1) As most of you already know, I am having a hard time deciding between Tip and manual (almost ready to purchase 1.8TQS). I know the warranty period is 3 yrs/50K miles. Is the Tip covered under that warranty? The price to replace it is quite high!<br>2) What is covered under the warranty?<br>3) What do extended warranties go for?<br>4) Is the Tip slow? I will probably never AutoX the car. And I don't have a long commute. I drive the car at my leisure to and from stores and friends houses. What are the 0-60 times of this setup? (1.8TQTS..I know it's heavy!) I am an enthusiast of the car..but I'm not a racer. But I would like to kick ass a little against some asses on the road once in a while. <br>5) Will chipping it or Garrett's reprograming bring the car up to my expectations?<br>6)I know alot of you are into REAL SPEED with your A4's...but I get the feeling from you people that the Tip is REAL slow...I'm sure it's not THAT slow...is it?<br>I'm sorry for being a pain...but you guys are a real help to me in getting the best A4 for my $$$.<br>Later people!

we got the tip on the wheel and it's a blast. it solves the most annoying aspect of autos- the surprise shift. like a manual, you get that nice linear repsonse between throttle and speed. you don't have clutch braking, but the downshifting is really smooth and you can engine brake easily. tip's weird at first since it's a whole new way to drive, but it's pretty good. if you want to autoX then get the manual. otherwise, try them both out and go with what feels right.

Christian, I am not trying to sway you either way. I am just offering my personnal observations. My in laws have a 1998 2.8 with Tip, and I have a 1998 1.8T Manual, both are Quattro with the sport pckg. I have driven both of the cars alot. Even before I chipped my car it "felt" faster. That's not saying it IS faster, just feels like it. After I chipped my car it "feels" ALOT faster. It sounds like to me the manual would be the way to go for you. If I lived and worked in the city and had to drive in traffic alot I would definately get the Tip myself. I wouldn't worry about the warranty issues. Everything with the tranny is covered. As far as future maintenance cost. Who knows. Probably a trade off between clutches on the manual and Tip expenses.<p>RobS<br>98 Red 1.8T QMS Neu.

I have the 1.8Tq Tip and find the performance acceptable. It doesn't feel as fast as<br>my old Integra-5spd but tends to surprise me when it comes to high-speed passing<br>acceleration (60-80). That said, I do find the delay of the automatic annoying<br>sometimes. My previous cars have all had manual transmissions but after getting leg and back pain from all my clutching in heavy Bay Area traffic I decided to go auto.<br>I don't regret the decision but would much rather have less traffic and a stick if I could<br>choose! <p>Definitely test drive both and make sure you drive the auto long enough and in varying situations so you can see how comfortable it is for you. Good luck with your decision!<p>

I have a 2.8 with the tip. The 2.8 that I demoed over a weekend had about 2,500 miles on it and had decent pick-up. When my car arrived, however, it was incredibly sluggish. Zero to 10 was at a snail's pace and there was a bad lag after the shift into second gear. After about 3,000 miles, my A4 began "loosening-up." At about 7,000 miles, the lag was gone and the car had a much smoother an even acceleration. The A4 with a tip, however, is still not by any stretch of the imagination an "asphalt burner."<p>If you test drive a new 2.8 tip, it will seem pretty sluggish; but, will eventually "loosen-up." I am not sure whether the 1.8T has such a noticeable difference after break-in.<p>IMO, consider a 2.8 if you are going tip. The tip on a 1.8T has got to be an incredible drain.<p>The tip does shift a bit slow but is great for keeping the car in an optimal gear in tight corners and etc. Also, it is very nice to kick it over into auto mode when using the phone or eating.<p>It is shame that the tip decreases the A4's performance so dramatically. The 0 to 60 difference in a 328i with an auto and a 328i with a manual is very subtle compared to the A4.

i have a 1.8T with tip. i've also added a wett 1 bar chip and i feed it very high<br>octane fuel for maximum performance.<p>here are some points to ponder:<p>- a manual will give you better performance *ONLY IF* the driver is good enough<br>to fully exploit it.. which is easier: a full throttle standing start in an automatic<br>or a full throttle standing start in a manual? i won't deny that in a racing situation<br>a good determined driver in a manual will beat a similar driver in an automatic.<br>but for everyday driving where you're not going 100% the difference is probably<br>insignificant.<p>- same applies to fuel economy.. a manual will give better mpg *ONLY IF* the<br>driver is smart enough to drive economically. with a manual you can drive the<br>car in a low gear all the time and burn up lots of fuel. <p>- for dumb drivers an automatic with brains will give better performance and better<br>mpg.<p>- in manual mode the changes could be quicker. in auto mode the changes<br>are much faster than anyone could reasonably manage in a manual tranny.<p>- if you have a turbo, not lifting while shifting is good as the turbo won't have<br>to dump the boost.. the engine stays on boost while the car changes gears.<p>the reason why i got a tip is because i use the car primarily as a commuter and<br>the traffic is horrible here in seattle. with the 1 bar wett and good fuel, boost<br>kicks in early and i have absolutely no complaints about performance.. tell that<br>to a guy in a 2.8 that wanted to tail me... :)<p>

I had a real dilemma when buying a 1.8t a year ago. I came very very close to getting the tip because in theory it was the best of both worlds...automatic when I am in traffic and "manual" when I'm not. I drove both a few times and the tip is a lot less responsive and slower off the line. The tip on the steering wheel is a pretty cool change, although I've not driven those. <p>It came down to fun for me. I bought this car because it is fun. The tip sacrificed too much of that fun, so I got the 5 speed. I don't commute a long way every day and I live in Denver and go to the mountains a lot, so the power and control of the 5 speed was important to me. I think the "coolness" of the tip was what almost swayed me. What a great idea to have a manual and auto combo! I'm happy with my choice but the gadget freak in me would like to have a tip. good luck