Great sports sedan!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Awesome car, German feel, great handling

Cons: Small backseat

The Bottom Line: 
Great German sports sedan! Quattro is awesome!

Author's Review
I love my 2001 Audi A4 1.8T Quattro, it fits me like a fine suit. I compared the BMW 325Xi and for the same options it would have been $5000 more! The Audi has a much nicer dash layout and the Audi Quattro is a much better system than the BMW's. The Audi uses Torsen differentials while the BMW uses the brakes to limit wheel slip. My previous car was a BMW M Roadster and while the Audi can't compare in acceleration, the Audi seems to be better built. Any type of rain or snow got me VERY nervous in the BMW, the Audi just settles in for the ride. For pure sports driving BMW is hard to beat, but as a more "normal" sports sedan I think Audi has one up on BMW.
There are so many little things that point to an extreme level of throughness; the sunroof has a dial - turn it half way and the sunroof opens half way, the climate control is smart - doesn't blast you with cold air on a cold morning - it quickly warms the car more as the engine warms up, the seats are adjustable in height, the steering wheel moves up and down and telescopes, the door locks slide into position silently, the grab handles inside are silicone dampened so they don't slap against the roof when you let go. I could go on. I can't believe they can build the car for this much money. The 1.8 turbo engine is very different for me, but I am getting used to the flat torque band. The 4 year 50,000 mile bumper-bumper warranty and 4 year 50,000 mile all-inclusive maintenance sold me. No wonder Audi had it's best sales quarter ever.

* Update: I've now driven the car for over 1,000 miles
Love the car even more. It is not quite the barn-burner the M Roadster was, but I got to take my co-workers out to lunch and they loved the car. I have just now started to really push the engine (had to break it in you know) and it is sweet. I could see doing a chip upgrade after a few years, but for now I enjoy it for what it is; a well built German sports sedan. Still waiting for the first snow to really test out the Quattro. I also found out that the Quattro uses the brakes to limit the slip on each axle (EDL they call it), but the Torsen in the center differential is still a better design than the others.

* Update #2: I have over 11,000 miles on this baby and I am still in love. I got snow tires for the winter since Audi goes to great lengths to tell you that the sports package tires will suck in the snow (they used a few more "legal" words). I got a set of 4 Blizzack WS-50's on Audi steel rims from tire rack. With the snow tires on this car is a BLAST to drive in the snow. I know that snow tires can make any care better in the snow, but I think the A4 Quattro is at home in this type of weather. Out of the snow the tires have a bit of "wiggle" and I don't feel quite as confident at higher speeds. Everything is a compromise I guess. I haven't had ANY repair items on this car yet (see my review of the M Roadster if you want to hear about dealer visits). The free maintenance is great and the dealer even loaned me an A6 4.2L while my oil was getting changed at 10,000. That was a sweet car! Anyway, I am a firm believer in the Audi name and will be happy to talk to anyone about it.

Bradman
'01 A4 1.8T, Quattro, Sports, Cold, Premium

P.S. The picture they show is of the A4 sedan, not the Avant, which is a station wagon.