Audi 1.8T test drive

["John Hamill" <jhamill@tiac.net>]

I posted this to the water cooled group also but thought I'd throw it out
here too.

I test drove an Audi A4 1.8T today. My impressions (I currently own a 1994
Jetta GLX with some mods):

1. Overall summary: If you already own a VR6 Volkswagen, keep it. To get a
significantly better car, you need to go to the A6 (or perhaps the 2.8 A4).

2. The suspension in the Audi is what a VW wishes it had. The Audi is much
smoother, tighter and overall drives better - as it well should with the
double wishbone front end. My Jetta with the aftermarket tweaks handles
pretty well but the Audi is more refined. It takes bumps extremely well.
The car I drove had the optional 16" wheels with 205-55/16 tires.

3. The engine is a bit course and not that powerful - a VR6 dusts it. The
engine would definitely need tweaks - from what I've learned an ECU upgrade
can bring the 1.8T close to 200hp. It needs it. I repeatedly floored it and
held it there though the engine's powerband - it just doesn't deliver much
of a push. The VR6's midrange is much sweeter.

4. The interior is smaller than my Jetta GLX. The rear seating and headroom
is very limited. The roof is curved and as it curves down to the back the
rear room goes away. I'm 6'5" and I also found trouble with front leg room.
The console in the Audi is much wider than the Jetta's and it robs much
lateral leg room. You find your leg constantly rubbing the console. It was
irritating for me. 

5. The luxury level is definitely higher - quieter inside, climate control,
nice Bose stereo. A lot of the controls on the steering wheel column
(cruise etc) look like they came off a VR6 VW.

6. The shifter was shorter throw than the VW and a little tighter - I think
advantage to the Audi here.

7. The brakes on this car were extremely good - better stopping power goes
to the Audi.

8. Price on a non-Quattro 1.8T is typically $27k - you can't control the
options you are getting because these cars are in demand and under
supplied. The ones I found had another $2k-4k worth of options over the
base $22.9k.

9. I found it irritating that Audi chips you for things like the trip
computer ($250). The VR6 VW's include it as standard equipment. Audi's base
price of $22,900 for the 1.8T is very misleading in my opinion.

10. I think the top of the line cheapo VW (the Jetta GLX) is in many ways
as good as or better than the bottom of the line luxury VW (Audi 1.8T). The
VR6 is definitely a more rewarding engine. The Jetta has a better engine,
more interior room, and a much easier price, and has most of the options
the Audi has except for the climate control.

11. The sales people and especially the sales manager were rather demeaning
and condescending, even if they offered a good trade in for my Jetta (they
didn't) I wouldn't buy from them.

12. I read of someone selling a VR6 GTI in this group earlier to buy an A4,
so I figured it must be a lot better of a car. I'll keep my Jetta.