iflywoe

2006

B-Town

I think Art234 says it all, really. Its not often you hear bigger, more powerful and more fuel efficient in the same sentence but leave to the Germans to figure it out.

In terms of AWD (if it really matters to you) few companies have put more into it than Audi and Subaru (I now own both) so the others are merely following. IMO

Interior is a hands down winner in the A4. They've done such a tremendous job at blending technology with ergonomics that you really tend to forget about it all and just drive the car. And its qiuet.

I found online inventories inaccurate so you may have to make calls to find 6mt's but I'm sure you will.

Audi Care is also a reasonable addition if so inclined.

Happy hunting!

Macallan21

Indeed.... go on a test drive with all of these cars that you are interested in. If you want a ton of interior room, take a look at the BMW 535xi.

Toecutter

I have a 2007 WRX along with my A4. My two kids are ages 8 and 5.

The Subie is much faster in a straight line than the Audi, but nowhere near as good for long drives. The Audi is more comfortable, quiet, roomy, and steady at speed. The kids have more room in the backseat of the A4. Although the WRX is a hatch (or wagon or wtf you want to call it), the A4 trunk I think has more cargo space unless the back seat of the WRX is folded down. Audi quattro is better on snow and ice too.

docboy

I appreciate all the excellent and sound feedback thus far! Very good analysis on the competition. Keep it coming, if you can, the more the merrier

I will be calling around to see if any 6MT are available for a test drive; even if not, I will test an automatic.

I've always been partial to Honda/Acura. If the A4 is as good as I read it to be, and anywhere near the above average reliability CR gives it (at least for years 2006, 2008 ), we may have a winner

Art234

To answer your questions, my car was custom ordered for me on 4/25 and I took delivery 7/21...I got prestige, wood and driver assist...definitely not a configuration they'd order for stock...

My car is a tiptronic--I live near NYC too much traffic for a manual....

This is the first time I had a car built to order, and I am VERY happy with my dealer and the entire sales experience.

Good luck to you--I hope you wind up in an Audi.

Austin A6 3.2

I have never driven any of the cars you are looking at, but from a purely "aesthetics" point of view, the Acura TL (almost any Acura for that matter) must be one of the ugliest cars on US roads I have ever seen, from the front and the back.

I did sit in an IS250 recently, and I love the "cooled" seats - too bad Audi doesn't offer that in the US on the A4 line (only Q5 and A8 AFAIK). With the temperature here in TX reaching 100F+ every day since the beginning of June, I would happily pay for that option.

Just my 2 cents ...

Macallan21

Yeah, I'm really happy with the feature set on the A4... but cooled seats, heated rear seats, and heated steering wheel are things they could add.... in the Midwest those would be AWESOME!

SFV A4

The IS is a lot of car for the price. Pushbutton start, cooled seats, wood trim, 18" wheels, LED tag lights, etc. But the driving experience is more Asian than German. So in the end, you do get what you pay for.

mart242

I had a 2002 impreza 2.5RS (same seats as WRX) and a 2005 impreza 2.5RS wagon (regular impreza seats). They were friggin terrible for any trip more than an hour. I traded in the 2002 for the A4 and what a difference. Do NOT buy the impreza if you're looking for comfort.

Another point: the impreza is incredibly NOISY (wind and road noise) which is annoying as hell on the highway. Not, I can listen to radio, wife and kids talking all at the same time and no one needs to scream