Hey all. I'm looking to purchase a new car in 6 months or so. So far, I'm looking at the E500 sport, S type, and the new S4 (when it comes out). i know the S4 is very different from the other two, but the S4 bodies have caught my attention. i was reading up on them, and i hear the motor spins at around 3500rpm at 80mph in 6th. this seems a bit high for a V8. i have a feeling the car will be noisy while cruising on the highway. may get annoying as i do a lot of driving on the freeway.

for you E500 owners, what does your tach read at 80 or 85 mph?

 

The S4 has a V8? I thought it used the Audi 2.7 turbo v6... Is this new and/or am I out of touch?

-NavNut

 

new S4 to be released in october has a 4.2L V8. 339hp/302 ft/lbs. they have the new A4's body.

 

I have to look closer, but I believe it's around 2200 to 2400 rpm? Mark

 

Good luck with your selection. I sold my '01 S4 and got my E500 Sport. I did not like the new body style of the new S4 plus the E500 has more interior room than the old or new S4.

3500 RPM sounds quite high for 80-85 MPH. You'll be right on top of the power band, though. I hardly ever used 6th gear on my S4 just so I had full torque available - mucho fun!

Just make sure you paint those god-awful rubber strips on the bottom of the doors if you get the new S4.

Bruce McDonnell

 

yeah, i don't know what audi was thinking with those black "wings".

the S4 will be much smaller and cramped, but i've always wanted a small zippy car like that. if my heart wins out, i'll end up in an S4. if my head, then an E500 or another lux sedan.

i really hope that that 3500RPM@ 80mph figure is incorrect. that's about what the 1.8T A4 spins at. doesn't make much sense that audi would make such short 6th.

 

screaming, rather than buy those car. its better to buy the E500 sport but if you want better one than go for e55 cause that car looks really nice. its really the one car of this century. I own E500 and i should go with E55 instead. but since i really need new car than i can't wait for the e55. Just a thought though for E55

 

Have fun with your choices. I have traded in my 2002 S4 for the E500. Audi makes great cars, but a word of caution. Their after sales support is extremly poor. Just go and surf some audi forums and you'll understand. If you live somewhere that has really poor roads I would advise you to forget about the S4 because the rims bends like butter. The old S4 that I had, have 17 inch rims, my guess is the 18 inch rims they give you aren't going to any better. And once your rims are bent, you'll feel alot of vibrations above 65mph.

 

I used to follow the Audi World forum when I had my S4. There were a number of Audi dealers that seemed to have forgotten what customer service is all about. My dealer in the Chicago area was great so shop carefully. Plus, all wheels bend if smacked hard enough. I bubbled a sidewall on a pothole - wrecked the tire but the rim held up fine. No problems with the BBS wheels either.

The S4 is a great choice but just make sure you can live with the size. That was the main reason for me moving to the E500. Or I'm just getting older and didn't want to row a shifter anymore!!!

Good luck!

 

I've had an Audi A6 2.7T for the last three plus years... I love the quattro system. In wet or snowy weather, it is unbeatable. It will outperform clearly superior cars in the rain (i.e. - if it's raining, I'd put my money on a quattro system car over an E55 or M5...) The quattro system really is amazing.

There is something weird about Audi owners... they all rave about their cars (myself included)... which is one reason why I got the A6... BUT... after having gotten it, I at first thought I had gotten a lemon. Then I talked more frankly with all the Audi owners and friends of friends with Audi's... There is not one of them (that I know... and I know quite a few) who have not had MAJOR mechanical problems.

Common theme: Just about ALL Audi owners have problems with their cars that would leave most people screaming and maligning Audi and all Audi does... AND still, they rave about how great the car is (apologies to all the MB and BMW afficionados, but the Audi interiors are the absolute best, most beautiful, and most refined and classy of all the Tuetonic car makers... I like MB also - but please note that the new E-class really has taken many of it's current styling cues from Audi - remember the MB's of yore with their stark, squared off edges - Which BMWs still carry to this day... but the Audi's have prettier interiors - I guess that's a subjective statement which I know many will disagree with).

Yes, Audi makes great cars when they work, and if you can take having a car in the shop about 30 days out of each year, and you want 4WD, get one. Just don't take an Audi owner's rave about their cars at face value. The things fall to pieces underneath you.

My only advice to anyone who reads all this, and still thinks they might want an Audi, I can only say one thing: NEVER buy a used one... TRY real hard not to get the very first model year of a new run... the first two years are really risky... but even year three is not really safe or debugged yet... and be absolutely sure to sell your new one BEFORE the manufacturer's original warranty runs out. I guarentee you that when it has, all the problems that you've dealt with under warranty go wrong again AFTER the warranty expires. You will be on the hook for absolutely FERROCIOUS repair bills. None of the parts are cheap. None of the labor is cheap. Dump it fast. I waited too long.

And the dealers are not sympathetic to your problems... ALL their customers have the same problems. They just want to sell you a new one... and most Audi owners are enamored to the point were against their best instincts, they do buy a new one...

Personally, I've had enough... I will never buy another Audi nor encourage anyone else to buy one anymore... (I have had friends buy them based on my raves - raves while the vehicle was spending weeks on end in the shop - and they knew it... and they bought anyway and started spending their time shuttling the cars back and forth to the dealer...)

I know all these cars have these problems to some extent... I know that the logical choice is Lexus or Infiniti... I can't help myself. It sounds like MB might be a little better than Audi... There are some MB owners who don't have the problems that www.lemonmb.com has... I'm willing to try it. Maybe by the time the Tuetonic car makers break me, I'll be an old man and won't be too embarassed driving around in a Lexus... Right now, I just can't do it...

-NavNut

(Whew... sorry for the long venting...)

PS - anyone want to buy a 2000 A6 Turbo with a brand new $10,500 Audi tiptronic automatic transmission? I'll make ya a deal!

 

Man - That's too bad about your Audi. 35,000 miles and I changed the oil and the CD-Changer. That was it. And I drove it prerty hard. Co-worker has the same car and has had similar repair experiences. Luck of the draw, I guess.

I always worried about the reliability of my car after being on the forums. Remember, not too many post about how reliable their car is but a lot of folks post about problems. The thing I have to keep reminding myself is that user forums like this only represent about 10-15% of all owners out there for a given brand.

Let's hope all of us with first year 211's have the best luck so far!!