Xylar5

Excellent post.

I understand a little about the brand loyalty issue. We actually go both ways in my household. I have had 3 F150s since 1997 and I am currently shopping my fourth. My wife on the other had has been all over the spectrum; Honda, Chevy and Mitsubishi. A Nissan followed by an Infiniti is the closest that she has come to any type of brand loyalty.

While we are one of those 3.0T kind of people, when my wife saw a Macan the other day she was very intrigued..

I also think it is funny that the Porsche and Audi dealer near me use the same entrance. Makes it convenient for those of you cross shopping.

HOiYA

Volkswagon AG owns both Audi and Porsche. With that said, the Macan and Q5 share the same platform, along with over 75% of the same parts.

And I am one of those... I have both a Porsche (CTTS) and an Audi (Q5) in my garage. Both are great cars and each fill a different need.

Volkswagon AG Brands

markcincinnati

That question is still out there, then.

markcincinnati

The trouble with generalizations, like the one I'm about to make, is that they generally apply to no one in particular:

While we are about at the point in history where men and women in approximately equal numbers make the car-buying decisions for either themselves or the household, there is still some residual hangover from at least one-generation back where the focus of marketing to build brand loyalty was overwhelmingly directed toward men.

Things ARE different NOW and have been for some time -- working its way through the system, however are still folks who "let dad decide" the car purchase.

Although one does not a trend make, there is some chance that "the woman of the house" may be of a certain generation where the men were expected to be loyal to a brand (and the mfgrs would work toward sustaining that what later became a fantatsy.)

Again the problem with this generalization is that if we had 1,000 folks data we might see the pattern, whereas my wife and yours, for instance, may not be subject to such a generalization.

markcincinnati

Hopefully someone will help me with what may be being confused with Launch Control. I know what it seems is going on here, but for the engine to reach "critical rpm's" for Launch Control, the limiter would have to allow the rpm's to rise to and hold 3,500 rpm if I understand how Launch Control works with the dual-clutch transmission, at least.

I think what is happening is there is a piece of software in the engine / transmission management system that has detected that the brake pedal has been pressed and the engine/transmission actually is just going into self-preservation mode, not Launch Control mode.

I saw the explanation of it somewhere (where else but on the Web?) and what I think (but I stand ready to be proven wrong) has nothing to do with Launch Control as it is explained in the S4 owner's manual.

This may certainly offer a "sort of" Launch Control, but I thought part of the issue was that it is the torque converter that mitigates against Launch Control as it is able to be realized in a transmission without a torque converter.

Dalancroft

The Porsche brand is well known for having a giant a la carte menu of items which can add tens and tens of thousands of dollars to the base or list price.

As far as brand loyalty, my wife and I are on our 4th Audi -- 1998.5 A4 with a 2.8L 30V engine (hers), 1999 Audi Avant wagon (same engine; mine), 2005 S4 Cabriolet with a 4.2L V8 (hers) and now my 2011 Q5 2.0T Premium+. All have been superb cars.

But ... as her S4 aged and tired, she looked elsewhere and bought ... a 2011 CPO 911 Carrera S Cabriolet. Simply put, except for maybe a highly optioned RS8, it is out of Audi's league. A simply astounding vehicle in every respect (except for perhaps rear-seat room, but that's another story). Just as the parent company intended, as it also has VW under its umbrella as the low-margin, high-volume brand.

My daughter just turned 14 and once she's driving in 2 or 2-1/2 years, I am seriously considering leasing a Macan until she goes to college (she wants to go from Northern California somewhere back East, such as NYC or Boston, where a car won't be practical or necessary) at which point I would "re-inherit" my Q. We'll see......................

P.S. In between my Q and my rear-ended-and-totaled Avant I owned a Mazda CX-9, which was actually excellent but after six years was just too big for my to continue lugging about. So much for brand loyalty!

USAVAGEU

Not an expert on launch control by any means, but other torque converter transmission vehicles do offer launch control......Jeep SRT for example.

spijun

According to Audi launch control exists in all models and with different gearboxes: multitronic® / S tronic® / tiptronic gearbox

According to Audi launch control exists in all models Q5 with automatic gearboxes