Le Chef

I love the idea of the all road and have a nostalgia for my old one, but I still have 3 questions, one of which can only be answered by Lady Chef, namely whether she is happy sitting a little lower than in her BMW X3.

The other 2 questions relate to the engine and performance. The X3 has an amazingly torquey 6-cylinder engine which is both very smooth and refined and produces really impressive acceleration between 30 - 50, 40 - 60, 50 - 70, etc.

I recently drove a friend's current generation Golf GTi (essentially the same engine as the AR with software differences as I understand it) and was neither impressed by it's acceleration nor its engine refinement. Am I going to be similarly unimpressed by the AR's engine or have other things been done to improve performance to overcome the weight difference and also the lack of refinement i.e. does turning the engine through 90 degrees make a big difference to refinement?

Fortunate1

I'm in California, Sacramento area. Low 70's this week so planning on doing more motorcycling than driving.

I love Scottsdale, used to go to SF Giants and Oakland A's Spring Training but haven't been in a while.

Back on topic for others, when the AR hit the dealership last fall, they had 3 that were completely loaded (and uncommitted). It took them about a month to sell them. By the time I made the decision, there wasn't anything immediately available so I bought one that was already en route (but not sold). Now they're as backed up as everybody else.

As far as comparisons between a BMW inline 6 and the turbo 4, there's no denying the Audi is going to feel very rough. The Bimmer's going to be much smoother, both in terms of vibration and sound, if you can get the 6 in the model you want. Last I looked, the 3-series wagon only offered a 4 cylinder. If you're looking at an X3, it's a whole different vehicle.

archrenov8

I thought that s place for sunglasses was going to be a problem, but I found that I can keep my sunglasses in an open eyeglasses case in the center console, under the armrest. It is easy to slide the case forward or back, so that I can put my regular glasses in the case when I take my sunglasses out. If it is rainy, or at nighttime, I can slide the case back a little and it is totally out of the way.

Fantasiamon

Really? I didn't look under there during my test drive. That seems like a real miss. I keep a TON of stuff under the rear floor in my Sportwagen - that will be an unfortunate loss of storage space for sure. That seems really weird.

bob m

Take a peek from Dan's post:



Originally Posted by bob m View Post
Storage spaces are lacking
Don't skip the one below and to the left of the steering wheel........

Two side pockets with nets in the very back, handy for small tool kit.

I managed to tuck a set of jumper cables in one corner of the spare tire well.
__________________
--Dan in St. Louis, 2017 allroad Gotland Green

I'm going to check again, but certainly not as much space as I would have hoped for.

archrenov8

You can manage to tuck a few odd things around the spare tire in the AR. But I must admit, we were really spoiled by the very useful shallow flat are the the JSW provided under the lid.

Fantasiamon

Ugh. That really sucks to hear.

Dan in St. Louis

There are a couple more storage areas that you might be able to use.

Tool storage just forward of the spare tire has a set of the most likely tools to be needed on the road, and room for several of your own:



There is some storage for a long object in the tailgate and a clip to hold the object in place:



And something small and secretive could be stashed in the left rear fuse area, but please nothing conductive<G>!

blorzoga

Cool, that's where I'll keep my weed.

soonerfan

Uh, I think that compartment is where the folding emergency triangle road marker can reside. Had a spot for it on my Q5's.