trifona

Test drove the following leftover today:<p>1998 A4 1.8t<br>quattro<br>tiptronic<br>All Weather Package<br>Convenience Package<p>MSRP $29,585 Dealer Offer: $26,310 (supposedly his cost - havent looked at the # 's yet)<p>white with black onyx leatherette<p>Where do we start.......<p>Lemme start by saying that i have driven a Passat with both engines over the summer, and was impressed with both, so the A4 was going to have to be exta special to wow me today given its inherently higher price tag......the A4 did not disappoint.<p>Interior<p>I had never considered the vinyl seats to be an option for me. I like cloth. I like its warmth in winter. I like its coolness in summer; and most importantly I like its grip in the turns.<p>The black onyx was very impressive, whereas in other colors, the material could not be mistaken for anything other than vinyl, the black really helps to cover that up.<p>On the quality side i was very impressed by the firmness/hardness as well as the stitching, both front and back seats. I loved the driver seat which cocooned me in place during turns, much better than my Mitsu's. Then again, after 127,000 miles im sure my side bolsters have worn out considerably. In comparison, i remember Passat seat reminding me of a Buick's. <p>Dash materials all first rate. Everything fit in place excatly as it should, and ergonomics were excellent (previously a question mark for me.<p><br>Quattro<p>THERE IS A GOD!!!<p>Up until today, i had NEVER considered quattro as an option for me. I just couldnt justify the cost or weight penalty to performance. <p>What a difference a test drive makes! Curves became a thing of new excitement and performance. This sucker stuck to the pavement like it was literally on rails!!<p>I couldnt believe it! We were taking turns at 65 - 70 that my poor mitsu would have understeered into a wall doing 45. More kudos to the sport suspension as well.<p>Regardless of any straight line performance hit, Im sold. I dont think i could ever pony up the cash for another FWD car again. I guess this means I'll be buying Audi's for a LONG time to come.<p><br>Tiptronic<p>the only sightly disappointing item. While mowing down the hills and taking hairpin turns every chance i could get, i did notice the tip search for gears a lil too much. Im not sure if this has anything to do with it being a 5-speed, and me simply not being use to the more frequent shifting or not. Made the car feel a lil less refined.<p><br>Engine Performance<p>Not bad. Better than adequate. I had feared the tip+quattro combo with the 1.8t for obvious reasons. However the perception in the car was of good performance, particularly above 2k rpm's ("t" for Turbo after all). I'll give up some of my low end power in exchange for Quattro.<p><br>Now that i have experienced Quattro.......things will never be the same.<p>The only problem is i dont graduate until June. WHoa is me! An A4 at appox. invoice and here i am still stuck in school.....<p><br>Until then, i can only dream about that feeling of confidence, invulnerability, and power that Quattro gave me through those turns at breakneck speeds.<br>__________<p>This was NOT a dream. I brought my friend, another potential A4 owner to drive it as well. He had the same level of euphoria that i did with this car.<p>Now i know why people buy Audi and in particular Quattro.<p>The dealer looked at me like i had two heads when asked to try out a FWD A4 1.8t. He said that they NEVER order anything other than Quattro. When i asked about a stripped 2.8 FWD in the lot he said it was from someone who ordered and subsequently backed out.....I guess the poor bastard came to his senses. I know that I have.<p>What a car<br>What a package<br>What a price<p><br>To all those who question the reliability of the A4 vs. other Japanese "appliance" cars, think again. This car will stir the soul in so many ways. A camry or accord cant do anything to come close in terms of what this car offers.<p><br>Talk about a moment of clarity...I need a drink now.<p><br>

RobS

Another AWAKENING! congrats

Santa4

We'll have races at the north pole...<p><br>HO HO HO!!!

JIM H.

Yo, Tri: did you tell the salesman that you can't/won't be buying a car 'til Summer '99 at the earliest?Did you tell him at the beginning of the afternoon, or at the end?nt

trifona

Jim, he never asked......<p>In fact he saw a couple of 22 yr olds and never looked beyond that fact in and of itself.<p>Even though we were outside lookin at cars for awhile as well as inside we had to go to him.<p>He never even asked what our names were, nor if he could see licenses.<p>As far as my purchase date, i was going to buy a new car this fall, but since my engine replacement, paid by mitsu , has gone so well, ive been trying to fight the urge to buy until i graduate; Id rather not drive a car like that into West Philadelphia everyday.<p>Why'd you ask anyway? Do i sense some empathy for the salesman because i made him do something at 2:00 on a Tuesday?<p><br>

JIM H.

Being forthcoming with a salesperson has nothing to do with your age: I've had more fifty-year-olds waste weeks of my time with NO intention or<br>ability of buying a car from me than twenty-year-olds. And being forthcoming with a salesperson is the same at 2:00 on a busy Saturday afternoon as it is at 2:00 on a quiet Tuesday afternoon.<br>Yo, West Phila.? Drexel? Penn? You're my homie!<br>Whatever you do, when the time comes, DON'T sign<br>up for anything until you get a price from YBH.<br>

CH

What is YBH?

JIM H.

YBH Audi, outside of Phila.,Pa. The Audi Outlet.nt

Eric H.

1. I have the grey leatherette in combination with santorin mica blue, quattro, cold weather, convenience, cd, sport pkg with dunlop Zs. The only way people have known it was vinyl was my telling them. Audi uses nice foam and nice-looking "stitches". Same is not true for the earthy brown, however. What where they thinking?<p>2. As long as you are fantasizing, do not miss the sport suspension and Z tires. Skidpad is a whole new experience, not to be missed. At what your dealer is asking, you may as well finance this extra item, and forget about that particular leftover. <p>3. Tip is a nice feature if you must share driving with someone who can't shift. Otherwise, skip it.

Shawn

I'm definitely a fan of AWD, but am not really interested in getting the Q for the fact that it's performance won't be a big deal ... especially in California. However, let me qualify that by saying I haven't driven both for comparison ... yet<p>Any one, Q and FWD owners, want to comment on how much of tri's experience was really due to the awd? For that matter, on dry pavement, how much will Q help, anyway??<p>Shawn<p>Tri: don't worry, June will be around sooner than you think, and you'll probably get more car for less then.