Still waffling

[wdc330i]

What about a two-year lease on something?

[equ]

I'm going to go with the a4 sport. I drove the car last night, expect to pick it up tomorrow evening.

White on black combo is great, especially at night. Xenons/leds are very bright. The handling is spot on, as good as the s4 (slalom numbers back this up). I did a tight switchback and on power car felt nicely neutral. If anything it feels a bit lighter on its feet, though this may be my perception as I now know that it is at 200-250lbs lighter than an s4. Good 245 rubber all around and stiffer suspension go a long way. The day I drove an a4 and s4 back to back, the a4 was MT but not sport. Both my gf and I just do not understand people who get this car without the sports package. It also adds a nice, perforated leather steering wheel and a meaty, round shift knob. The seats, while certainly not the awesome s4 recaros, have bolsters and thigh support that are much better than non-sport. In one small way, I prefer them to the s4 seats. The headrests tilt forward as in bmw seats, so I can rest my head on them. This doesn't work on the latest 1-piece s4 recaros. The 987S seats are also 1-piece but the headrest comes forward a bit. Car is very comfortable, and from my point of view, quite practical. I don't have family now or for the next two years so I don't need anything bigger.

Compared to the s4, the control inputs are very light. Actually the steering is pretty close (now that the a4 has summer rubber and lowered suspension) the difference is in the shifter & clutch which are not firm. They are probably easier to live with in traffic/daily situations. This is not the hugest deal, especially with a porsche in the garage.

The biggest issue with the a4 is the narrow powerband. The car presumably has power at 2000rpm, but it is lagged at that rpm, and I didn't wait long enough to find out. It does respond and has good juice between 3 and 5000rpm, but that's pretty much it. I didn't go above that rpm on what is likely to be my own brand spanking new car, but I've read that that's where the party ends. I am far from having found my shift points, so we'll see how I adapt. I justify the engine downgrade by the porsche in the garage and the higher efficiency of the 4-cylinder turbo (22mpg indicated on this new engine during my spirited test drive). If I ever move back to Europe, I'll be lucky to drive/afford a 2.0T, perhaps I should try them out. Turbodiesels must be similar and they could be our future. I have owned almost exclusively 6-cylinders (with a v8 s4 exception) in the last ten years so this is a big step for me. This car is somewhat worse than the 330i (though a bit better in the lower end) while the s4 is better than the 335i, so this difference is huge.

The sound is not that great in either engine, 2.0T or 3.0"T", though I'm guessing more easily fixed in the s4. This is the second niggle I'll have to live with.

[equ]

Some other decision points are:
- nice to have car not worth too too much, so I'd worry about it less
- I'm a little worried about the s4 outshining the cayman, especially in the acceleration department. If I were ready to part with the croc, it would make for more sense to go with that mobile.

[Jeff_DML]

I had a a4 1.8T, audi likes to use tiny turbos so they become useless at higher rpms, 5000 sounds about right. Post some pics up when you buy it

[lemming]

the revised 2.0T has a lot of torque, though. 265#ft even though they kept the hp the same.

it should be fine in that car and the day in/day out fuel efficiency sounds like that's a bonus. on ski trips, with snow tires, that car will be great, don't you think?