Zed 2.0

Guess I should have checked out a B9 A4 before I started seriously thinking about the B9 S4. Woof--interior is a mess. Lots of cheap plastics and very odd design decisions. W205 C class interior trounces the B9. Upwards sloping door pulls feel cheap too.

I think the further cheapening of the interior is the final straw with me after 5 VWAG cars in the family.

JD15

Have you looked at the MB C43 (formerly C450)?

superswiss

It will have a form of launch control, but with a torque converter automatic it's not really launch control in the traditional sense. Traditional launch control requires a transmission with a clutch such as the DSG, so that the engine can be revved while the transmission remains disengaged, and then when you let off the brakes, the computer drops the clutch, controls the throttle and off you go. Launch control with the ZF8 is a controlled brake torque launch as the transmission is always coupled with the engine, so you can't just freely rev it. A brake torque launch takes the engine to the torque converters stall speed, which is the maximum amount of rpm that you can achieve without generating driveshaft motion. It's somewhere around 2000-2500 rpm and it basically primes the torque converter to take off immediately w/o delay. This works well with boosted engines, because at the stall speed you are usually in the boost zone of the engine, but with naturally aspirated engines not so much as max torque is usually higher in the rev band than the torque converter's stall speed. For example launch control in the RS5 revs the engine to 5000 rpm and then drops the clutch.

Zed 2.0

Funny you mention this. I've driven a couple and going to a dealer today to potentially sign papers on one (after having sat in the B9 interior). C43 has excellent interior, good looks, gnarly exhaust note. The new 9spd transmission seems like a bit of a question mark.