smurfs

I am surprised no one has said use the search feature.

mart242

But isn't RWD more fun to drive and more satisfying compared to AWD? ie a 335i or something fancier like a 2 seater or sports car (ie: Z4, cayman, ..)

ScottAW

Once you go Quattro you'll never go back.

Brian Cecil

After driving a FWD Audi for nearly eight years, I drove a AWD A4 dealer loan car two months ago. Very impressive. Much more responsive, better turn-in, and I loved being able to rotate the rear end in turns by the application of throttle. I ordered a 2011 A4 Quatro the day I returned the loaner. I took delivery of the new A4 yesterday. I'll never go back to FWD for any Audi I own in the future.

need_TQM

While I don't disagree that AWD (esp in audi's) is beneficial in the dry and bad weather - if the loaner was a B8 - part of what you felt may have just been the improvements in the new chassis.

I had a FWD '01, and after driving it for 8+ years, I wanted a RWD or AWD car - there are a couple of driving situations where you just ask too much of the front tires when you are asking them to turn and provide all the acceleration. After driving Lexus, BMW, Merc, Infiniti I ended up with a 6MT B8 A4 2.0T.

My B8 is completely absent of torque steer, I never have to worry about losing front wheel traction when accelerating like I did with the B5 FWD. Plus Quattro is the only way you can get a 6MT in the US. For me - decision made - no regrets.

GR8-LIFE

It can be. I drive my corvette on Raodcoures and I like the feel of beeing loose and taking control of the car. The QUATRO almost doesnt allow an owner to enhace those skills. But remember, an A4 is not RWD - Its FWD or AWD if I am not mistaken. A FWD is the only time I scratch my head with AUDI

av_audi

Remember that Audi sells many cars with far smaller engines than the ones we get in the U.S. For those cars, the reduced weight and reduced drivetrain losses of FWD are big advantages, and loss of traction on curves is not as big of a problem because of the modest power. So FWD makes perfect sense for those cars. In fact, I used to kind of laugh at the earliest 1.8T B5 A4s with quattro & auto transmissions. All the losses and extra weight made them slow dogs. Now with 100+ extra lb-ft of torque on the B8, it's a different story.

Audi makes one of the best FWD platforms.

GR8-LIFE

ya, I know that the U.S. models are totally diff, come with speed governors, etc

QUA77R0

Wow sure is alot of FWD bashing going on... Time to lay down some history. Class is now in session This is gonna burst some of your notions about FWD unfortunately...ready to step outta your comfort zone? That's how you learn...

Front Wheel Drive- 1931- The first succesful consumer application of FWD came with the production of the German DKW F1.

So much for FWD not being a German thing.... There's this little company called Volkswagen that makes a number of cars that will school our Audi's in an embarrassing manner. I've seen Jetta GLI's with a few suspension mods that will out lap a Stock S4 easily.

Front wheel drive can rock! So what's the best thing for our Audi's? Its more about the suspension design and power delivery of the motor than just a simple "this is better than that" issue. The new TSFI motors deliver almost max tq right off the line. That is a recipe for ovewhelming FWD on inclines or slippery (dusty, wet,etc.) conditions. Audi's by design favor quattro/awd even when many of the lower Audi models are based on FWD platforms.

Cone carving?...Seems that none of you remember the spanking that cars such as the Acura Integra handed out while dominating NASA Pro Racing and SCCA classes. This, in an era where anything that wasn't RWD was considered an abomination at the track. Don't think that FWD is a German thing? Tell that to the owners of VW Corrado SLC's or any generation of Scirocco. They'll be happy to set you straight. The tighter the course, the more the Audi will push and the more the VW will tend to favor 3 wheels but with equal drivers, it will be faster. Don't think FWD is fast in a straight line? Try drag racing a new GTI in your new A4... You just got spanked. I say this having raced a Corrado SLC for several years. When we added the triangulated rear stiffening bar, it was classed with Corvettes...Oh how we bitched and moaned about the power advantage they had... No problem. As it turned out, only on tracks with good long straights was the Corvette much competition. Cornering and braking were not even close and Audi's weren't even competitive unless so far modified that they ended up in an Unlimited class which again rendered them slow against their class competition unless it happened to be raining.

Quattro is what it is. It's an awesome means of distributing traction that might overwhelm a pair of drive wheels, be they the front or the rear. Sorry just couldn't let the rumor mill bash FWD so much. Heck my first Audi was a 4000S that would easily beat any 4000CS Quattro on any road, straight or winding, slow or fast corners, unless it was slippery out. Quattro has another admirable trait that benefits the unskilled as well as skilled who are unfamiliar with a particular road and find themselves having overcooked entry into a corner...STABILITY. Makes you look/feel like a master when you may be something...less than that. Just remember that Quattro can't beat physics and that can put you in a ditch or worse. If you are looking for rotation, get a RWD car or learn to properly trail brake. Want more rotation learn to left foot brake. Just do it at a track so you don't take yourself out while learning or worse, take out someone else.

Be safe and live to drive another day. And pull to the right if I'm behind you, thanks.

audi8k

I suspect that all recent Audis will cut the engine power, as a safety measure, if you apply the brakes, so you can't balance (or get the tail out) with the left foot. At least that is what a B8 does. Assisting a turn by the (electrical) parking brake is also history.
Assisting the turn, by giving some gas (in my quattro with the rear bias), helped me out of a tricky situation the last winter when I misjudged the grip when entering a corner.