After three happy weeks --- and 2600 miles --- of driving my 99.5 silver 1.8MS Avant, a couple of practical considerations for potential buyers. Not that "practical" comes to mind too often --- and certainly not in this forum! But, after a lot more years driving than most readers of this forum, I suspect, have on this earth, I'll throw in a couple of more mundane thoughts.

Silver is a beautiful color on a car, but Audi has taken it a few steps beyond "beautiful"; this car literally glows. Don't know how they did it, and don't need to know. The finish is incredibly well done. That said, silver will highlight every speck of road tar and gunk that gets splashed on it; after a very wet and messy week negotiating Washington, DC's potholes and poorly maintained pathways we call "roads", my silver beauty was covered with splotches of tenacious tar and other ugly, mystery stuff which I probably wouldn't want to identify, anyway. Took a long time and a lot of tar'n'bug cleaner to get the spots off --- but off they did come. It's just something to think about, I guess. (This past week's thread on mudguards came to mind as I was cleaning the sides of the rear bumpers, and, at the risk of spoiling the aerodynamics or even the aesthetics of the car, I'm going to have to look at them, I guess.) Do I regret buying the silver A4? Hell, no! It's a gorgeous car! Just going to need a lot more cleaning than I'd normally give a vehicle. (With almost 40 years' driving experience in VWs, some ancient Talbots and Austins, a Mini Cooper, a Borgward, several Audis, a Volvo [momentary insanity], and a few very practical [and one very good] rice-burners, washing cars has not remained a daily religious practice for me, as it appears to be with some of our more dedicated forum members!)

Other considerations: the five speed is terrific; it's a personal consideration, but I'd have paid a premium to get it. And finding it was hard. There's a connectedness in the manual box that I didn't ever feel in the Tiptronic, as interesting and "non-automatic" as it feels.

Add in the AWD feature of the Quattro, and you have a beautifully handling vehicle in any and all on-road considerations. A practical "gotta-have", not just for snow and ice but urban guerilla taxi-avoidance maneuvers in our nation's Capital, as well. (Most Washington taxi drivers were trained on third world roads by fourth world instructors.)

Red lighting: as an old military pilot, I spent a lot of years staring at red guages. It's what we had. It's all we had. It was good for us, said the flight physiologists. Now they know better: low, variable levels of white lighting are better for night vision. And as my night vision deteriorates, I'd be very happy to sacrifice the "starship" quality of my red-lit A4 cockpit for some nice dim, white lights. If you're looking at the 99.5 vs. a Y2K car --- which, I believe, has gotten away from the all-red instrumentation --- it's something else to consider.

The Bose sound system is great. Not sure it was $1000-great for me, 'cause with a lot of time in old military aircraft --- particularly in helicopters --- comes a significant loss in the higher acoustic ranges as part of the territory. Not so today, but, if you're an old fart and have lost a lot of ranges --- or, if you're a kid and have lost all acoustic sensitivity to rock concerts --- you could consider putting that $1000 into the sports package and at least see and feel the difference that those improvements make as you crank up the stock --- and very nice --- sound system. (I remember clearly when getting an FM feature in a car radio was a really big deal --- and stereo? More than one speaker? Wow! So you can see my biases.)

"Practical" is: doors that open much wider than any other, and stay there when wanted; cabin lights that ease on when the engine is turned off; a little light under the rear view mirror for checking the time on the watch when the red-lit, one inch diameter clock is too hard to read; a ski sock for my wet paddles at the end of long day kayaking; a quiet sunroof --- at least when the kayak and the rack aren't installed; map pockets in the door big enough to hold a big, black three cell MAG-LITE flashlight/survival weapon; a radio with "retained" power so I can listen to the end of my James Taylor or Dave Brubeck CD after I shut off the engine; a cargo net in the boot, with a 12 volt outlet. That's the stuff you notice when you also want "practical".

My thoughts: great car, a driver's car, simple but nice looking, beautiful interior, and a few practical features along with the emotional high of driving a terrific road car.

Jack Martin

am enjoying my 99.5 1.8TM more than most any other. My other favorite was a 1976 BMW 2002 I had when I was in college. No doubt the A4 1.8 is a great car, especially when chipped.

Like Jack, I have had my 99.5 Avant 1.8T a fairly short time. I have about 3200 miles on my car at this point. Also like Jack, I have driven a bunch of different cars over the years. All of my dozen+ vehicles since 1970 have been equipped with manual transmissions. Probably the most enjoyable of the lot were the '73 2002 and the '91 G20. Some of my cars were driven to very high milage. Most were bought new and all were maintained well. The features that these cars shared were good balance in handling, sufficient comfort for my long-injured back, and reasonable performance. I bought my Avant with the same criteria in mind.

I got the 1.8T because its performance can be bumped up a bit, the sports seats because they fit me well (I'm 5'7"), the sports package because the car handles better with it, and the Avant body because it felt firmer and better balanced than the sedan in driving. My son also needed the extra couple of inches of headroom in the back seat. Jack describes the DC driving climate well; in the DC suburbs where I drive, the only added feature is the abundance of SUVs being driven badly on overcrowded highways.

The car has exceeded my expectations in a variety of ways. I find I often drive slower during my commute these days with the Avant, but on several occasions, spurred on by the need to avoid stupid or unpredictable drivers, I have found that even in stock form, the 1.8 has some of the point-and-squirt characteristics that I enjoyed so much in my 2002. On several occasions, increasing the commuting rate has been fun. Imagine the surprise on the faces of the three BMW 3-series folks who I dusted recently with my Audi station wagon... With the recent passing of Dennis and Floyd, I found Quattro to be a remarkable stabilizing factor in driving under suboptimal conditions. Why was everybody else going so slowly? My middle-aged wisdom prevented me from going as fast as I could in this car under those conditions.

My car took four months to arrive, and it was worth the wait. My odd selection of options (sports seats, sports package - nothing else) and colors (Santorin with Onyx) ensured that my vehicle was a special order. The color blend is subtle and the blues in the onyx interior complement the dark grey checked cloth in the sports seats. The Santorin Blue shines in the sun, and has a richness that makes the car stand out in any parking lot. My car was delivered with 4.5 miles on the odometer, and everything was perfect when I picked up the vehicle. My salesman called the car wierd by any measure, and only a few days after I got my car, somebody else showed up at Rockville to place a similar order. He was also astounded that I got the car for only $900 over invoice. I consider the Avant to be an unusual driver's car. It has the potential to be driven very fast, very well without drawing the attention of our local constabulary.

The car has brought unsolicited compliments from strangers that have made my smile grow even larger. My nightly cleaning of the wheels and touch-up with Mcguire's Detailing Wax have brought on amusement from my wife who considers my behavior obsessive. I have replied that obsession is just highly focused behavior.

Steve W. (in MD)
99.5 Avant 1.8TQMSS - Santorin/Onyx, no mods yet

Lots. Have my old Yakimas on now with the standard "DoubleCross" fittings, but, in a moment of extravagance, I did buy the Audi cross bars, and have tried them out. By themselves, the Audi crossbars are a little quieter than the Yaks, and are rated for a 200 pound load --- significantly higher than I've ever seen a Yak or Thule rated (although both companies are pretty conservative, and the litigious nature in this country probably reinforces that!). Having said that, I have not yet worked out a satisfactory way to install my "TLC" kayak saddles on the Audi bars, and see no way to install a stacker, nor can I figure a clever way to use my Yakima "Steelhead" bike rack, either. So there may be an unused "used" set of Audi crossbars for sale at a good discount pretty soon. (The big advantage to the Audi bars is the ease of installation and de-installation: once the internal stops are set and dogged down, it takes probably less than a minute to attach each bar, but the Yaks are trickier, and still take me probably ten minutes each to install the bars.)

But the siderails on the Avant are solid, well spaced for everything except easy installation of a fairing, and strong. I'm happy futzing around with fitting this out, and will develop some standard procedure pretty soon.

Jack

Yeah, "boot". The other end from the bonnet! Did I forget to mention my TR-3A and my TR-250 as well as the Cooper, the Austins and the Talbot? But no, not RAF --- just USN with global reach in automobiles before it was fashionable. (All VW drivers waived to each other in the '50s!)

Jack

One of the things I love most about this car is that it is practical as well as being fun.

Regards,
Rodney

'99 A4 1.8tqms

is "nuts" about the A4. My wife, too, thinks I am crazy. By the way,
in addition to the 2002 I had, I also had two first generation G20s.

did you also own a Saab 900, an original VW Beetle and a Fiat 128? How about a Renault 18i? As a grad student, I had the Fiat, and really learned how to tear into an engine in my parking lot. Ownership of that car also enabled me to acquire a broad array of mechanics tools.

Steve W.

<center><img src="http://131.107.68.28/cars/audi/A4Avant/A4Kayak1.jpg"></center><p>Jack, I couldn't find a way to get the more esthetically pleasing stock cross bars to work to my satisfaction with my kayak setup either. I am using the Yakima Doublecross as well, even though it takes a bit of time to install/de-install them. I can't stand the noise with the cross bars on, so I always pull them off as soon as I am done. The stock cross bars won't let you take two kayaks either. Paddle on!

NeilM

How about ratcheting rear seat belts so that you don't need those infernal locking clips when installing child seats? How about as much cargo space as many truck based SUVs? How abot gas mileage in the mid-twenties with that cargo space? How about power locks, power windows, auto climate control and host of other niceties in a car that starts in the $23K range? How about a cargo hatch door that opens high enough for a 6'3"+ individual to get in and out without fear of smacking his head? Or a driver's seat that goes waaaay back for, well, various applications ;^)

Thanks Jack, for a well written essay and reminding us that driving wasn't evented yesterday!

When both the A4 and G20 are next to each other in the garage it is amazing how close in body shape and style they are. I jokingly refer to my A4 as my G20 super ++. In a sense it shows just how underated the previous G20 was.


MitchC 99.5 1.8tqms

Until I got the Avant in August, I had my '91 G20. In '95, my wife's 83 VW Rabbit died, and we replaced it with a brand new '95 G20. It sits next to the new Avant in the garage. The tapered back of the Avant makes the G20 look quite expansive, but otherwise, they are similar in size and shape.

This year, I test drove the new G20 on two different occasions. It didn't compare with the old car in a number of ways, and I when looked at the A4, there was no going back to the Infiniti shop, in spite of unbelievable reliability.

Wow, this is a fun thread--one I can really relate to!

My first car (which my dad bought for me when I was in high school) was a used Morris Oxford with an SU carb, the dreaded Lucas ignition, and The Clutch From Hell. After that I had a '66 VW bug, '67 Mercedes 230S, '72 BMW 2002, '80 diesel Rabbit (whatever possessed me???), '87 Camry wagon, and '91 Miata. Got my wife a '99.5 A4 1.8T QMS, and I was hooked. I was shocked to find that I enjoy driving her A4 about as much as the Miata, and the A4 is loads more practical. So...now I've sold the Miata (26.5K miles--almost showroom condition), and I'll be dumping the Camry as soon as my '00 1.8T Avant arrives. Casablanca White with 5-speed (of course), and most (all?) of the options aside from Bose. CarOrder.com tells me it'll be here in December. I really wanted Pelican Blue (white will be a PITA to keep clean, I'm afraid), but the dealer says that the factory won't always accept orders for Cool Shades colors. Sigh....

I'm glad to know that I'm not alone in the trouble I have with the red dash lighting. It's sexy and distinctive, for sure, but this old fart has a lot more trouble seeing the info clearly than in the white-lighted Camry dash display. It must be something about the ability of aged eyes to focus light in the red end of the spectrum. So I'm looking forward to my '00 and not having to wear reading glasses to figure out how fast I'm going.

--John

A guy I know had a Borgward Isabella Coupe and it was so cool! Looked like someone took the front grille of a Nash and grafted it onto a Studebaker Hawk. He got it at a junk yard as a complete car for $1k. Good thing he sold it 'cause with 3 project cars already I don't need another. 95% of the people I asked about this car had never heard of it, which made it all the more desireable to me. I actually did find a Borgward owner's club on the web somewhere.

Probably more than you wanted to hear about Borgwards. Glad you're happy with the Avant. I love the silver too, but I've already decided on the grey interior, and I think that would be a little too monochrome for me.

J.T.L.
90 CQ (#648 of 1700 in the us)
74 Super Beetle (autostick, how many of those are left?)
72 Datsun 510 all original 4 door
order soon 00 1.8TQms Santorin/Opal Grey

What's a Borgward? I thought I knew everything.

This has been a fun thread. Mostly, 'cause I found out that y'all aren't all 26, male, blond, and living in LaJolla, as I told someone off line. And some are kayakers! Even better!

Dunno, though, Neil --- I'm messing about with some TLC kayak saddles on the stock rack crossbars and am pretty sure I will be able to get a pair mounted. Maybe you need skinnier kayaks? My Pintail's 21 inches abeam and the CLC North Bay is a hair over 20 inches. I agree, though --- the DoubleCross fittings are hard to fit, and impossible to fit quickly.

Back on A4s for a minute --- if anyone's still reading this thread --- I saw a bunch of new 99.5s(including three silver Avants!) at Criswell Audi in Annapolis tonight (when I was picking up my mudflaps). Those guys have always had a good supply of Audis, including Avants, when nobody else had any. Had good luck with them, a fair tradein on my old untrusty Outback, and a better-than-average premium over invoice. Brian McCormick was my sales guy --- knowledgeable, easy to deal with, conscientious. And I think he lurks on this forum, so I've gotta be nice to him. Or do I?

Jack Martin

I really don't know that much. They were produced in the late '50s and early '60s by Carl F.W. Borgward. The main factory was in Bremen (is that in Germany?) and I think they attempted to establish a factory in Mexico, but that wasn't a very successful venture. They made sedans, limos, and coupes; one of the models was named Isabella. All Aluminum engine I think. Apparently there's A "Borgward Garage and Museum in Reno Nevada USA". Any NV A4.Org'ers want to pop over and take a look? There's a good front page article suggestion 'A4.Org's trip to the Borgward Museum'. (j/k)
Here are a couple Borgward web sites. Neither has a 'history of the borgward' or 'photo gallery of the different models' section. I guess I'm spoiled here at A4.org. The Isabella Coupe that I saw was a really neat looking car (if you think Studebaker Hawks are neat). If I had more money and time I would really have liked to attempt a restoration. Oh well.

<a href="http://members.tripod.com/~CALBORG/master.html">http://members.tripod.com/~CALBORG/master.html</a>

<a href="http://members.tripod.com/~grupoii/Borgward.html">http://members.tripod.com/~grupoii/Borgward.html</a>

J.T.L.
90 CQ, 74 SBtl, 72 510 ordering soon:
00 1.8TQms

Geeze, Jack...

I for one am male, 26, blond, and living in La Jolla. Really.

Good comments in this thread. I sold my 91 200q last spring, and am considering a 1.8tqms avant.

My biggest beef with the 1.8t is the lack of throttle response. Did Freightliner make the flywheel, or is the exhaust _that_ restrictive (eg mucho backpressure keeps her spinning)? I haven't seen many complaints on this, but compared to my previous I-5 20VT, the 1.8 is a real dissapointment in terms of throttle response (I don't mean acceleration, just response, though a race car the 1.8 is not). My only other wish is for leatherette and sports seats (why not, Audi??), or real leather on the 1.8.

PS: Where do I meet the rest of the people in my neighborhood? How many are we?