gk1

Had a fun day at the Pocono Audi Driving Expereince. It's quite well organized for the large crowd they had there.

Goodies :-)

- $500 off 2009 A4 purchase with your badge
- Free hat after filling out a short survey

The only downside was it wasn't long enough. I'd really equate it to more of a very short "track day" than an extended test drive. There's not enough time to really play with the car in real world scenarios. But I guess that's why it's called a "driving experience" and not a test drive.

Anyway...

In the comparitive test the A4 is the clear winner. Interior, performance, handling...everything.

My personal ranking would be as follows:

1- Audi
2- BMW
3- Lexus
4- MB

Since I'm a pessimist I'll just indicate what I didn't like about the competitors.

<u>BMW</u> - Same interior styling circa 8+ years ago. Lacking in power and handling compared to the Audi. (No shock there and has been discussed to death.) The automatic shifted poorly and almost didn't seem like it was in the right gear. Steering was simply OK but not even up to M standards of 14 years ago.

<u>Lexus</u> - Interior styling is bad. Perhaps I'm not a progressive enough guy, but I just plain didn't like it. (Forward sloping door controls?) Lacking power...obviously. Very stiff and odd feel to the steering. (Also the only car someone spun.)

<u>MB</u> - This thing was a pig. It wallowed around every corner and had such odd light steering that it made you feel unsafe and want to slow down for every turn. The interior was not up to MB standards of days past and again was not to my (or my wife's) taste. I think my cell phone LCD was larger than the provided screen hidden behind the dash cubby hole.

The Audi simply did everything right. Power was excellent. Shifting was smooth, fast, precise. Handling was phenominal and braking was equally awesome. All while in the best looking and best functioning interior by far. Unfortunately I didn't get as much time as I would have liked to experiment with Drive Select, but I could definitely tell a difference between opposite ends of the spectrum (comfort and dynamic) "Auto" might be harder to tell, but could ultimately be the best all-around setting. (Which I think is exactly what Audi was aiming for.)

Some questions asked were:

Will Audi offer a 6MT 2.0Tq?
Yes (Not news here.)

Will you be able to get Drive Select with S-Line?
Yes (Again. Not news here.)

How much is Drive Select?
$2700.
(Although we here know it's listed as $2950 on the website and is really $3000.) This answer made me realise it was not worth asking about production delays, but it's understandable it is not their position to know everything.

Definitely a worthwhile experience.

SFV A4

Good report. Right on about the MBZ cubby hole gauges and sloping Lexus window switches.