Let me start this off by saying that I live in Canada - just north of Toronto, and when I drive to work (5 days a week) it's about 50km east of Toronto. I do 90+% of the driving on the highways, and I (in the winter) drive through generally anything to get to work. There are a few times when I don't go to work - if it's really REALLY nasty out - I have the ability to work from home if I need to once in a while.

I have a 2004 A4 1.8T Quattro - automatic

Forget about the packages that I have on the car - it's not relevant to my question. I have not modded the car at all - it's the exact same as when I got it from the dealership - 16" rims w/ all season tires.

I used to have a 2000 Honda Si that I found just handled poorly in the winter. I got rid of it after about 8 months, and I got a 2001 Hyundai Santa Fe GLS AWD. It handled amazingly in the winter, slick roads, etc. So I figured that it was due to the AWD system. After about 3 years, I sold it and picked up a new 2004 A4 1.8T Quattro (automatic).

I LOVE my A4! I have about 9-10 months left on my lease, and I'm starting to look around and do the research for what I'd like to get next.

I'm truely disspointed with Audi, bringing in the A3 and the price they did. and driving the price of the A4 up nearly $7000 CAD for the same car that I have now (obviously, it's the 2.0L engine and the new design - I understand it's not REALLY the same). Because of that, the A4 2.0 quattro is now out of my price range that I'll willing to put on a car.

So... my question is this. How does the A4 2.0 (auto) drive compared to the A4 2.0 (auto) w/ quattro?

Is it really noticable in slick conditions?

Does the quattro really do anything other than allow me to floor my car and not have much slippage? I mean, if I'm doing highway driving, and then the road turns and curves, etc, does the quattro really make a difference?

This weekend we're supposed to get some wet roads, but for the most part this winter has been really mild. So if the roads get slick, I'm heading off to the dealership to test drive it.

 

If you currently own a quattro car... you should know. I drive in the same area as you... go to school in Oshawa, live in Bowmanville... and yeah, this winter might have you second guessing whether or not you want quattro. But there have been days... even in this mild winter... where I've just felt good getting into my car, knowing I was in a much safer machine than 95% of the people I'd encounter on that days drive. You don't need to think of quattro as a performance option... it is a safety option. It lowers insurance rates because of it. On wet roads... quattro can help, but you have to be pushing the car... dry pavement, you'd likely never notice quattro, other than hard launches, and very hard cornering. BUT, if you're getting an a4 that new... you'd have ESP and all that good stuff. ESP makes quattro an unbeatable force when it comes to emergency manouvers... a lot of people complain about how ESP sucks (myself included) but it is really an amazing system. I find that when I am TRYING to have fun with the car... I can get more out of the car with ESP off, but in a panic situation, I am sure ESP would make a better driver out of me -- so would quattro.

I know I haven't said anything terribly conclusive here... but the thought of buying an audi without quattro just seems wrong. Maybe when your lease is up in those 9 months or whatever, you will be able to snag a deal on a 2.0T quattro... or a demo model... anything... but yeah... next time it snows, go take a FWD car out for a spin. You might not realize what you have in your current car... until you drive something that doesn't have it.

 

I can't imagine not having quattro now. I cam from a front wheel drive A4 to my current 2.0t quattro. What a difference! The handling in icky weather is just amazing. While everyone else is slipping around the roads my car is steady and dead on.

 

Thx for the replies...

You go to school in Oshawa eh? I work at DC/UOIT... :-)

As I said in my first post... I had an Si... found it really crappy driving out to Oshawa.

such a shame that the A3 quattro starts around the same price as my 04 (nearly loaded) A4 is... sigh...

maybe they'll bring quattro to the A3 2.0.....

Any rumblings about that?

 

Its not a necessity, you will get from A to B just fine with fwd. But Quattro is the shiznit, and you wont have to worry about being as cautious. Im thinking about getting rid of our maxima this fall for a 30v 2.8 for the wifey, and it would have quattro for sure.

 

Ye I wish I had Quatro. during winter its is quite hard starting from a spot. I was following A4 wagon quatro and well let me say, on quatro the car just flies from the spot, while I had to start easy so spining. but actually as car startted moving the car was holding the road nicely, no problems.
the most anoying part is that I qould not rev higher that 2000 RPM when startinmg from a spot. but as car started moving it was fine.

So in conclusion, during winter I wish I had a quatro.

Ah ***** and cons:

On quatro the system loses 22-25% of powe, while on FWD the loss is 8-11% so more power can go to the pavement that on AWD. If I were in your shoos I would not trade my car just becouse its an audi. My audi functions well even after 11 years. You could bring the performence same as on 2.0T with a chip, around 500 buks, think about how much you would pay extra on the lease. Unlesss I really fell in love with 2006/2007 A4 and betray my previous love, I would not trade.

However I'm not you and dont havce to decide on the matter, the choise is yours.

 

Ultimately my concern is this....

I drive nearly 35,000km/yr - I'm paying (up front) for the additional km's vs. having to pay for them at the end of the lease.

So over the 3 yrs of my lease, that's 105,000km (roughly).

I don't know how long the car will last with me putting that kind of km's on it. I went for the A4 over the 325xi because it came with 4yr/80,000km free service/maintenance.

So... do I buy the car out at the end of the lease (waiting to find out what's owing on it - I called yesterday), or do I get a new car, or do I try to sell it?

Right now I'm at about 67,000km, which leaves me with 13,000 free service left.

How much is the service usually? Because it's an 'import' I don't want to get nailed with thousands of $ to fix it up after the free service is gone.

That's why I leased it for 3 yrs... I don't know if I should buy this out and keep it for a couple years after the lease is up and then sell it, or if I should just get a new car?

Thoughts?

 

IMO.... QUATTRO = THE ****

Not gunna type out a whole page of opinions.... its awsome... and up there youll appreciate it so much more. In jersey with it and couldnt be without it. Can't even think to be up there and not have it.

 

ok... so now the question is this... do I buy it out after the lease (in just about a year) or do I get a new one? Read my post above yours explaining the km's I drive and whatnot...

 

Well. Thats a nice amount of km's. Audi's aren't the cheapest cars to uphold past a certain number of miles (km's in your case). Decided to buy mine from the beginning and now that the warranty is over were just waiting for the day that something breaks, rips, cracks, warps..... anything. I would say to get a new(er) one... but there are plenty of people that have older ones with tons of miles and nothing has happened. Its all preference. Thats my opinion... but you have a year to get other opinions from people... I'm sure people will fill you in on there experiences. I hear once the warranty goes up, unless your a mechanic, your paying a hefty bill every time you need something done to the car.