RERER

STORY: I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and decided not to be a lemming and get Japanese car (no offense, they are excellent cars, I'd get one but there are so many). I also wanted a Camaro Z-28, but fuel and insurance on a 305HP RWD V8 would not be cheap. So I looked around the net and the A4 caught my eye. It was some much different than all other cars and there are very few of them in my area (like maybe 6, as opposed to the 400 odd Accord, Integra, Civics). Seeing that there is no Audi dealer anywhere near me I came here to do most of my research before I go take a test drive.

The first thing I noticed is that they are not cheap cars, if all goes well in the next couple of months I will have a maximum amount of about $24,000 to finance a new car with.

I’m a performance freak, I like a car that has a distinct advantage over other cars. It would be great to have new car but the only new one I could possibly get would be the 1.8TQ. From what I have read on this forum it lacks a bit of power and needs to be chipped from day 1 to give it a good level of performance. The 2.8Q, from what I have heard it pretty good out of the box, but if I were to get one of those it would have to be a used one,(I know to get the 20 or the 30v because the 12 lags a lot)

I haven taken a test drive yet and my reason for not doing so is that I prefer to get some legitimate information from an owner of a car before driving, somewhere around 2-2.5 hours, to go take a test drive. Only to become disappointed from not doing my homework on the vehicle.

Any information you could provide me with would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
RERER

Roger B

The 1.8T has the greater performance potential for a reasonable amount of cash. A chip for several hundred bucks will make the 1.8T faster than a 2.8. If that isn't enough for you, you can install a larger turbocharger later.

The 2.8 is more luxorious than sporty, and I would describe it as satisfyingly brisk, not fast. But you are not going to improve the performance significantly without dropping $5000 on a PES supercharger.

Besides, wouldn't you rather have a new A4 with free maintenance for 3years/50,000 miles, rather than a used A4 with no warranty?

- Rog

'99 Silver 2.8QMS