starfly

...and now I want an A4. Also test drove the new '18 Acura TLX first, and while the engine sound is very nice (it's a NA V6 after all), the interior in the A4 is much nicer and somehow the A4 feels faster than the TLX. Jesus, that thing pushed me back in my seat when accelerating (I've never owned a fast car before) and it handled so well. That's just many speeding tickets waiting to happen.

Ugh, I wasn't even in the market for a new car, but was curious what all the fuss was about and now I want an A4. Dammit! Probably didn't help that the sales associate who drove with me was this drop dead gorgeous woman 10/10. Dammit!!

savi01

Unfortunately she will not come with the car!!!

starfly

Unfortunately no, but I could try to win her over

SFV A4

Which engine did you test? Audi offers two.

starfly

It was the 2.0T Quattro (the non-Ultra version), I think a Premium Plus w/ S-Line package.

Versprechen

It is an astonishingly good car. As close to a 10 as I've even owned or driven.

VM

I think the A4 is faster than the TLX. Doing some very quick and rough Googling, I'm seeing around 5.7-5.8 seconds 0-60mph times for 3.5L SH-AWD TLXs. One of the big mags (I want to say C&D but I forget), when they did a big comparo in this segment a few months ago, got 5.0 out of a U.S-spec 2.0T quattro DSG A4.

5.0. Out of what is effectively the base engine. (Sorry, I don't take the 190HP FWD seriously)

The one thing I will say is that the TLX is likely to be substantially cheaper than the A4... or at least here it was, last year. Lots of aggressive incentives on TLXs since they're having trouble moving them, plus the MSRP is lower. If they're already selling the 2018 though, that wouldn't be as true...

starfly

So I believe the '18 TLX has a new transmission (a ZF 9 speed) and there are no numbers out yet for the new engine/tranny combination, so it might be a little bit quicker. And the dealer told me he probably couldn't take that much off the sticker price since it's a new car and newly refreshed. Should be cheaper to own though, maintenance costs are comparable to just owning a regular Honda/Toyota and it can also take regular fuel instead of premium with minimal loss in power.

But still the A4 felt faster, which I think is mainly attributable to the fantastic 7spd DCT. Man that thing shifts quick. The 9 speed in the TLX didn't feel nearly as quick, whereas the DCT has near instantaneous shifts. I think too many people just look at the raw HP/Torque numbers to determine if a car will be fast, even though the transmission can make so much of a difference.

Anyway, the interior of the TLX felt like any other Japanese car, not very distinctive, and honestly kinda dated. If Acura wants to move cars they'll have to up their interior design game a bit. And update their nav system, the map graphics look very early 2000's. The A4 felt much more refined on the inside, very clean, very understated, much more my taste.

Yeah, it's a more expensive car, more expensive to maintain, higher maintenance costs, higher fuel costs because of the premium fuel requirement, but damn did it put a smile on my face

And otherwise it appears that on average an Audi is more reliable than an Acura nowadays, at least according to Consumer Reports. How things have changed...

If I were to go for this I would probably lease it, and sell my current car and keep the cash. And I'd probably go for a fully loaded Prestige, silver color (or white, though I've never owned a white car before) with brown leather interior and gray oak inlay, 19" wheels with all season tires (will sell the summer tires, I live in CO). Yeah, that's my A4 right there.

edle

Do eet! you won't regret it. I do love how mine drives compared to my IS350 which had a V6 rear wheel. The A4 Quattro is just an amazing car to drive.

jcallip1

You'll just end up driving out of there in an A8!!!!!!