I've had the 8 for 2 years now and am considering a new A4 Quattro 2.0T 6M.

I've been looking for a car with the following requirements:
When factoring in items 2 and 5, it pretty much equals a turbo 4. That in combination with item 1 means WRX or WRX STi, Evo X, or Audi. I've spec'ed out an '08 A4 2.0T Quattro with the 6 speed manual tranny, S-Line and Ti package for $34K, cheaper than an Evo or STi and MUCH better looking. The car is rated at 31 MPG Hwy. Sounds too good to pass up.

If I do get the Audi, I will immediately have it "chipped", which makes it capable of up to 13.9 1/4s with no other mods, which is fine for me. Coming from an 8, that'd be a decent upgade in speed, although obviously a downgrade in handling.

I was considering a MazdaSpeed 3, but I really do want AWD. Although I don't currently live in a cold environment, but I plan on changing that in the future.

Am I overlooking any other cars that fit these criteria?

 

1. yes
2. HAHAHAHAHAHA
3. HAHAHAHAHAHA
4. HAHAHAHAHAHA.
5. "reasonable" is a point of view
6. perhaps

 

This should probably be put in general automotive, but the A4 is a very nice car. Comparing it to an STI and EVO though is not smart. Its a entry level luxury car so take it for face value. A nice car with few thrills, but thats probably what I'll get next too (probably not an A4, but an entry level luxury car).

 

AWD does nothing for braking or turning.... just something to consider.

 

i've been looking at doing the same or keeping the 8 and perhaps getting a CPO A4... i don't think you can do much better for price/performance/AWD/refinement/economy combination

30mpg is actually pretty conservative. My friends gets about 35mph highway and is pretty quick chipped... must faster then the 8 NA anyway

 

So this is the car you're talking about????



I disagree this car looks better than our RX8. I won't disupte the remaining points....

 

Why do you want AWD? You gonna go off road in your sedan? lol , or bad at driving in the rain? Hmm im not saying its a bad car but audi= or atleast the one in the pic above lol

 

You don't even need awd in a cold climate. a rwd with snow cars will make it anywhere the a4 does, the limiting factor will always be ground clearance.

I test drove an a4 and I thought it was more gutless than my s10. In my opinion they were very overvalued, go check vwvortex on all the quality issues with vw/audi too. No way the 2.0 could outrun a stock rx8 unless you are putting some serious pressure through it.

 

I'd wait for the next gen A4 which is just around the corner. The B6/B7 A4 are totally blah, the E90 3-series is a better choice IMO.

 

for the record... this is what a A4 s-line with titanium package looks like...



...and really, this is no forum to be talking about another other car's reliability problems

 

i got stuck going skiing trying to get up the mountain with my snow tires on... my friend made it in his a4 with all seasons

 

audis look nice. my dad has one. i think they are nice.

i have an acquaintance who used to work for audi/vw and said their quality was pretty bad and advised me against buying one. he now works for bmw.

i guess you want awd so you can drive in the snow? uh. ok. snow tires are not the be all end all. 4 wheels putting down power WILL do better in the snow. snow tires are not going to solve all your snow related issues. lol. as great as they are.

end note: i'd look at the e92 3 series bmws. bmws have all wheel drive. their nomenclature to denote this is an "x." so, an awd bmw would be the 325xi or 328xi. etc. gas mileage is uh, not as great as 35mpg (bmw 328xi is 17/25), but that sounds a bit much for a chipped audi. and fueleconomy does not give it that. they gave it a 20/28. which is better than bmw, but thats only 3mpg better. so not very impressive. http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/sbs.htm

bmw > audi.

imo.

 

I prefer the Avant version. A4 is due for a redesign in the new year.

 

Thanks for all the input.

First, for the fuel milage, I was quoting Audi on that. I figure any turbo 4 should get pretty decent milage when off the boost.

Second, I never said that I think the A4 looks better than the 8, I said it looks MUCH better than the new STi or EVO.

Third, the reason I want AWD rather than just snow tires is that I want the added traction whenever I need it, not only after I switch tires out. I live in an area where it can be icy in the morning and 50-60 the rest of the day. I probably wouldn't mind snow tires if I lived in the NE where it stays frozen for months at a time.

Thanks Rotor, that's almost exactly the one I want, except in a dark silver. Possibly swapping some RS4 Reps in dark chrome into it, like this...



I will look into the BMW, although I have to say, I definately like the LOOK of the Audi better than the bimmer. But, if there is substaintial advantages, I'd consider it.

Again, thanks.

 

id trust fueleconomy.gov over a car mfgs own figures. fueleconomy has no vested interest in giving a car better mpg. they were also one of the first to quote the rx8 as 16mpg in the city, when mazda said 18.

 

i was just quoting mpg from a time i went to a car show with my friend following me. after 200 miles i was on a 1/4 tank and he was a little below 3/4 tank... lol

 

how big is his tank? (yes yes thats semantics.)

a 2.0L turbo will get nice gas mileage, as long as you stay off the boost. but thats just impossible.

edit: i checked, and the a4 has a gas tank size of 18 gallons, compared to the rx8s 14 gallon tank. a bit of difference, not huge. but a good chunk on the gasleftometer.

 

I figure it should get roughly %50 better fuel economy than an 8 (+/- 20 MPG vs +/- 30 MPG).

 

FuelEconomy.gov lists the Audi with a 16.6 gal and the 8 with a 15.9 gal.

I have to disagree with their estimates, however. I looked up the 8 and my truck ('05 Nissan Frontier 4WD V6 Nismo) and both are about 10% short of what I cosistantly measure.

 

Two completely different cars in every aspect but I like the A4

 

yes, the audi will get slightly better mileage than the 8. but, so would a honda civic or toyota corolla. but let's be realistic. most ppl drive a mix of both streets and freeway. so, saying 50% increase sounds like a stretch- esp for a german car...

this is approx what i get in my 2 cars and i drive an even mix of freeway and city streets:

bmw 323i 16 gallon tank: 350 miles per tank = 21.87mpg
rx-8 16 gallon tank: 280 miles per tank = 17.5mpg

my old 1991 honda civic could get 350 miles per tank, but it was something like a 10 or 11 gallon tank.

u should just get the a4 if that's the car that u like and want there's nothing wrong with that... it's hard to compare it to the 8, because they're just very different cars.

 

when our 92x aero lease ends, we plan to look into an Avant A4 as the primary family hauler. RX-8 will remain as the weekend toy car.

 

Infinity G35 X (AWD)
mpg is about the same as the rx8 but its got a 19.8 gal tank
so thats about a 340-360 mile range which is better than the rx8

Volvo s60 2.5T AWD
again mpg isnt 30+ but its 26 mph highway, 18 city
but again. the tank is bigger being 18 gal. so thats 320 + mile range on a tank

Subaru Impreza (WRX model or not)
all AWD and the 2.5i gets 20/27 and has a 16.9 gal. tank
so thats 320 + miles to the tank as well at least

Dodge Caliber R/T AWD
21/24 mpg w/ a 13.5 gal. tank
so thats a range of under 300 miles there but its AWD

Ford Fusion V6 AWD
17/25 w/ a 17.5 gal. tank
thats 300 mile range to the tank

im tired of looking for more cars. haha
but theres plenty out there. all with alot of different options. if you want a good highway range then look more for highway MPG. i did the math for city MPG so these cars out on the highway will go alot further than 320 or so miles. You could even get a Suzuki Aerio (SX4) AWD if you wanted. that gets 30 mpg out on the highway
but its got a 11 gal tank. so thats still only 300 miles on the tank highway.

good luck
hope i kinda helped

 

good looking rules out half those

 

thats a matter of opinion which I disagree, the 8 isnt the only good looking car in existence