then go through the revitalise function to restore any lost capacity.

Happily, I found the height adjustment on the driver’s seat and after pumping it to almost as high as it will go I found a pleasingly “commanding” driving position ?

Questions:

1) This was in the driver’s rear door card - anyone know what it is / where it comes from?
View attachment 72115
View attachment 72116

2) My standard-issue Audi tyre compressor was found loose in the boot - I have Bose and hence the subwoofer in the boot, ahead of this is a cage with some wires running to it that looked like the compressor fits into this, but is too large (I suspect this cage is for a CD changer although none is present) - so where does it live?

3) Can anyone suggest what is going on with the flickering rear interior lamp? It’s an LED upgrade so I wonder if it has failed. - I have a video of it but can’t post from iPhone for some reason.

Another discovery was how surprisingly roomy the rear seat is even when set to my driving position, yet the boot is still a generous size for such a compact car. Very clever!
Click to expand...

1) That looks like a genuine and rare mounting bracket for the rear cup holder with what looks like some manufactured spacers (white bits)
 
It is indeed the rear cup holder mounting bracket with depronman made white plastic (metal are no longer available) brackets. I never did get around to sourcing the torx screws to fit it securely but it slid into place without them.
 
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The rear interior light was repaired some time ago after finding a dry solder joint on the mother board. Its an easy job to do if thats once again the cause of the flickering David.

Faulty Rear Interior Light Repair

Hello. I noticed recently that when opening any of the doors, only the front interior lights illuminated. The rear lights would illuminate only when the front light was set to be always on using the rocker switch, which is different to other cars and certainly does not seem conventional. I...
www.a2oc.net
 
The tyre compressor was the original from my fsi so likely not to fit neatly in that boot compartment.

I used so many different tyre pumps and this was definitely the best one!
 
dj_efk said:
Ok so I went and had a poke around tonight and plugged my CTEK charger onto the battery - which is comically massive by the way for such a small car
Click to expand...
The later TDI has a very heavy demand on the battery, not just for starting (which is high) but the power steering can take up to 80amps (I believe) Then you have the electric cabin heater that comes on in cold weather. Hence why the TDI has an 140 amp alternator to keep it in good condition. If you happen to have heated seats and you like the stereo on on a cold winter morning don’t expect a surplus of power! Seriously do not consider ever putting a smaller battery in, it is specified as it is for good reason.
 
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