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The Audi A4 3.0 Test Drive

Author : team.BAR Posted on : 28/10/2004
Model : Audi, A4, 3.0 Category : Misc
Source : http://www.team-bar.com/
 
This is a little project that we decided to do-test drive BMW competitors (specifcally those cars targeted at the 3 series) and give our perspective from a BMW enthusiast point of view. Often times on enthusiast boads, we see post on how "this car sucks" or "that car sucks" based on 0-60 times from a magazine orfrom the fact that it may not be German or even a BMW. These judgements are often made without the poster actually driving the car.

The Test

The car: The Audi A4 3.0 Quattro

Test Driver: Pete

We headed to the Audi dealership in Silver Spring to sample what the Audi had to offer. After talking with the salesperson and asking questions about the car that were evidently over his head, he finally made the determination that we were car enthusiasts and handed over the keys, with a final request, "Guys, keep it under 100 mph, ok? And we close at six." (3:00 PM at the time)

Our tester: a 2002 Ming Blue Audi A4 3.0 Quattro with six speed Manual, Sport package, Power/memory heated seats and Bose stereo. Total price was a little over $34K. A very competitive price for a car with all of these features in the entry-level luxury class.

Exterior:
The Audi being out for quite some time still has a fresh look to it. I have always liked the styling that Audi provides, however, it was somewhat difficult to tell the difference from an A6 and the A4, since the cars share most of their styling cues. This was especially evident when we had our tester sitting right next to an A6. The A4 appears much larger than its predecessor both in length and width. The styling is clean and attractive while the rear end is a little touch and go. I did, however, like the dual exhaust tips (a nice sporting touch). The A4's exterior came with all the luxury market standard accoutrements-HIDs, foglights, etc. Since this car had the optional Sport package, it was shod with 235/45/R17 tires and the overall look of the car was quite attractive, devoid of the typical go fast exterior accessories that the Japanese companies are putting on their offerings. It was a bit disappointing that the ride height was the same, regardless of the addition of the sport package-there was a bit more wheel gap than I would like. It would have been nice if the car had a more aggressive stance than the standard version of the car. The car's clean, simple and understated look really sum up the car as a whole, regardless of review criteria (exterior, interior or performance)

Interior:
The interior of the car reflected the same styling attitude, with its clean dash mixed with a fairly cluttered center console. Although attractive, like a Mercedes, until you get to know where the functions of the car are, its better to set the AC system before you drive. From the driver's seat, everything is fairly sorted out ergonomically with the exception of the cruise control stalk. It is located exactly where you would expect the turn signal stalk to be and I found myself constantly hitting that in place of the turn signals during the test-drive. I also found that the accelerator was slightly offset to the right towards the center console-so much that there is an indentation in the console for the pedal. I found this slightly awkward and spacing or the pedals the made it difficult to heel/toe. Shifter feel is much better than the last iteration of the A4 where much of the play in the shifter has been reduced. The shifter still feels disconnected-vague and rubbery. The throw of the shifter was very long-too long. I felt as if I was shifting a truck but this could be due to the fact that I have a short shifter in my car (I even think the standard 3-series BMW shifter throw is too long). Aside from these points, the interior of the car was well constructed, felt very solid and the quality of the materials was high, as to be expected from a luxury car. The seats offered fairly supportive bolsters for cruising but were not acceptable for hard driving. While the lateral bolsters were ok, they were spaced very far apart. Rear legroom was ample even for taller passengers. The added girth of the vehicle was managed very well and the car felt very spacious. The trunk was absolutely caverous, by far eclipsing a 3-series. We estimated that you can fit 6 golf bags on the floor of the trunk easily.

Performance:
The test drive took place near 95, south of Columbia. We had the chance to take the car on some medium speed roads and highway. I exited the dealer's lot and immediately notice the lack of feel on the clutch and fairly long clutch travel. It aws much better than the last A4 I drove but still, nonetheless not completely addressed. Acceleration of the A4's 3.0 V6 engine left more to be desired. We were expecting more a guy feeling when we acclerated. The car felt a slower than we thought it would be especially with a 6-speed. Audi could have definitely have worked on gearing the car a bit better. Low end torque was fairly good but fell off right at the 3200 rpm range and was fairly linear after that. The suspension felt very soft for a Sport package car and offered a bit too much body roll. The brakes reacted in an instant to slow the car down but felt soft and did not provide enough feedback. As for steering, the on center feel was ok and turn in was fairly good. We did not drive aggressively enough (due to road traffic and route) to experience any understeer. On the highway, the car felt right at home at high speed and was very solid.

Overall:
I felt the car was primarily designed to be a comfortable cruiser. An oddity I found was that the Audi A4 sports package had similar ride qualities to a luxury packaged 325Ci in terms of stiffness and body roll. It was quite disappointing that the sport package on the Audi did not offer better seats and other equipment to make teh car different than that of the standard offering. The prevailing feeling that I received is that the visceral experience that is driving a car, has been largely engineered out of this car. The car's sensation of speed was very low, even at higher speeds.

Overall, I felt that this car is really targeted at a person who wants a luxury car cruiser. If you are a person that wants a luxury car with touring or sport in mind, you probably be disappointed with this car. The verdict? As a luxury cruiser, this hits the mark. It does everything to par but just doesn't shine discernibly above its competitor. For more info go to:

www. audiusa.com

Jed's Review:

I agree with Pete on his review of the car. When driving the car, there is a decent amount of thrust on the bottom end. However, it is not as bountiful as in the 330Ci or the G35 that I tested previously. As Pete said, the power doesn't really exist on the mid to top end-it seems to give good thrust at the bottom and taper off at around 3.5-4K rpm. Throttle response on the Audi 3.0 was not urgent as the other aforementioned cars either. The comparative dullness may be chalked up to the additional drivetrain drag of the Quattro system. Pete and I never took the car to 10/10ths of course, but the car does feel quite secure on long sweepers. As for body roll, I would have to say it is comparable to the M Technic suspension on the E46 Sport package, if not a tad softer. As for ride height? It's a Quattro, so of course buyers will find that it will not be lowered or slammed. Remember, Audi is selling to the luxury car masses that view this as a means for foul weather luxury transport. Quattros with "wheel tuck" make for a $30K+ snow plow. Besides, that's what the aftermarket is for.

The car was solid and had decent feedback, but I still concede superior feel to the G35 and the 3-series. The car was very quiet on the road, the engine and exhaust muted, much like the 323 and 328 when the E46 platform debuted in 1999. However, as 330 and 325 owners know, the soundtrack has comeback. Once we turned down the fan and the stereo, the engine did have a nice robust sound. Since it was a warm day though, it was a short-lived treat as the demand for cool air won. The shifter travel is rather long, compared to the BMW. The gates are not well defined, several times I had to make sure I was shifting into the right gear. While a slight improvement over the previous A4, new owners with sporty driving in mind should probably look into a UUC Motorwerks short shift kit.

As for styling, the new A4 is definitely evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Borrowing styling cues from the A6-effectively freshining up the A4 look will lend longevity to the look of this car, unlike Japanese revisions which immediately render a previous model obsolete. Not an exciting car to look at, but rather a familiar and conservatively handsome sedan.

The new Audi in a nutshell is a good competent car. Competent, but not exciting. One that does the task you ak it to without fuss. Does it do it with the visceral experience that a BMW provides? No. Would I but the Audi 3.0 over a 330? No. Personally, I thought the previous A4 did a better job as a 3-series fighter than this one. It was a tighter feeling car, with more driver involvement. Perhaps this is the new book of engineering to which German manufacturers seem to subscribe to. Not to incite an E36 vs E46 debate, but many have thought the same of the 3-series evolution as American tastes were catered to a little more thoughtfully (i.e. the 2001 MY 3-series steering debacle).

So far in my book of BMW competitors, the Infinity G35 has the leg up on at least one German car manufacturer. Let's see how the 3 pointed star does against them.
 

References

  • http://www.team-bar.com/
    •  


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