It's very common for all modern Audis (and VWs) to burn oil.
There are a range of possible answers for this that you will discover on the Internet, so it depends on who you want to believe as to the cause for this. I personally think that some of the commonly suggested reasons are contributing factors, in particular:
- The design of the PCV (Positive Crackcase ventilation) system,
- Possibly also the choice of piston & oil control rings used in the construction of the engine.
It is very evident that these engines produce a lot of blow-by gases, increasing the amount (volume) of gases that enter the crankcase of the engine and need to be extracted from the crankcase of the engine by the PCV system. Evidence I refer to are accumulation of oil in intercooler hoses, or the intake manifold, or PCV system valve.
At the end of the day though, whatever the root causes the problem seems to result in Audi (And VW engines) consuming oil through into the intake of the engine.
Symptoms of this oil consumption include soot on the exhaust tips .. more than you might be used to appearing over time. It is also possible to see under high acceleration smoke behind the vehicle after accelerating from a standing start, particularly at night time when a vehicle's headlights behind are illuminating behind the exhaust of the car.
On FSI engines (Fuel stratified direct injection) it also results in the build up of "carbon" (as it is commonly referred to on the Internet) in the intake tracts of the engine. This is unfortunately a side-effect of the engines being direct-injection.. If the engines were a traditional port-injected engine, then the oil entering the intake ports would be dissolved continuously by the injection of fuel under normal operation of the engine. In these engines the oil seeps down the intake ports and essentially burns onto the engine head, and builds up over time. This is proof of where your oil is actually going.. it is entering the engine and being burnt off.
This results in considerable oil losses when compared to even older engines of a more traditional design.
Despite this - you may be experiencing an actual fault with your engine, but this is less likely. You could have a failure of an oil control ring which is looking and feeling like the "oil consumption" issue, however it would be more pronounced. Audi/VW do actually consider and cater for this possibility, but the amount of oil consumption in this case to warrant a warranty repair is in the extreme, as opposed to a normal oil consumption issue.
Generally speaking it is just a side-effect of the design decisions that were behind the design of these engines.. and you should just accept that these engines burn oil and top it up to the required mark at practical intervals.
To answer your questions, specifically:
1) Is this normal? Yes, unless you feel the oil consumption is considerably more than it should be, given my explanation above, which could indicate a engine issue.
2) Yes, I drive 1,000kms in Australia often and it is usually one of these trips I will find myself needing to top up about 0.5L.. so I may be adding 0.5L every couple of thousand Ks (Sorry, I don't speak imperial!)
You may like to keep more accurate records on exactly how much you lose over what distance. To do so - top up accurately to the Full mark, and 2,000 miles later or some specific distance, check and top up to exacly the same mark on the same piece of flat and level ground, cold measurement with all factors the same (tyre pressure as well so the car is the same level).
