The first A4, a 2.0, the dealer received was a stripped Premium Plus. No nav, no sport no nothin' but wood trim with 17" wheels.

I have to say I agree that the 17" wheels were too far into the fender wells for my taste. I hope the 18" have a different offset/width to bring them out like in the catalog beauty shots.

While I had driven the 3.2 Prestige at the track, I didn't really have time to poke around the car as I did today.

The interior, while far better than most, was just a bit short of what I've become used to with my two A6's and Audi. Still tasteful but some of the plastics and other materials seem a bit cheesier than I am used to. Still not bad, just a little cheaper here and there. The "silver" plastic guage surround is particularly kmart IMO. The wood looks ok but not sure I like it with a lighter interior - doesn't seem to fit well w/all the other shades and textures. I think the dark wood will be fine w/black interior.

Non-sport seats were comfortable but can't report long period comfort, obviously. My A6 non-sport seats have been very nice so I would guess Audi has not gone backwards here.

Trunk is huge for an A4 - a bit larger than my C5. Rear seat leg room is still tight by comparison to C5 by 3" and it shows. Better than B7 A4 of course. I noticed rails in the trunk as well as tie hooks (Premier Plus?) but there's only a space saver spare and the access lid seem cheap and flimsy.

Now for the drive. I have a 3.2 on order but I really wanted to get on board with the new 2.0 like most of you. I really did. It was pretty spry from a stop and wound up pretty nicely to 4K rpm or so before it felt a bit harsh to me. After a half hour, I came to the following observations compared to the 3.2's I drove recently:

1) Once you hit 4K+ rpm, it felt like it was starting to strain a bit, almost like the plant was starting to run out of steam. Oh yeah, my old friend, turbo lag, is still there. Stomp it and I sat there like my in my 2.7t for a moment waiting for it to wake the heck up. Which it does do.
2) Noise - compared to the 3.2, I felt it was really letting me know it was running hard. I know most of you will probably like this but I'm to the point where a some engine rev noise is nice but I don't want to be overwhelmed by it where passengers have to shout.
3) Smoothness - I've never driven a B7 so can't compare but while reasonably smooth, the 3.2 has the definite advantage.
4) Handling - very, very nice. While I couldn't push it like at the track, it felt glued down nicely in the curves - better than my A6.
I doubt the extra weight of the 3.2 will make much difference here 95% of the time. Again, I base this on my track time w/a couple of 3.2's. 18" wheels can only make it better.
5) Ride - (no ADS, no sport) - I went out of my way to find crappy road (easy to do in MA); can be a bit jarring at times but overall handled the rough stuff reasonably well. Again, compared to my semi-sport A6 2.7t a bit more screwed down. Liveable though.

Summary - I am going to stick with my ordered 3.2. While the 2.0t will out-woosh it 0-30 or so, I believe the larger engine feels like it's not straining all the way out. Again, I can only reference these two to my 2.7t.

I am going to pass on the ADS though. After reconsidering and after reading those reviews, and figuring out what the $3K is really giving me, I'm going to chicken out and let someone else be the guinea pig. Way too much stuff to break methinks. Especially, now that I've driven a non-ADS and pretty pleased with the stock suspension and steering.

How do I get out of the ADS on my ordered car due in 2 weeks, you ask? The dealer forgot to add the option to the build order. He did find me another w/ADS and everything else I ordered due for another dealer but I told him I would stick with the one they mistakenly ordered for me. I'll take part of the dough and get new brakes for my wife's allroad.

I expect, I will get flamed by someone about 3.2 gas mileage, additional cost, etc. I'm merely sharing my impressions after driving both cars (I expect not many have done so on this side of the pond yet). Take them as you will.

The 3.2 is a much more upscale engine. Consistent, smooth power.

... how much more of a turbo lag is there in this one? Thinking it puts out more power, something must have been sacrificed to get this perhaps. Might not be able to answer this since you haven't driven a B7.

I know the turbo lag in the 2.0T is significantly less than the 1.8T, to the point I don't even notice it anymore.

The Phila area dealers are getting their first A4 demos and they seem to be 2.0L autos with minimum options, so about $35K.
My conclusion is that the Automatic tranny is a GREAT match for the 3.2L and the 2.0L is likely better with the manual. The base A4 is a nice improvement over the base B7 but needs larger than the 17" wheels as it felt less secure in turns than the A5 with 18". The A5 was a very complete package with the 3.2L IMHO.
The A5 auto just jumped whenever asked while the A4 hesitated like the B7 turbo but come on hard in a second or two. The 3.2 seemed faster to me. The ADS system may improve the feel of the car and I will find out next week at the Audi Drive Experience.
I have an A5 3.2L S-Line with ADS on order and I think I made the right choice.

I can only compare to my 2.7 twin turbo. It seems to me to be about the same amt of lag. You're right, you get used to it and don't really notice it until you start a left turn across the opposing lane and a semi is flying down on you from the other direction. Stomp. Wait. Go like hell. Clean up the seat.

when we did the APR on our B7 2.0T, the car took on a whole new personality. The improved throttle response and increased power really made the car drive totally different from without the APR.

If they can improve on the new 2.0T along the same lines, it should really be impressive.

the shifts were very smooth. Lots better than my old A6 tip definitely which can get a little confused at times. Didn't feel that here at all.
Of course, it's 8 years more advanced in technology.

make it look like my A6 dash. That is a much darker gray/silver look that does blend much better.

The bright silver look was pioneered by the Japanese brands and I hate it. Just like all TVs now are bright silver!

I agree that the 2.0L is good but the V6 I drove right after is so smooooooth that it is worth the money. I like the engine in my A6 and will like it even more in a lighter, better designed chassis.

And the tuners will be doing everything possible to earn their cash.

Though keep in mind: if you're expecting a similar gain from a chip for this car, that would yield over 300 ft-lbs of torque. That's a lot to ask for from a 2.0L I4 turbo in a luxury car. I think it's likely that Audi left less on the table with this engine than previously.

Improved throttle response will probably be the main selling point for a chip upgrade.

likely reduce that. Manual will control it better.

The Audi sales-guy pointed out to be that it was not too long ago that the old S4 had similar torque/power as the new A4 2.0L. Cars do get better, don't they.

Isn't the 3.2 A4 B8 engine the same as the A5? What would cause the B8 to hesitate vs. the A5?

I guess people have to determine for themselves how often they drive above 4k RPMS.

<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/14154/b820vs32.jpg">

What's interesting is the torque curve for the new 2.0T. If it does, in fact, tail off after 4K RPMS, that might be an issue.


Let's say you're cruising along the freeway at 80 MPH and the RPMS holding steady at 3300 RPM, then you need to pass someone, it looks like you may experience something odd compared to the 07 2.0T when you punch it, which doesn't tail off until after 5K RPM. Interesting.

so it may not necessarily be too out of the question to expect a program to get around 290-300 ft-lbs. Then you'll be talking some good stuff, especially with Quattro. :)

Since HP is a derivative of torque it's easy to extrapolate since the max HP figure is 211 @ 4300-5000 and max torque is 258 @ 1500-4200.

I'm doubtful you'll expereince any sort of real issue from it though. I mean if you punch it at 3300 RPM (assuming you mean no downshift) you'll still have more torque than the 3.2 until around 4500 and more torque than the old 2.0T out to redline. I think what you are trying to describe is exatly what snagitseven experienced when comparing to the 3.2... the 2.0T pull decreases and seems more strained above around 4000. This isn't really surprising since this curve is more like a diesel than any petrol engine of the past.

I was doing about 65 on the interstate and punched it to the floor. It kicked down and quickly ran out of oomph (my word for roll off curve?) and it had to upshift I thought rather quickly to keep it going. Even then, I felt it was reaching it's "max" in 4th and 5th(?)way sooner than the 3.2 or my old 2.7t.
Once I leveled out at around 85 it was smooth sailing again.

The 2.7T follows the 2.0T massive torque curve below 4500, but then follows more closely the 3.2 HP curve above 4500. The best of both worlds. :-) (Makes sense... turbo + V6)

It would seem to me that below 4500 the B8 2.0T will be very similar to the 2.7T, but above 4500 it wil be more like the ol B7 2.0T. The best of only one world. :-)

I know its less in the AWD world, but still close to 300 crank with a chip.

I predict 240whp/300wtq in the A4.......