Audi owners? (former & current)

[MC Hammered]

I own a B6A4 Avant to take me to the mountain and back and it is sweet.

Lots of room for gear, put on some snow tires and the wagon is like a tank.

In stock form the 1.8t is pretty slow since it is a heavy pig but you can mod it out a lot depending on how much $$$ you want to dump into it. If you want to save money then buy the NA version.

[Rau]

As an owner of a 2001 A4 1.8T Quattro, I say buy the 2.8.....

[Hey_You]

Former owner of a B5 A4 quattro 30v 6'er...tiptronic (<---- don't make this mistake). Has good grunt, very good in the snow (B5's have a common problem with their ABS pump failing, you can have them rebuilt for about...$200) up until the ABS pump failed. Then it got hairy as the traction control is all centered around that pump. I had mine lowered on some neuspeed sports and on 18's, still comfortable but gripped like a mofo (using cheap Kuhmos) If you plan on keeping it stock, then go with the v6, if you plan to modify it at all, go with the 1.8t. If you plan on going S4, sell the heads and put the 30v 2.8l heads on it for more power after you replace the blown K03 turbos.
Only picture I have, but loved it, it was the road trip machine (Did I mention that they off-road like a mofo? I could get that thing into crazy places people wouldn't want to take their trucks)

[Wh33lhop]

I still dont' understand what's so great about these cars?...esp. given the shoddy reliability in comparison to e30's...

http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/audi/a4/

different strokes I guess.

Nothing appealing about an 11 second road trippable sedan with a great interior, zero drivability or traction issues that's also good in the snow? Not to mention the sound you can get out of them... given, they have some quirks, but it's a tradeoff.

[Stanley Rockefeller]

I still dont' understand what's so great about these cars?...esp. given the shoddy reliability in comparison to e30's...

http://www.carsurvey.org/reviews/audi/a4/

different strokes I guess.

[e30serg]

Current owner of an '00 S4. I got it last year but have not had a chance to take it up to Tahoe. This year for sure though. I can't really comment on stock power since mine is an APR Stage 3 car. It's pushing 450HP on 93 octane. It's also on coilovers so it drives pretty solid.

I can tell you that it does feel pretty solid though, and much quieter than my 325is. Nicer for long drives. The buddy I got it from used to have a 99.5 A4 too. He couldn't be more impressed with it in the snow. He had hit chipped-it wasn't too expensive and got a decent amount of hp. From what I hear, chipping a turbo car is pretty easy and it gets you a ton of bang/buck

What about an Avant version (Wagon). Tons more room for gear...

[e30lov]

I had a 98 2.8Q 5 speed with the 30v. It started every day, & sounded amazing with a magnaflow muffler. The only issue I had with the car was trying to stop in the snow. This car never got stuck no matter how hard i tried, however I shat bricks multiple times trying to stop the thing when the roads were covered in snow..

by far the most fun and most comfortable daily i have ever owned. (yes even more then the 540.)

[T Verdier]

Both fairly easy and well documented. The 1.8t obviously has more room in the engine bay though.

Lol it has inches of room instead of mms!

an IX will not magically lose its awd capability simply because you installed h&r sports.

your real argument is that lowering it will cause it to lose its GROUND CLEARANCE. lowering a car does not defeat the purpose of awd. the porche carrera 4S is pretty damn low to the ground, and its awd too.

I think he is saying he needs ground clearance and e30 look stupid with ground clearance.

[Raxe]

Get an A4 Quattro with the 2.8.

[91 318is]

quattro = fun :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt_7KTG9iyc

Awww man that looks like fun!

I'm trying to figure out the best way to explain this......

I don't plan on modding anything on the car. I want the AWD for snow situations, so I don't want to lower it, although if I do, it will be a very small drop. Performance wise, I don't plan on doing much at all to the car. At the most, chip, exhaust and intake, but that's pushing it.

Just want a solid sedan that will perform in the snow if I come into that situation and get decent gas mileage.

[DÌEGØ]

B5 = sleepers ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d57FDLON_o

quattro = fun :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt_7KTG9iyc

[DÌEGØ]

I heard they have awful turbos that need rebuilding after low amount of miles. People put in different ones all the time

yeah the stock turbos [KO3s] are known to go out all the time [specially if chipped and/or driver is just hard on them] and on the S4 you have to pull the engine to replace. on these cars you better be very DIY inclined or have some deep pockets because parts aren't necessarily cheap and labor will rape you in the bum bum. what most people do is go with the K04 turbo[s] out of the RS4 which are much better and also make quite a bit of power ;)

Seems like the 1.8T's are more available, specially in 5 speed's. I don't plan on doing much modding at all, maybe a chip, and other very small mods. I wanna keep it pretty stock, just looking for a solid, reliable car. I've heard the 2.8's are great engines too. I've also heard that the 1.8T's are notorious for building excessive slug in the engines too.

Is there a big power difference between the 1.8T's and 2.8's?

I want something with decent power, so that's why I'm leaning towards the 2.8.

both the 1.8t and 2.8 are VERY good engines. the thing is that 1.8t is pretty particular about its maintenance & if it didn't see regular oil changes [specially the early 1.8s] it does tend to build up sludge.

[IIRC] power wise the 1.8t pushes 150hp, 170ish if its the later model. the V6 has 170 for the 12 valve and 193 for the 30v. but if you plan on installing a chip you can raise either of these motors to about the same power [~210]. you might be able to gain 5hp more with exhaust/intake out of the V6 but for more you'll be looking into F/I; whereas the 1.8t has a lot more room to grow so if you are looking for big numbers the 1.8t is the way to go....

[Kershaw]

an IX will not magically lose its awd capability simply because you installed h&r sports.

your real argument is that lowering it will cause it to lose its GROUND CLEARANCE. lowering a car does not defeat the purpose of awd. the porche carrera 4S is pretty damn low to the ground, and its awd too.

[91 318is]

Hmm, maybe I should test drive both and feel the difference myself.

Anyone else?

[Raxe]

Both fairly easy and well documented. The 1.8t obviously has more room in the engine bay though.