DSmith

<center><img src="http://131.107.68.28/a4org/carandrack.jpg"></center><p>Haven't regretted selling my 9 month old Blazer for a minute. Nothing sporty about it.

BDW

on a cross country trip and see how long you think that an Avant is a practical alternative to an SUV for people with bigger families. And let's throw a 5,000 pound boat on the back, too, so the family can have fun at the lake. Gimme a break! An Avant is a practical SUV for you, the wife, one kid and a dog. Not for most families. Can't we just quit with this SUV bashing around here?

BDW

Tom

but you American still have some hopes of getting an S4 Avant in 2001.
Our only hope is for the S6 Avant with Audi's history of gave S6 to us for 96-97 while you guys don't have it.
Tom
97 A4 1.8TQMS
99 JETTA IV GLS 2.0
98.5 A4 1.8TQAS Wetted

PakDaddy

Yeah, it's true. I ordered a MY2000 A4 1.8T because I wanted a car for turning corners and around traffic. But, as an owner of a Mercedes ML320 sport utility I can tell you nothing beats a good sport utility for long distance family trips. And I should know because our family of five went from New Jersey to Texas to Georgia and then back. It's good to have both a good car and a sport utility, station wagons are good too.

BillG

Funny post. There is a plethora of useful information on this board - you just have to wade through a bunch of crap such as non-A4 bashing to find it sometimes. That said, I don't feel that the original post was a gross display of SUV bashing, but there certainly has been plenty of it popping up around here. The A4 and A4 Avants are great cars but as you so keenly pointed out, they aren't for everyone.

All the best,
...BillG

DSmith

One wife, one kid,one dog, one Avant. If you look at my post, you will see that I capitalized the word SPORT. SUV's are not sporty at all (maybe the ML 430 is the exception). The long stopping distance and high center of gravity deprived me of everything that I consider "driving pleasure." I absolutely cannot argue with the fact that you can stuff a lot in them and haul tons with them. But that is UTILITY, not sport. I am not bashing the genre, only the nomenclature and people who drive these things without the extra caution necessary when driving tall, heavy vehicles. Just because it says "Sport" and has awd does not mean in stops well, handles well or avoids colissions well. The Avant has the characteristics of a sporty car and has greater utility that most sedans. That was my point.

BDW

sorry, you are right. I missed the thrust of your post. For families like yours, as I pointed out, the Avant works well. I overreacted to it because of all the anti-SUV nonsense being posted around here lately, with people actually implying everybody should be able to get by with an Avant-sized station wagon for all their family hauling needs!

BDW
'99 1.8Tqms (Wett, K&N)
'99 Honda CR-V EX (For trips with wife, two sons and the dog)

Sameer Pandya

How much more interior room does the CR-V have over an Avant, i looked at one once and it seemed awfully small (although high roofline does help alot)?

DId you consider the Subaru Forrester or the Legacy wagon?

Sameer 99.5 1.8T QMS

CLAM

Are those the 15" or 16" alloys u have?

DSmith

16 inch OEM wheels and tires.