Finally saw in SL in person and...

TJ99 said:

Negative ghost rider, Audi had exactly zero involvement in the SL's development aside from greenlighting/supporting the project.

It was conceived, engineered, and built by exactly the same people who were doing it long before Audi came on board.

In the future of course things could change, but as of now there are no DucAudis. The Germans are smarter and more patient than to make rash changes in the development process of a company that was doing pretty darn well when they bought it.

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Yep, this is the case. Had the chance to look under the hood of two SLs. One of it is mine. QA is not Audi standard at all. Especially the faring fittment is terrible. And it was all screwed together when paint was still wet!!!

Also it really bothers me that only directly visible screws are made of titanium or aluminium alloy. Everything else (can't talk about the engine) is bolted using the same ...... zinc-plated super-cheap screws.

Up to now I replaced about 30 screws.

Probably all his money went to the bike their LArider since he was just wearing the jeans and a basic jacket. An I agree with you gigantor, 65K isn't a bargain for a bike. It's like the Desmo that cost 70K when it came out also. Nice bike but just a bit much for the bike. It is a nice bike, I saw the one they have at the dealership in San Anto. Real nice......

madmaxx12 said:

Probably all his money went to the bike their LArider since he was just wearing the jeans and a basic jacket. An I agree with you gigantor, 65K isn't a bargain for a bike. It's like the Desmo that cost 70K when it came out also. Nice bike but just a bit much for the bike. It is a nice bike, I saw the one they have at the dealership in San Anto. Real nice......

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happened to be in san antonio (on vacation) and happened to stop by the dealership this week as well. saw it. love it!

Gecko said:

Yep, this is the case. Had the chance to look under the hood of two SLs. One of it is mine. QA is not Audi standard at all. Especially the faring fittment is terrible. And it was all screwed together when paint was still wet!!!

Also it really bothers me that only directly visible screws are made of titanium or aluminium alloy. Everything else (can't talk about the engine) is bolted using the same ...... zinc-plated super-cheap screws.

Up to now I replaced about 30 screws.

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You are the only SL owner I've heard of with fairing fitment issues. What parts seem like they were screwed together with wet paint? All painted parts are done off-site long before any assembly in the factory, so I'm having a hard time understanding how that would even be possible. Could you clarify?

As for the fasteners, there are quite a few ti bolts in the engine, it's not only directly visible screws.

TJ99 said:

You are the only SL owner I've heard of with fairing fitment issues. What parts seem like they were screwed together with wet paint? All painted parts are done off-site long before any assembly in the factory, so I'm having a hard time understanding how that would even be possible. Could you clarify?

As for the fasteners, there are quite a few ti bolts in the engine, it's not only directly visible screws.

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I said that I can't say anything about the engine's internals. It is obvious that the whole design was splitted to different departments with different goals.

I don't care really about the screws, I can replace them and I am on it. Saves me at least another 100g.

Pictures are taken directly after first dismounting. So don't blame me for having done something wrong.
Fittment on left side of bike between inner and outer fairing: a gap of more than 4mm.
Compared to Ilmberger the fairings are SAD.

The carbon rear subframe again is phantasic!

On the note of quality control and screws..when I had my first service done the tech noticed I had been blessed with two Superleggera screws at the factory by accident....

I'd buy 3 SL if I could... one in my personal office, one in my garage so I could ride anytime and one for the track. Maybe an extra one still in its box in case of I'd drop one of the 3.