Has Audi Finally Built The A4 That Can Challenge The 3-Series Sedan?

Dude!...seriously?!?

@need4speed he is just quoting the article

the A4 2.0T Quattro with the 8 speed ZF and a sports package is a great car.

The A4 2.0T visually is better looking than the 3 series. I actually like Audi over all in terms of looks compared to BMW's but in terms of performance Audi falls a little short. Not to say they are not exciting cars because they are fall from boring, they just aren't focused more on sportiness. The 2.0T is definitely more fun to drive than the V6 variants.

A FWD(Jetta) car in a premium segment dominated by RWD cars is a joke, even Lexus where wise enough to realise this with the IS.

RWD is old school dude get a grip...

Really agent009. RWD is old school. I'm not arguing the fact that RWD has been around longer. Lets just see how the Jetta performs on track day. Is this one of those honor thy error as a hidden intention things.

Larry B.
Key West.

"A FWD(Jetta)". You haven't been keeping up with the premium segment in the last few years. Are you new to the internet?

The Jetta has an engine mounted east west and is mounted on the Golf/Audi A3 platform...the Audi is on a different platform that is all Audi and NO V-Dub with it's engine mounted north south longitudinally. This is how they get the Quattro AWD to have a symmetrical setup similar to Subaru's only it uses a torsen diff instead of a viscous coupling unit. Not many Audi's are soled in FWD esp in the north east USA. Alas...ignorance must be bliss!!

i own a 2009 A4 2.0T Sline manual. it's crap. the engine is WEAK below about 2.5-3krpm - though the article mentions this as well. the electronics are clumsy and the firewall apparently has issues with water leaks. i came from a BMW to the Audi because the audi was a little cheaper and at the time i was trying to save up some money. i'm getting rid of this thing asap. going back to BMW.

Has no power??!?!?! and the BMW 328i does? The electronics clumsy?? The firewall has issues with water leaks?? Please do a favor for all Audi owners out there and go back to BMW please. It is certainly more affordable and breaks less. BMW's also have a leak proof firewall and there electronics are less clumsy. Not to mention A F-----G PIG JUST FLEW BY!!!!

I had the X6 for 5 months and someone ran into the back of it. I had since decided to move which required me to buy myself out of the last year of my contract. So I got the A4... my payment went from $1300 to $700. The A4 had 10K miles on it when it developed a lake in the rear footwell. They had to replace "improperly installed seals" in the firewall. It was allowing rain into the A/C ducting and ran into the back.

1uberaudir8: suck it. and yes, the electronics are clumsy. example: it warns you that your headlights are on when they are set to AUTO. the bmw also retained it's value much better than the audi has. the a4 is a piece of crap.

It's definitely an improvement over the previous model, yet I don't believe it's quite up to 3-Series spec yet. There is a reason why the 3-Series is the segment leader, and it's not just because of hype.

Oh geeze, do really want to get in on this flame war? I'm sorry but the A4 with Quattro, a manual tranny and a sport package is a bargain and a half given what it can do. Say what you want about the 2.0T motor, it's strong and very fuel efficient. Thats why automotive jounalists from around the world put it on Wards top 10 automotive engines list. It is not the same 2.0T used by Volkswagon (for the umpteenth millionth time) and the car is not a Jetta or any other VW platform for that matter (for the upteenth billionth time). If you want some additional power after you get one, you just call up your authorized Stasis Audi dealer and have them flash the software in the ECU to give it 260hp and 300lbs/ft of torque without voiding your warranty! The car will then be capable of 0-60 in about 5.5sec. Stuff that in your BMW 328 and eat it. The build quality of an Audi is still waaay beyond that of a BMW so say what you want about your little issues. If you had a BMW, you'd have even more to bitch about. The biggest issue with the A4 in the US is getting one. Supplies are tight and Audi has run completely out of them in the US twice this year so far. Since the US is less than 10% of Audi's global business, and we sell them for a lot less in this country than anywhere else, it's hard to get the Germans to make more for us. They are willing to grow the US business but at a very slow rate. Now that the dollar/euro exchange rate has returned to sanity and AudiUSA actually posted a profit for the first time in years last year, that situation may change moving forward.

Audis are overpriced cars period. Audi is the only car company that sells a $50,000+ 4-cylinder car in its segment.

And the direct ignition 2.0t engine sounds like a diesel engine when idling. Audi has always given you the least amount of car for the most amount of money. That's the main reason why they enjoy huge profits.

But getting back to the A4 challenging the 3-series? Not yet. Audi still sticks the engine in front of the front axle. Which intern makes the car front heavy and causes understeer. The only way to cure this (almost) is to put an expensive diffs on it like the S4. If they were to put that setup on the A4, then the A4 2.0t would be close to $60,000 when equipped.

I guess because the engine is a 4 cylinder it has no value then? Despite the fact that it outpowers the BMW 328, Lexus IS250 and MB C300 and delivers waaay better fuel economy than any of these, largely because of that FSI fuel injection system you don't like the sound of. Don't forget, every Porsche 944, 944turbo, 968, and every other derivative, were all 4 cylinder powered cars. I believe the press thought they were pretty nice performing cars back then and some if them even sold for over $50K. I guess we should just tell the PHD's over in Ingolstadt to shut the F**K up and listen to the marketing people because that's all buyers believe anyway, right?

I wouldn't relate a Porsche 944, 944 Turbo, and 968 with an Audi A4 2.0t. Other than the fact that the Audi also has a 4-cylinder engine, the Porsche's have nothing in common with that Audi.

I like your screen name "Neverfollow". But "Neverlead" can also apply to Audi :)

I test drove two2010 A4s - this is a joke - right?

Uh, no they have not.

A4 make an excellent second hand cars as most Audi's sink like stones at Auctions. While i don't think the 2.0T is a particularly great engine in the american context of driving it is one of the Best engines in VW/Audi.
Pair it with Quattro and it is really runs out of breath quickly.
Mostly a car people buy to show they are driving a German version of Subaru.
As a brand they have definitely improved in the US and unfortunately cant really display their stronger side (Diesel engines)

Audi has the highest NATURAL resale value of any other premium German brand. This is well documented everywhere you look. KBB also awarded the A5/S5 as having the highest resale value of any car currently sold in the US.

Best A4 ever, very close to 3-series. 3-series remains better balanced and has the better architecture. Audi has very fine engine and nice building quality, but the bimmer also. I don't understand that, in spite of the cheaper drive line, it has to cost as much as a BMW though. Only when Audi incurs RWD and better weight distribution, I would consider the A4 as being equal to the 3-series. For now, it's equal for the mass, but not for the car enthousiast that highly values excellent vehicle dynamics on the limit.

Is this a flame war or what?

I leased a 2009 Audi A4 2.0T with 6-speed automatic gearbox and sport package for two years, my second Audi in a row. (The first Audi was a 2006 A8.) I currently own a 2007 Mercedes-Benz S600, primarily because I wanted a car with more power, I needed a larger car, and I got a very good deal on the Mercedes.

The Audi A4 developed an annoying buzzing sound at highway speeds emanating from the center dashboard that finally went away on its own accord after 6 months. (The noise never occurred when my Audi dealer drove it, but that's a different story.) The four-cylinder engine also consumed a quart of 5w-40 synthetic oil every 1300-1400 miles. (The V8 in my A8 didn't consume any oil between changes - go figure.) Other than that, I had no problem with the car.

I have owned two BMW 3-series coupes in the past, and they were great cars. That said, I agree with the author of this article. The Audi A4 is finally the equal of the BMW 3-series. The Audi A4 2.0T is fully competitive with the BMW 328i. I think the Audi S4 barely edges out the BMW 335i. If you drive in an area where it snows a lot, the all-wheel-drive Audi wins the contest decisively.

I testdrove the 2.0T DSG and did't like it. Would take the 328i over it any day. the bmw engine is much smoother and the grip/ride/steering more communicative. The audi interior is a little bit nicer since the 3 series interior is very plain.

There is no DSG tranny option with a 2.0T A4, only on the S4. You either drove a CVT fronttrak or the 6speed ZF auto (the same one used in the 328).

For car enthusiasts the BMW(3 series only) is still the better steer. However for most people that want a German car above a VW and don't like Japanese it is a fine car to own and drive.Most people do not care or drive at 10 tenths anyway so the BMW is over engineered in the first place. Finally BMW still insists on it's servotronic power steering that robs most of it's cars of decent road feel. A recent publication put the new BMW 5 series in 3rd place behind the Infiniti G37 and Audi A6(which came in 1st). The primary reason was it's loose steering and floaty suspension.BMW has changed. I think it is moving away from the driver focused company to a product focused company. Just look at the X6 and the 5 series GT. My only question is "WHY?". And do you really think a Z4 is sports car or more of a GT car. It may have the engine power but a Boxster will run away from it on a windy road. Audi's TTS with it's FWD based AWD chassis gets better handling reviews.The 3 series is the last hold out from BMW's old school philosophy of the "Ultimate Driving Machine". The question is for how long? Will the next 3 series loose it's handling edge? Inquiring minds want to know.

Oh and for the record, the 944, 944 turbo, 968 and every other version Porsche made of that car were all built by Audi in Ingolstodt, the same plant as the A4. They might have a little more in common with than you think. The same people built both cars.

My bad, they were built in Neckarsulm where the A8, A6, R8, etc are built.

I don't know why I bother with these posts. I feel like I have to educate 99% of you on the basic facts. Most of you have never been to Germany in the first place, do not understand the intricacies of importing and exporting cars here, and seem believe every piece of marketing hype you've ever read from the competition. Most of your opinions are WAAAAY off and have no basis in fact whatsoever. I have no idea how these opinions get so deeply ingrained in your collective heads. The car is business (like any other) changes almost every day. What you think you know today could change completely by next week. Unless you are directly involved as I am every single day, it's hard to keep up sometimes. Companies change hands, they change their minds, they introduce new models, they loose direction and themselves sometimes trying to be everything to everybody. Most of what I've read on these posts are opinions that may have been true 20yrs ago but not today. Are we reading the opinions of your parents or your own? Where do they come from?

Neverfollow, I don't really mind about history, I just try to take a snapshot of the things that can be caught in facts today. I'am confused also that so many people think in badges and are pre-judged on long bygone history. I believe it's this you're refering to, not?

Nevertheless, it's you insisting on the Porsche pedigree of the 4-cyl. You better know than me, that they where flamed for having this former Audi engine in their low end cars... so claiming that Audi 4-cyl was already then setting Porsche standards is not really an argument in 2010. About 30 years back (oil crisis, 4-cyl was not for fun, but for necessity), criticism was all around. I reckon that it is hard to remain objective in this (and so many other) discussions.

I advice most of my colleagues to choose the A4 as their company car, it is a compliant and highly engineered machine to drive. The 3-series just has the extra aura of being more dynamic, but it asks for some compromises that are difficult to accept for most not car enthousiasts (stiffer, less forgiving, needs more focus).

Any way, both cars are very desirable and I would not be hart broken to swap my e91 for an A4 any day. The 2.0T is a true master piece!!