GTA_Driver

Stock, the A4-based Allroad is a faster car. Plus it has coils for suspension, which make the car feel so much more planted and composed. Being lighter doesn't hurt either. And it has shocks that are dampened just right, or at least better, compared to the boat-like dampening of our C5 ARs.

Tik-Tok

Nothing $1g wouldn't fix.

mendelo

[QUOTE=medimike1;24342147] It's much more refined QUOTE]

That's an interesting statement. A brief explanation is needed. What I was driving before I got the allroad was a 90 Jeep GrandWagoneer. Tough ? Definitely. Thirsty? Absolutely. But refined never even entered the equation. After that, driving the allroad was (and remains) an absolute revalation in refinement.Smooth and quiet v6, silent on the highway, every bit of switchgear feels nice to operate, so, to my admittedly limited experience the allroad seems the epitome of refinement.

It's not that I am doubting you, it's just that all your other points make sense (lighter, more tossable etc) but much more refined I was not expecting and so the seven intervining years of development must really have made older models seem ancient.

medimike1

I appreciate your comments. Compared with C4s I've had, definitely more refined. When we had the C5 allroad and the C4 A6 wagon, we almost didn't want to drive the C4 because of how much better the C5 was. And I'll be the first to tell you how much I absolutely loved my C4 100CS with the 5MT.

Compared to C5s, the B9 is not as big of a revelation. But aside from the V6 vs. I4 sound, the B8 allroad compared with the C5 allroad is quieter, smoother, more taut. The C5 is certainly not what I'd call inferior, but it does feel like it was designed 10 years earlier.

But like I said before, the C5 allroad is still a favorite of ours, and it's still in our daily driver pool.