philm35

The other day I test drove a BMW 335d, and I have to say that I was blown away. The diesel's prodigious torque made the 3 series feel like it was powered by a huge V8. 36 MPG hwy. Smooth, quiet, huge, responsive power. The only thing that stopped me from writing a check on the spot was the lack of AWD, something I need in my hilly, snow-prone neighborhood.

Which brings up the question, why haven't we heard anything from Audi about an A4 TDI in the USA? If it's anywhere near as good as the bimmer diesel, it should sell like hotcakes. I was just on vacation in Europe, and saw Audi TDI's all over the place. Very frustrating.

Please, Audi... Sell me an A4 TDI!

--Phil

ItsDubC

+1. The A4 3.0TDI isn't as fast as the 335d but quattro + Audi interior = awesome. The A3 TDI has already won Green Car of the Year; I would think that that would spur Audi to release more TDIs stateside.

Zendriver

Isn't the current A3 TDI (US version) also FWD only? I remember configuring one with my friend who had the A3 on his short list of new cars, and that was the deal breaker. Has this changed for MY2011?

Why is that the case anyway? I seem to see a lot of diesels that do not incorporate the AWD of their regular fuel siblings. Is there an engineering difficulty in having both AWD and TDI in the same vehicle?

philm35

You are correct... the A3 TDI is FWD only. I don't know the reason. In BMW's case, it might be because that their diesel generates so much torque that their current AWD hardware will not handle it. Just a guess.

The lack of an A4 TDI in the USA is a puzzler to me... the car has existed in Europe for a couple of years, and the 3-litre engine is already approved for US use, as it is in the Q7.

So the TDI choices we're offered here is the overpriced, too small A3 or a very expensive, very large Q7, and the very expensive upcoming A7. An A4 TDI would fill the hole nicely.

--Phil