I just got a note from my dealer where he stated that the allroad 4.2 was going to be introduced as an '04 model instead of a delayed '03. Has anyone heard similar news?

although that website is often behind quite a bit.

Could it be that Audi will kill several birds with one stone by making the 4.2 the standard engine in the allroad?

[1] Gets rid of the turbo engines. This has been roumored for some time.

[2] Justifies raising the price of the allroad to "rationalize" the pricing structure vis a vis the VW SUV as has been discussed on this forum recently.

[3] Simplifies and standardizes the allroad line.

[4] Refreshes the allroad line rather than dropping it. All the new allroad clones may have caused Audi to rethink the long term viability of the allroad.

Hmm. All the "new and exciting" Audis seem to be announced as having turbos -- so while I can't claim to know any inside info, it would seem that the turbo is here to stay and is going to continue on especially in the 4.2 (as in RS6 and the "pikes peak" etc.).

This must be part of the master plan -- add this statement to the VW price announcement to the conclusion that the allroad will be overpriced, bla bla bla -- well there is supposed to be a new A6 body, Avant too? Would that be the basis for a V8 only "allroad" or whatever they might call it.

Of course wouldn't that make the people who purchased (as opposed to leasing) their allroads peeved? As in the residual of a 2.7T '03 allroad that was $50K will be "instantly" decreased by, oh say $10,000?!?

I just came back from lunch and punched my allroad 2.7T (in second and third gears -- I have a 6spd) -- I don't care what anyone says -- what a great car!