Opinions on Audi A4's????

[AirMax95]

For the sake of saving more money, I may opt not to buy the car of my teen dreams. So.....anyone have experience with A4's as a daily driver?

2002+ Audi A4 1.8t Quattro
or
2002+ Audi A4 3.0L Quattro


Thanks!

[Elbow]

They look sexy, that's about all I know of them. I have driven some and like them a lot, turbo feels pretty quick.

[AirMax95]

They look sexy, that's about all I know of them. I have driven some and like them a lot, turbo feels pretty quick.

Thanks for the info. Would you daily it if you had to?

[RL...]

a4's are badass, whether it is the quattro or not, 1.8t/2.0t/vr6. They look nice, drive great/comfortably, quick, luxury, decent mpg..

I heard they're pain in ass to work on though, but I wouldn't know firtsthand..

I love vw's, audi's, bmw's, porsche's, so I may be biased though....

[OneSlow5pt0]

i drove a A4 quattro 1.8T and it felt very underpowered....but i mean i know easy it is to get power out of those VW 18T,and im sure the 02+ sohuld be quicker

[AirMax95]

Thanks for the info. I am deciding between an Audi A4 or BMW 535/540i. Maybe others, lol. I just want a damn replacement for the WRX. No modding involved at all, but I want to ride clean and simple.

I am going to test drive an A4 3.0L and a 1.8t today. BMW 5 series E39 prices are looking like a better bang for the buck (minus maintenance,lol)!

[nreggie454]

I have an '03 1.8t quattro, and it is definitely not fast. However, it is fairly easy to get a decent amount of power out of that engine.

Once you get past that, I love how it drives and handles. The interior is very nice and it has been a great car for me so far.

[OnURleft]

3 Audi's in the direct family....Also, I worked at an Audi/Porsche shop awhile ago..
-The 1.8T's get great gas milege. They handle great and w/ quattro you can run so many cars down because you can go so fast w/o worrying to much about road conditions (like any quattro audi). You can chuck any quattro Audi around like it's nothing and they are incredible stable at high speeds. There down side is there lack of power. Even with a chip they are ehhh slow. Full exhaust, Chip, intercooler and you have a fairly descent car w/ tons of torque, but still not really fast by any means. Add some minor suspension mods and let me drive and I bet it would take a very talented driver in a fast car to catch me in the Mountains. They have a great chassy, and again are just easy/fearless cars to drive fast.
The 3.0's are great and smooth and they have hardly no maintenance compared to the 1.8ts. We almost never had 3.0's come in for problems at the shop. They are great if your not concerned about all out speed but if you are you can still supercharge on for $$.
If it were my money i'd get a 1.8T and an Avant at that. So rare, so sexy and tons of potential if you want to spend the money.

[Kaiser]

Daily driving an '01 A4 every day for the last year makes me wonder a bit about people that call it slow. Sure it's slow compared to a BMW 540 or 535, but you have to compare it to something that isn't apples to oranges. Compared to a WRX? Yeah, it's slower. It's not nearly as slow as people make it out to be.


Unless you get tiptronic.

[AirMax95]

Thanks for all the info guys. We shall see what I end up with soon.

3 Audi's in the direct family....Also, I worked at an Audi/Porsche shop awhile ago..
-The 1.8T's get great gas milege. They handle great and w/ quattro you can run so many cars down because you can go so fast w/o worrying to much about road conditions (like any quattro audi). You can chuck any quattro Audi around like it's nothing and they are incredible stable at high speeds. There down side is there lack of power. Even with a chip they are ehhh slow. Full exhaust, Chip, intercooler and you have a fairly descent car w/ tons of torque, but still not really fast by any means. Add some minor suspension mods and let me drive and I bet it would take a very talented driver in a fast car to catch me in the Mountains. They have a great chassy, and again are just easy/fearless cars to drive fast.
The 3.0's are great and smooth and they have hardly no maintenance compared to the 1.8ts. We almost never had 3.0's come in for problems at the shop. They are great if your not concerned about all out speed but if you are you can still supercharge on for $$.
If it were my money i'd get a 1.8T and an Avant at that. So rare, so sexy and tons of potential if you want to spend the money.

Excellent insight! This car may not see any track or twisties at all, but its nice to know they can hold their own. Either way I am going to a driving event to learn the characteristics of it.

Daily driving an '01 A4 every day for the last year makes me wonder a bit about people that call it slow. Sure it's slow compared to a BMW 540 or 535, but you have to compare it to something that isn't apples to oranges. Compared to a WRX? Yeah, it's slower. It's not nearly as slow as people make it out to be.


Unless you get tiptronic.

Yeah, I wasn't really comparing it to either car. So far, an A4 or E39 5 series is all I can find that I know I will like. As a daily driver I am pretty sure the Audi will be fine, plus my insurance company likes them

[OnURleft]

Thanks for all the info guys. We shall see what I end up with soon.



Excellent insight! This car may not see any track or twisties at all, but its nice to know they can hold their own. Either way I am going to a driving event to learn the characteristics of it.

Thanks! I'm also a member of ACNA (you should join) and i've had the opportunities to flog some of our Audi's around some tracks (including our Allroad,S4,S5). They are incredible easy to drive fast but nose heavy. You'll see. I love the idea of tracking our Audi and passing up BMW's and slower Porsche's but they are much happier on the road and shine more so there.

[Kevykev]

I know the look much better than they perform.

1 8 Tees are understandably underpowered.

[Brown Man]

maintenance SUCKS!!!

but ya they are good cars, hard to work on. and u will be spending some $$$ on fixing shit. but if u got the money i would do it. i have a 18t and i love it. underpowered....kinda. but chip, tip, fmic, and turbo back exhaust the car will be pretty quick. i like a4's, i would rock one.

good luck

[Kaiser]

Understandably underpowered? Compared to WHAT? '01 and later models specifically, since prior to that I can understand the statement. An '01 Accord has .5L more, worse gas mileage and is only Front wheel drive for a similarly sized car, and only produces 135bhp. We're not talking about a sportscar here, or an S2000. We're talking about a quite heavy small family sedan. Out of the market segment, the only cars FASTER than it are things like the WRX/STi, the Evo, BMW 3's and Mercedes C's. All of which share the same faults of the A4, specifically maintenance costs. I've driven plenty of other cars, and I admit I'm quite a bit biased, and I'm fine if you want to call a car that can quite easily hit it's 130mph limiter slow, but this "understandably underpowered" bit needs more explanation than just being tossed out there.

I'm not even talking about modified either, since I've seen stock block FMIC/Chip/3" Turboback near 230hp or more. Comparably, An '01 BMW 330i's engine (Which is a significant step up from a 1.8t 4 cylinder) produces around 225bhp and weighs about the same in sedan form.

[AirMax95]

I'm not even talking about modified either, since I've seen stock block FMIC/Chip/3" Turboback near 230hp or more. Comparably, An '01 BMW 330i's engine (Which is a significant step up from a 1.8t 4 cylinder) produces around 225bhp and weighs about the same in sedan form.

You seem to know your Audi's!

With those mods, is the 230hp to the wheels or flywheel? Just curious, though I doubt I will be modding it.

[Kaiser]

Wheels, on Quattro. I am gonna admit the guys doing 230 without turbos are essentially pushing the absolute capacity of the engine, it won't go much higher than that. On the other hand, new injectors and fuel rail, bigger turbo and a proper retune can get you into STi power range with room to grow depending on how you go. Before the '01 model year the A4 was pretty significantly underpowered, only 145-150hp at the crank. A chipped '01 can make around 190 to the wheels with nothing else done to it, and a lot of people swear by catless downpipes for a good many horses as well. There are plenty of forums where the guys are 30-40 year olds who brag about getting into the 400-mile-per-tank club and who only have Quattro because they live up north in the snow. They will tell you that the car can't do more than 200hp to the wheels without significant work. YMMV of course and much of the results depends on what you start with. '02's and up are a bit heavier, better looking, and have the same kind of power figures from what I've seen. Just avoid B5 1.8t's unless you're getting an '01 if stock power is an issue for you, but I can't imagine that'd be an issue since you said you wanted '02 up.