Since theres a bit of chatter about them atm I thought Id ask a few Qs. Ive been looking at these for a while as an upgrade, but frankly I cant find much solid info on the variety in the range to know whats good/best in performance and features.

Are the TDis better performers like for like with the petrols? I know the avants are simply estate versions, what are the other differences between things like sport and quattro 4WD?

Id be looking at 2L + probably, whether petrol or turbo diesel.

sport is just a trim level, like SE, quattro is obviously 4wd

personally if i was gonna get an a4 I wouldnt bother with a petrol version seeing as the 2.5 tdi has 170bhp, more than enough grunt to get you where you want to go

How much you wanting to spend?

Bored of the 5 already?!

Jaimz

clockd, most answers you are after will be found on http://www.whatcar.co.uk/

Id get a Skoda Octavia 1.8Turbo personally, fast and economical. Good cars and pretty much the same as A4s.

The diesels are super cheap and there are nice examples around too, not just 200K taxis.

Anything with the 1800 20V turbo will do - preferably with Quattro as well.

300bhp on standard internals is very easy on these.

Quote from: JaimzBored of the 5 already?!

Jaimz

Nah I wouldnt say Im bored of it. Just looking for something with a bit more comfort and refinement, but good performance too. The 5 is great fun (I had a lot of laughs plowing down a 4 mile narrow country lane in Wales at the weekend), but its not practical and wind noise, etc gets on your tits on long journeys (3-4 hours drives I do fairly regularly).

Im going to budget around 10k for one next year.

What Car? was alright but it didnt go into great detail about the variances and performance details, anyone know a good Audi forum?

vwvortex.com

Quote from: redvwvortex.com

Everyone on that forum seems to be a 3L driving American.

From sitting in one of my colleagues A4s theyre not terribly roomy inside (compared to Mondeo/Vectra family cars). The high doors give you a shut-in feel too. Id look at a 5 series diesel perhaps, though also youd want a hatchback/touring thingy for carrying those big ATCs when you get them

Quote from: Clockd 0Ne

Quote from: JaimzBored of the 5 already?!

Jaimz

Nah I wouldnt say Im bored of it. Just looking for something with a bit more comfort and refinement, but good performance too. The 5 is great fun (I had a lot of laughs plowing down a 4 mile narrow country lane in Wales at the weekend), but its not practical and wind noise, etc gets on your tits on long journeys (3-4 hours drives I do fairly regularly).

Im going to budget around 10k for one next year.

What Car? was alright but it didnt go into great detail about the variances and performance details, anyone know a good Audi forum?

Fair play mate, have a look at:

http://www.audifans.net/
http://www.audiforums.com/

Jaimz

Cheers for the Brit forum links

Quote from: CeathreamhnanFrom sitting in one of my colleagues A4s theyre not terribly roomy inside (compared to Mondeo/Vectra family cars). The high doors give you a shut-in feel too. Id look at a 5 series diesel perhaps, though also youd want a hatchback/touring thingy for carrying those big ATCs when you get them

ATCs will probably come the year after at this rate (I keep watching the SCM10/11s sporadically popping up on eBay)

I think the Avant style boot would be useful, but overall I dont like the estate look as much. Are the avants actually longer cars or is it all perceptual?

If roominess was an issue I was starting to consider the A6, but that opens up a whole other raft of questions. I think A4/A4 Avant is the way to go.

air traffic controllers?

Ive recently changed my mind over A4s, sure theyre nice and they have a certain status, but there are cheaper and better cars out there, the ford mondeo being one of them, the ST TDCis are fast, and they look nice too, plus theyll have all the equipment the A4 has and the servicing and parts will be cheaper too

ATC speakers

The new Mondeo is fab and all the reviews agree there, but the old one just doesnt have the looks and class to quite match up. Id take a new style Mondeo though I doubt Ill be able to afford one, compared to an Audi a few years old with a bit of mileage.