Germans know beer and cars!

Author's Rating:

Pros: German engineering, tons of fun to drive, very safe, beautiful car

Cons: 1.8T engine can be a little sluggish at times, little back seat room

The Bottom Line: 
I give the A4 1.8T quattro, cinco stars! Head and shoulders above the competition.

Author's Review
This is my 2nd A4 and I love this 2001 1.8T to death! Before I begin, let me just get you up to speed on the car and its options:
1.8T turbocharged inline-4 engine with a manual transmission
SPORT PACKAGE(lower ride height, stiffer suspension, foglights and 17" wheels)
COLD WEATHER PACKAGE (heated seats and washer jets, heated mirrors and door locks as well as a ski-sack)
CELEBRATION PACKAGE (sunroof, quattro AWD, metallic paint)

I am a big driving enthusiast, and looked at several other cars out there including the other 2 German stallwarts BMW and Mercedes Benz. I found this car to be the best value and provide the most fun for the best price. Sure, MB's are more luxurious, BMW's perform better in certain categories, but Audi is a great hybrid mix of the 2.

The Good:
What a blast to drive. The car is very nimble, has great mid-range acceleration and is so smooth. At 80mph (don't tell the authorities about me) the car feels like it is going about 60 and changing lanes at high speed reminds you of driving on the Autobahn. While just a hint sluggish in the low RPM's, as soon as you hit about 2500 and the turbo kicks in it's pure bliss.

The interior is very nicely appointed and offers many great amenities, such as the coolest cupholder I have seen, next to Mercedes' engineering masterpiece. The "leatherette" is very nice and not a comprimise at all. The red lighting and the ultra visible dash is extremely nice at night.

The exterior is a looker and a great not-so-common look; there are far less Audi's out there than there are MB's or BMW's. I love the headlights (which are the standard, not xenons) and they provide 180 degrees of illumination and a nice even line on the pavement in front of you. It's a feature I don't find on many other cars and I'm thankful I have it. A little thing that I love is that the mirrors dim at night, including the rear-view, which is great safety and cuts down on the obnoxiousness of nighttime driving. Oh, by the way, that is an option on BMW. Other Audi standard equipment/BMW-options include folding rear seats, front and rear map lights, CD player, the list goes on!

The warranty rocks the free world! All you have to shell out for 45K miles (i think that's the #) is gas and tires...that's it. Not that you really need it that much as the car is very dependable and solid as a rock, but it's a great feature of this car. You never have to pay for tune-ups, oil changes, wiper blades, headlights, you name it.

The car is safe as can be. As I mentioned in the opening, this is my 2nd Audi...not by choice. I was involved in a wreck and the old car was totaled. I escaped with no bumps, bruises or whiplash...the car did it's job protecting me and was a main factor in going back to Audi. The quattro AWD system could be classified here under safety, too. Besides being totally fun to tear up windy roads with, it provides incredible traction and sure footed driving in less than admirable conditions. I live in the midwest and this thing is awesome in the snow. SUV's have nothing on this car and I've never felt more safe on icy roads than when I'm driving this car.
----------------------------------------
The bad:
The only real complaint I have about the car is the lack of rear seat room. Sure, I'm never back there, but if I have to cart people around, I look like an old lady jammed right up on the steering wheel because the seat is so far forward.

Another minor complaint is the turbo lag that results in some rather sluggish acceleration. Keep your RPM's up on this baby, or you'll find yourself downshifting very fast. But, this is all taken care of by purchasing an aftermarket engine chip which jumps the car's HP 37 up to 207 and bumps the torque up to 245/ft lbs. A nice $500 upgrade if you can afford it and feel comfortable installing it in your car.
----------------------------------------
The ugly:
I can't think of anything! OK, here's one: if you have a darker colored car it can get dirty pretty quick...but what dark car doesn't?! Nothing ugly about this car.
----------------------------------------

I have nothing but good things to say about this car and I'm very glad I bought it over some of the other competition. If you are looking for a car that is luxurious, not snotty, and a fun car to drive that is solid as a rock, you need to give Audi a look. The A4 is one of the automotive world's hidden little secrets.