SForJay

I too am in Sales and on the road quite a bit including much time spent in traffic in Chicago. Add to that the fact that it also serves as a family wagon the Tip is my preference for this car. Sure, I much prefer a manual tranny for sporting fun, but sometimes you have to make a compromise. When I get the approval to purchase a mid-life crisis sports car it will definitely have a maunal transmission.

CCRoader

For all the same reasons as you, I went for a tip and ended up getting a 4.2 after trying the 2.7 first. I didn't really notice the tip problems so much on the 2.7, but overall, the tip on the 4.2 just seems smoother, and with sport mode or auto-manual, there's plenty of quick power when you want it. I'm lucky, my wife drives a 6sp A4 which I can take out when I need a manual fix. Otherwise, commuting through heavy traffic and highway miles are perfectly fine with the tip.

allroadbryan

I just drive on "D" 99% of time. I'll get a stick when I buy a real sports car

allrat

I don't seem to have a lot of the issues others complain about, or at least not as bad. Maybe because mine's an 03 (2.7T) and newer ar's got better programming, I'm not sure.

I have some minor complaints - the slight delay waiting for drive to engage coming out of reverse, and sometimes there's a brake throttle lag, but it's very slight.

My last car was a 98 Legacy GT wagon w/ 5sp man. I drove a stick because of the better control and automatics were only 3 or 4 speeds. Now with most automatics having manual modes like the tip and having 5 speeds, sticks are getting close to obsolete, IMO. Having a stick is sometimes more entertaining, but also got a little tiresome for me.

Best thing to do - TEST DRIVE and see for yourself if it's an issue.

audiallroadin'

S mode is acceptable, but I still prefer tip mode. I had to get a tip because my wife wouldn't learn to drive stick. You may find the tip acceptable, ecpecially if you're on the road a bunch, but if you're used to driving a manual transmission and love it, you'll be missing something.

Really miss my A4 2.8 5 spd.

moto-one

(lag between D and R)is the bigge with me but you learn to live with it. The rest of the time it rocks...

vespascuta

Hopefully I'll move from lurking & occasionally asking to "making it official" before too long.

Cheers,
Chris

avantdoug

would be better w/ paddles and radio control on steering wheel. oh well can't have it all, almost though.I'm lucky in my job to brive several cars a day w/ all sorts of tranny/engine combos.

JDNAR

For me, allroad is the perfect cruiser w/ tip. BTL doesn't bother me as much since I don't drive aggressively when I'm in the ar. I simply just get acustom to the BTL and drive accordingly.
When my gf finally get her license by the end of this year, ar will be hers. By then, I'll be shopping for MY car. A convertible w/ manual trans. Still haven't decide b/w boxter s, SLK or Z4M.

jb3pin

But between my line of work and also transporting my child I felt the TIP offered less of a distraction under these circumstances. But it's handy when needed, I find it hady when I need to accelerate quickly and BTL is a problem in D mode.