Originally Posted by J**2

Originally Posted by Mr. J

What year is your C43?

Originally Posted by Mr. J

Go flats makes hardly any difference at all. This is largely myth. I run Pilot AS3+ go-flats on my 19" wheels for fall and winter and swap to the stock conti run-flats in the summertime. The difference is barely perceptible. Wheel diameter is much more significant than tire composition.

And to point out what is blatantly obvious, racetracks are all made of silky smoothe asphalt, city streets are not. This should be clearly evident to any American driver with at least a learner's permit and a couple days of driving experience. Streets have: potholes, broken pavement, expansion joints, uneven grade, etc...

I like my car but it has some glaring deficiencies that I have learned about over the course of two years of ownership and 15000 driven miles. I am not a fanboy, I am a beta tester who has also driven quite a few other makes of vehicles in this segment.

Originally Posted by Joshua Stein

While out of town I actually got time and stopped by an Audi dealer and test drove both an S5 and an S5 sportback (the coupe had the regular steering while the sportback had the "dynamic steering" option) and even an A4 with the 2.0L turbo and a 6-speed manual just for fun (I was shocked they had a stick). Overall I was somewhat disappointed with the S5, and found the A4 actually better. Overall all three cars were lacking in steering. I didn't expect much feel, and didn't get really any from the rack but the steering was also too light, which was okay in comfort mode, but even in sport mode they were way too light and lacking any feel of the front tires. The dynamic steering (which has to be bundled with another package for about $2-3K total) was a big letdown, all it did was add weight, which rather than tightening the system or making it feel agile, or actually having feel, just felt plain unnatural. It felt like they just added weight so they could market it as "sporty" and didn't inspire me with much confidence when driving, even with quattro awd. Another weird thing was the throttle/gas pedal. It feels like you really need to press it hard to get any power out of the engine which is weird cause the thing has over 300hp, like the first half of travel, nothing happens I swear, but then the regular A4 has a normal feeling throttle, delivering what felt more linear of a powerband (sorry if I'm using all these terms wrong, its hard to explain). The A4 was a complete surprise, it drove much better than the S5, and I don't know why. It inspired more confidence, maybe it was the whole, "going fast in a slow car" thing, but it just felt better than a S5, but the steering and engine noise was still disappointing. My final disappointment was materials/quality. On a mercedes and BMW if you have leather. The doors, armrests, and even other areas of the car have leather with stitching accenting them, even my 04 330i has leather stitched door pannels. The audi A4, plain rubbery material (not even sure if it was leatherette), with no stitching or accents, it just looked so plain and empty on the doors and armrests, which is completely unnaceptable for a luxury car, no less a $50k +. The S5, had an "option" which added to the price just to get leatherette with "synthetic" (fake) stitching on the door pannels which looked real nice, but is immediatly removed if option with ventilated seats (which I want), leaving a $60K+ car, with rubber/some cheap material all over the doors. I later researched the A4 vs S5 and found that even Car and Drive said the A4 was better than the S5 which was completely surprising, but proved what I had experienced. That being said, its off my list, I'm a hardcore enthusiast, and really want a 6 cylinder, especially if I am going to keep this car for a long period of time and spend my money on it, I want it how I would option it. I will say, one thing Audi got right was the technology, I love the virtual cockpit and all of the cool MMI technology. I'm planning on test driving a C43 in two weeks, and if I like it I will put it at the top of the list, BUT, I'm going to wait for the new 3 series which should be debuting later this year, and once I test drive both a C43, and the rumored new M340i, I will make my final decision. Thanks for all your replies and answers to my questions!

TLDR Version: Audi completely dissapoints me (other than tech) leaving C43 on the list with the next gen 3 series.

Originally Posted by alexasa

A4 can easily feel more dynamic than the S models due to the positioning of the engines in there cars. They are usually based off FWD chassis design which mean the entire motor is out infront of the front axle. This makes the car nose heavy and understeer. Audi has many trick solutions to dilute this experience but it's ultimately just masked (ie. sport rear diff, etc.)

A manual transmission can also drastically improve the "feeling" of a car due to being in direct control of the gear and power band. I've driven auto versions of cars back to back and the manuals just feel more spirited.

If buying an Audi, small displacement options are usually going to be better, but require modification to get to the higher tier of performance you are seeking.