Had the old barge (03 A4 1.8Tsport [163] quattro) in today for its 40,000 mile service at Audi and was given a 56 plate A4 2.0T Fsi Sline special Ed Avant as a courtesy car, had it most of the day so I thought I would do a review of it comparing it to my car. Will try to be as balanced as possible.
First impressions were the car was very well put together as I suppose you would expect from an Audi, colour coded with full Sline grey/black leather interior, this particular car had the multi function wheel, ipod connection and full colour DIS as well as rear parking distance sensors. From a driving perspective (interior) comparing the two vehicles, my car has full leather as well so not a great deal of difference in the seats, both have same levels of comfort and adjustment as with reach and rake of steering wheel, this was where I found a slight negative on the newer model, I felt the s-line wheel was very thin, and did not give as "sporty" a feel as the chunky wheel on the T-Sport, obviously the radio controls on the wheel were a great benefit and definately a positive. Now to the armrest! this is a mod i was considering carrying out on my own car but after having had one for most of the day I would not get it done, during motorway driving I can see the benefit it is comfortable although i found myself resting my chin on my hand in the "thinker" position a lot! during normal driving tho I found it very intrusive and that at times it interfered with gear changes although I am aware that it can be retracted to combat this.
Now for the most appealing thing about this car.. the engine and gearbox, the Fsi engine pulled strongly and the extra 40 horses were noticable from the off, the car pulled well through all six gears with very little/no turbo lag evident, I am unsure if this is down to the gearing or if there has been big changes made in the mapping and engine itself. On my own car i do feel it is underpowered and does suffer from a certain degree of lag which can be frustrating at times.
The biggest down side to this car though was the feel of it, considering what I have said above it just did not feel sporty enough, the two wheel drive lacked traction, the steering was very light and did not give great feedback as to what the wheels are doing on the tarmac, the esp was constantly kicking in at times I felt were not warranting the intrusion, and going back to the s-line wheel the experience just did not feel right with the signals coming through the wheel. The Audi is by no means a true sporty car and is not "chuckable" but in the quattro there is obviously far more grip but the steering wheel feel seems completely different as well, on the move the steering is heavier and as a result seems less intrusive and gives the feeling that the direction you point the wheel is where you are actually going.
I will avoid the styling side of things as that is more a personal taste issue and I only want to show my views on the tangible things I felt, but to summarise, does the new avant warrant spending an extra 15 grand over my car, I would have to say no, but what I would like to hear is if anyone has driven this car while owning a B6 190bhp T sport with the 6 speed box and how they felt it compared.
Anyhoos wont bore you all any longer!
Thanks for reading!
Jeremy Clarkson
First impressions were the car was very well put together as I suppose you would expect from an Audi, colour coded with full Sline grey/black leather interior, this particular car had the multi function wheel, ipod connection and full colour DIS as well as rear parking distance sensors. From a driving perspective (interior) comparing the two vehicles, my car has full leather as well so not a great deal of difference in the seats, both have same levels of comfort and adjustment as with reach and rake of steering wheel, this was where I found a slight negative on the newer model, I felt the s-line wheel was very thin, and did not give as "sporty" a feel as the chunky wheel on the T-Sport, obviously the radio controls on the wheel were a great benefit and definately a positive. Now to the armrest! this is a mod i was considering carrying out on my own car but after having had one for most of the day I would not get it done, during motorway driving I can see the benefit it is comfortable although i found myself resting my chin on my hand in the "thinker" position a lot! during normal driving tho I found it very intrusive and that at times it interfered with gear changes although I am aware that it can be retracted to combat this.
Now for the most appealing thing about this car.. the engine and gearbox, the Fsi engine pulled strongly and the extra 40 horses were noticable from the off, the car pulled well through all six gears with very little/no turbo lag evident, I am unsure if this is down to the gearing or if there has been big changes made in the mapping and engine itself. On my own car i do feel it is underpowered and does suffer from a certain degree of lag which can be frustrating at times.
The biggest down side to this car though was the feel of it, considering what I have said above it just did not feel sporty enough, the two wheel drive lacked traction, the steering was very light and did not give great feedback as to what the wheels are doing on the tarmac, the esp was constantly kicking in at times I felt were not warranting the intrusion, and going back to the s-line wheel the experience just did not feel right with the signals coming through the wheel. The Audi is by no means a true sporty car and is not "chuckable" but in the quattro there is obviously far more grip but the steering wheel feel seems completely different as well, on the move the steering is heavier and as a result seems less intrusive and gives the feeling that the direction you point the wheel is where you are actually going.
I will avoid the styling side of things as that is more a personal taste issue and I only want to show my views on the tangible things I felt, but to summarise, does the new avant warrant spending an extra 15 grand over my car, I would have to say no, but what I would like to hear is if anyone has driven this car while owning a B6 190bhp T sport with the 6 speed box and how they felt it compared.
Anyhoos wont bore you all any longer!
Thanks for reading!
Jeremy Clarkson
