Sell.

This.

Car.

Here.

Now.

You.

#)@*!_#$)*@)@!

Compared to an EPA highway rated 26 mpg automatic 3.2 it would take something like 5 years to break even if Audi charges a marginal $2500 diesel price premium over the 3.2. (12k miles a year, premium at $3.30, diesel at $3.65)

Then at that point you'd start saving around $500 a year.

S4 torque with better than 1.8/2.0T fuel economy is a win!

That is a combined number of course. It'll be interesting to see how the mileage develops once they get out west. I am a bit disappointed that they don't have detailed fuel and mileage logs.

I've not done the math on the economics bit, but I generally do more than 15,000 miles per year myself and much of that is long, high speed, sustained cruising on the interstates, where the TDI should really shine.

And 369 ft-lbs of torque. Can't forget that.

That is in Johan de Nysschen blog entry. See here: http://audimileagemarathon.com/

I vote for an A4 Avant 3.0TDI (though not in the Marathon). He mentions that the A3 TDI will make it to America. That would make for a good city car.

Have you driven the A3? From a driver's and front passenger's view, the A3 is a great highway car too. If you don't have more than 2 adults, the A3 is a great all around car. Even with small kids it will be good until they hit their pre-teens and out-grow the small backseat.

And with that milage, it would be a great commuter car too. Bring it Audi!!

It won't make 42 MPG, but it should cost less up front too.

It takes a while to get the average speed back up.

Johan de Nysschen also mentions on his blog entry today that there's absolutely no "hypermilling" allowed as they want the journalists to drive the car as they would normally do. Didn't know IMSA was also involved in this.

the old 2.0t made 292lbs ft, max. not 300s.

new one probably can't get as much extra power out, since it's not as de-tuned

Now that I looked on APR's website, I do see that the B7 A4 only got 292 lb-ft.

And I don't drive slow by any means. They either have to be driving way over 65 mph when they drive on the highway or it is nearly 100% highway driving in order to average 52 mph. Also while they may not be officially hypermilling it's in their 10/10/08 23:03:22 blog that they have used ACC to followed some large trucks to make a big difference in mileage albeit on the Q7.

In the markets where the 3.2 and 3.0TDI are available, the pricing is almost identical.

Not to mention the better torque numbers and the distance between fillups on long trips. Even if there was a premium, it's worth it.

I say premium, but I know it is simply more expensive to make diesels. If the two car are identically equipped the diesel usually costs more unless the manufacturer is heavily promoting the technology which of course Audi could do...it's just not always the case.

My point was with a $2500 premium it could take 5+ years to recoup the up front costs.