I wonder if Santa will bring me one of these for Christmas if I'm really good this year? Maybe if I leave him some nice German beer instead of milk and cookies...

'it basically looks like an A5.'

You wish, said the blind lady.

I have a 2005 A4 1.8, AWD Auto

I think that this new A4 is a great looking car, but 1.8L on it
is too small of an engine, when you pay over 30000.00 for a car
you better be faster then 15000.00 cars.

Other then that, AUDI is the company putting out the best looking cars and this includes BMW and Mercedes

Carlos

Are Audi and Mercedes falling behind in Engine technology? BMW, Lexus, and Infiniti all have 300 hp 6 cylinders, where as Mercedes and Audi have these mid 200 hp motors.

They are both still great cars, but you can bet that the yuppie crowd is scratching Audi and Mercedes off their lists with engines this lackluster. I realize there is a "displacement tax" in Europe that prevents them from making larger engines (or so I have been told), but they could do as BMW did and just release a slightly boosted motor to compensate. OR just have US-and-everywhere-else specific powerplants.

I hope they can figure out some new engine technology. Even a Toyota Camry has more power than the A4, and doesn't Toyota have a 272 hp V6 that trumps the C-Class?

The question I'm struggling here with is the following: "Why do you need such big engines?"

the 'big' 3.2liter V6 FSI of the previous A4 already pumped out 255bhp, which gives it an electronic limited top speed of 166 mph, and 330Nm of torque giving you acceleration times of 0-66mph in 6.8sec. Isn't this enough for a mid-size car?

Another questiong: Forgive me for asking, but what's the speedlimit on highways in the US? I always thought it was 70mph, which works out to 105km/h, a terribly slow speed. This car was made for the Autobahn in Germany where you can actually take it to a nice 200km/h, without worrying that the suspension is going to give out. That's why you are paying $30000 instead of $15000 (here these same prices are in €, thus over 30% more)

The last remark: BMW, Audi and Mercedes are still on the edge of development, but this isn't in building bigger engines. They try to make the same performance for a smaller and more efficient engine. example: 2.0l TDI 140hp has a fuel consumption of 41mpg in combined cycle. You're almost right on the displacement tax, but it's a tax on the power of the engine, doesn't really make a lot of difference if it comes from a turbocharged 2L or a natural aspired 3L.

Steven

Steven,

I wasnt gonna bring this discution here again, but thanks, you said it all.

People dont realise that they almost never use this huge amount of power...

If you think you need more than 200hp in mid size car you probably dont know that this kind of car needs less than 30 hp to keep a steady 65mph on a plain road.
Even if your car is completly full and you are driving up hill you will never need more than 100hp to keep that pace. So you get 170hp from the TFSI, isnt 70%+ extra power enough?

If most of the people in germany (and man, they love speed) find this cars quite suitable for the autobahns, i think they are more than ok for a 70mph limited country..

I was under the impression that the 2.0l Direct injection mill was the standard engine for the US, and that nothing smaller than that mill was offered here, and that engine is plenty impressive, roughly 200 hp and 200 ft lbs of torque, compared to say a Civic Si which has roughly 200 hp and 140 ft lbs of torque, many of the Japanese V6 mills are also pretty light on Torque, the ones from oh so advanced Honda come to mind 290 hp and 250 ft lbs in the Acura TL, or the new G37, 330 hp but only 270 ft lbs. Low end acceleration comes largely from torque so most of the times the "power" from these engines goes largely unused. Audi also has a superb 4.2L V8 that puts out 420 HP, though to be fair the Torque output is pretty low at 317 ft lbs.

The problem is the 0 to 100

once you are moving, although it will take you a bit of time to get there, it will reach 125 MPH no problem.
the problem is getting there

Carlos

Americans like acceleration. It's not about the top speed for most people.

Also, I live in Colorado where the air is thin and the mountains are steep. It's nice having the ability to accelerate on interstate while driving uphill. I have a 2007 A4, and I like its acceleration & power. Now, they just need to get rid of the turbo lag.

Well,

Quoting:

Americans dont care for top speed. They like acceleration.
Thats sounds like a perfect modern turbo diesel.... oh, wait! americans dont like diesels...

Hum... maybe if some one came with a full size SUV with 900hp and very low ratio gearbox, that would be a hit...

For Carlos:

Yes, the 1.8 A4 is underpowered, I think everybody that gets an A4 should get at least the 1.8 Turbo. And i think audi saw that and they dont offer anything less powered than this turbo anymore.

I drove an A3 turbo (the one with 180hp) for a while, that car got a smile from my face everytime i pressed the gas..

The only high end german that gives you the power and torque for the money is the E46 m3. The new one is the biggest load of shit ive ever seen in my life..im srry to say that bmw reallly messed up with the new m3 and am more likely going to buy the 335 coupe which is way better than the garbage unleashed by BMW. Mercedes' C-amg beat it for Christs sake. i own a C55 amg and an 06 m3. BMW is supposed to be known for speed and mercedes for luxury but i guess they were too distracted on designing the new V8 335 thats coming out. Audi is basically the slowest Autobahn out.

I have a 2005 A4 AWD manual (1.8t), and honestly, i'm fine with the power. For me its not so much about the power as the handling. For those of us that don't pee ourselves going around corners at 80mph, an audi quattro can't be beat. I'd take my 'subpar' engine going around twisty roads than a high torque engine that doesn't have the handling.