I have owned my 99.5 A4 2.8L Quattro for about 6 months. Purchased with 80k miles, I think it has just about every option except the Bose stereo and Sport seats. These include power everything, leather, sunroof, etc., plus cold weather package, sport suspension and sport steering wheel.

I love and hate this car. Sometimes I can't wait to drive it--make up excuses to drive it; other times I find myself wanting to drive it over a cliff.

The Agony: The most irritating characteristic of this car must be the truly horrendous tach needle float between shifts, especially between 1st and 2nd gear. You have to sit there and wait for the revs to decrease before re-engaging the clutch. Not as bad from 2nd to 3rd. I've received various opinions regarding the source of this problem. Some say it's the 30 lb flywheel, others say emission controls. Maybe it's abnormal, but my dealer says everything checks out. I drove a 98.5 that was not as bad, but that A4 was supercharged with the PES G2 whose effect on this characteristic is unknown to me. The severity of the problem seems to change with weather conditions. A mystery--and infuriating.

Then there is the clutch behavior. The zone of engagement is very narrow, making shifting with finesse difficult and exhausting, especially when downshifting from 3rd to 2nd. If the clutch plates are not closely synched, you get a beautiful THUD in the drive-train. This can occur in any shifting condition, but is especially critical up and down shifting below 3rd gear, and in reverse. I've been driving manual transmissions for 35 years and have never encountered a set-up that is this critical. There seems to be quite a bit of slop in the drive train. The engine mounts look good. I'm thinking Audi opted for more drive train isolation in the pursuit of smoothness and quietness. Perhaps better mounts and a drive train stabilizer would help this condition. (The shifter does a have a very satisfying, quality feel to it. The gates are well defined. In this respect, shifting is a pleasure.)

Next there are the seats and foot well. I've never gotten used to these seats. They feel like they should go another 6 inches up my back, and I'm only 5'8". I should mention that my previous car was an 89 SAAB 900S whose seats provided support all the way to my shoulder blades.
Additionally, I think the peak of the lumbar support should be about 2" lower. That's the maddening thing about the seats and other aspects of this car--A few minor changes here and there and it would be perfect (some, not so minor!). The center console is too wide and projects about 2" too far into the driver side foot well. This results in virtually unavoidable contact with my right leg and creates a feeling of restriction and fatigue.

Other gripes: My door windows are a nightmare. All are scratched to some degree, especially on the driver's door, and all 4 power windows squeal--inducing a reaction that is like finger nails on a chalk board. The driver's side rear door window clicks and clacks while going up or down. I'm not going to lay this at Audi's feet, considering the car's mileage, and unknown ownership history (Yes--my mistake). I'm sure some serious work can cure these problems, but they are maddening and I've read of other owners having squealing problems as well. Not befitting a car of otherwise generally high quality.

Black leather interior: Black leather is perfect when the temp is about 66 deg F. Other than that, I'm either sticking to it from sweat or freezing. Of course, the heated seats are wonderful. My SAAB had these and are a must (southern PA). To reduce the problems at either temp extremes, I have a towel twixt my caboose and seat, but never again black leather. It's like driving inside a hot wallet in the summer.

The wind-shield washer fluid jets are mounted in the worst possible position, and tend to drift in position. Actually getting water onto the windshield is an art-form.

The alarm system has been horrendous. I've had most of it disabled, but still have the remaining enabled system go off randomly, which disables starting of the engine. That's when I get out the sledge. ...


The Ecstasy:
This Audi is truly solid on the highway. It has a command of the road, especially around 75 mph and up, that is superior to everything else I've driven, including a BMW 328i. It is extremely smooth, tight, solid, and quiet on the highway. Others have reported rattles and noises, but my sample has absolutely none of these problems.

This A4 has a sporty feel that exists under all driving conditions. The sport suspension package is almost perfectly sprung for my tastes. Running Potenza RE950's on the 7 spoke 16" wheels, driving our numerous country roads at a "brisk" pace is always exhilarating. The Quattro system has a feel like no other, even on perfectly dry roads.

The overall drivability of the car is close to perfect, with two not surprising exceptions, excluding the quirky shifting troubles: It does have some under steer and body roll in turns. I gather the non-sport suspension package is much worse in these areas. It does not corner as well as the 328i, nor does it provide that tactile road to driver feedback; but I felt that this A4 had the superior ride over-all. More command, more boldness. I also thought the V6 2.8L engine had more punch and smoothness than the BMW's in-line 6 cyl. (The Audi's V6 may be the best part of the car. It is smoother, creamier and better behaved than anything I've driven. This 99.5 version is rated at 190 hp, and I will say that it provides very good power. It is not a monster, but it is most definitely not under-powered. You will not be consistently down-shifting while going up hills.)

Audi's choice of steering components produce a feeling of extreme tightness. There is not a hint of slop in the mechanisms. A bit of steering heaviness does occasionally beg for a tad more boost, but increasing the tire pressure to 35 lbs all around helps this considerably, and improves under steer a bit.

I have no significant complaints about the interior, other than the caveats mentioned above. Contrary to other reports, I find the controls to be quite intuitive. The stock sound system is acceptable, and the A/C is the most powerful I've ever experienced in a car. The black leather interior with burl wood trim really scream sporty, sensuous luxury. It's just too bad actually sitting on leather is generally inferior to sitting on a plain old towel, in my opinion!

Conclusion: You see why I find this chunk of Euro-steel to be such a mixed bag. Will I keep it? Probably. I'm a performance driver and need a driver's car. I sample other cars on occasion in hopes of finding something better and always conclude that this A4 is superior, even with my significant complaints in mind. So if we had a more complex rating system, I would rate it 5 out 5 stars on some days, and 2 out of 5 the rest. Depends on where I'm driving, if I'm hitting the shifts properly, etc.

I know this may not be terribly helpful, but this is simply the case in my experience. If you're going to be doing a lot of highway cruising--4.5 out of 5 stars, but if you're mostly going to be slogging around in downtown traffic, I think I'd pass, especially the manual transmission version.

In any case, clearly worth a test drive.










Amount Paid (US$): 14500
Condition: Used
Model and Options: A4 2.8L Quattro, Cold weather, sport suspension