A4 — 2.0 4-cylinder or 3.2 6-cylinder - Page 2

As for who buys the V8 powered A4s (those are the RS4 models), they may be different walks of life, but they're all well-heeled and big into classy speed.  Those cars are FAST and also very expensive (don't count on a lot of change from $80k).  As for the 10k mileage difference on the odometer, to be honest, I'm not sure that variation will make too much difference down the road, as these cars seem to hold up very well and run forever as long as they're treated right.  If you keep the car for 5 years as you mentioned before, maybe you'd be looking at selling a car at that point with 100k miles vs 110k.  That really won't make a lot of difference in the sale.  Maintenance records and running condition more than mileage will sell or ground the car at that point.  That being said, I'm wondering if the resale aspect might be the opposite of what you're thinking.  True, many people want the turbo engine, but there's always the chance that it might be viewed opposite at sale time - people may also assume (right or wrong) that the turbo car has been driven hard or possibly beaten on, since it's a turbo.  We all know this isn't necessarily the case, but the general buying public may not.  Many may look at a turbo car as being owned by a performance enthusiast, whereas the V6 may be owned by the more "mature" (as in, not willing to redline the car or race it) owner, again, right or wrong.  Also, since the V6 sticker price when new is higher, it may be seen that the owner of the six-cylinder is the person who can maintain the car more stringently.  Or it may be that people will research their potential purchase of your car on forums like this, see that the turbo fours were known for issues like oil sludge, and back away from them.

Keep in mind too, that these fours are about as far removed from the fours that you mentioned as they can reasonably be, while still being four-cylinder motors.

As for really wanting the A6, what about looking into a slightly older A6, one maybe with the 2.7T engine and a six-speed?  This is the same engine as in the B5 chassis S4 - a biturbo V6 with 250hp and a LOT of potential for tuning, if you'd still like to mod the car.

I'm only trying to play devil's advocate here - I'm a boost junkie and would've loved to get a 1.8T (I simply couldn't pass up my 2.8 at the price I paid).  I'm just trying to bring up as many issues and misconceptions as possible that you may encounter later on.

quote:

ORIGINAL: UpstateNYA4

As for who buys the V8 powered A4s (those are the RS4 models), they may be different walks of life, but they're all well-heeled and big into classy speed. Those cars are FAST and also very expensive (don't count on a lot of change from $80k). As for the 10k mileage difference on the odometer, to be honest, I'm not sure that variation will make too much difference down the road, as these cars seem to hold up very well and run forever as long as they're treated right. If you keep the car for 5 years as you mentioned before, maybe you'd be looking at selling a car at that point with 100k miles vs 110k. That really won't make a lot of difference in the sale. Maintenance records and running condition more than mileage will sell or ground the car at that point. That being said, I'm wondering if the resale aspect might be the opposite of what you're thinking. True, many people want the turbo engine, but there's always the chance that it might be viewed opposite at sale time - people may also assume (right or wrong) that the turbo car has been driven hard or possibly beaten on, since it's a turbo. We all know this isn't necessarily the case, but the general buying public may not. Many may look at a turbo car as being owned by a performance enthusiast, whereas the V6 may be owned by the more "mature" (as in, not willing to redline the car or race it) owner, again, right or wrong. Also, since the V6 sticker price when new is higher, it may be seen that the owner of the six-cylinder is the person who can maintain the car more stringently. Or it may be that people will research their potential purchase of your car on forums like this, see that the turbo fours were known for issues like oil sludge, and back away from them.

Keep in mind too, that these fours are about as far removed from the fours that you mentioned as they can reasonably be, while still being four-cylinder motors.

As for really wanting the A6, what about looking into a slightly older A6, one maybe with the 2.7T engine and a six-speed? This is the same engine as in the B5 chassis S4 - a biturbo V6 with 250hp and a LOT of potential for tuning, if you'd still like to mod the car.

I'm only trying to play devil's advocate here - I'm a boost junkie and would've loved to get a 1.8T (I simply couldn't pass up my 2.8 at the price I paid). I'm just trying to bring up as many issues and misconceptions as possible that you may encounter later on.

Dear Mr. Devil,

I think the A6 is going to have to wait now for a couple of years. I had decided that given my current financial situation, I would not be able to buy an A6 of the condition/caliber that I really wanted.

I think you raise some good points, including the one about mileage. I do have some pretty strong feelings about the color issue, and maybe that will, in the end, make the decision. The light silver car will look less dirty than the dark car, as it accumulates the typical kinds of dust and mud found in the country. And in winter, as far as that goes.

Happily, I still have until morning to decide, so I still patiently watch this thread evolve. I find this forum to great bunch of enthusiasts, and truly appreciate the high level of participation I have seen in such a short time.

I am already thinking about some other kind of wheels, regardless of which one I get. :-)

I also wonder how many switch to winter tires and wheels.....

quote:

ORIGINAL: bigsnowdog

I also wonder how many switch to winter tires and wheels.....

 
 
I can't speak for everyone, but I know if I go and spend the money on a nice set of wheels, I'm DEFINITELY going to put studded snow tyres on my stock wheels and swap them out every winter.

I am 4 days into an A4 B7 3.2 6MT S-Line Titanium and just crossed the 100mile mark on the clock (yeah, how sad is that after 4 days...?!!?!)

I have driven my buddies 2000 A6 2.7T APR-Chipped (91 octane) 6MT, and my gut and my butt tell me they pull about the same, but by the same token, his A6 is heavier, it's rated at ~300HP, and it's 8 years older, but his ride is damn nice...  There are sections of the power band that his A6 trumps my A4, and there are sections of the power band that my A4 trumps his A6.  It's really really hard to compare apples to apples when you are trying to compare a turbo'd 6-cyl with a naturally aspirated 6-cyl.

I have always believed that there's no replacement for displacement, but I will give credit to the chipped turbos to some extent.

Yep - I'm on stockers for now, but hopefully I'll be picking up a new set of 18s next weekend.  If I am able to, I'll be putting Green Diamond carbide-embedded snow/ice tires on my stockers and garaging them for the summer, ready to go when the bad weather hits again.  These cars are great even on all-season tires in the snow, thanks to quattro and a good suspension setup.  On snow tires, they're damn near unstoppable.

quote:

ORIGINAL: UpstateNYA4

Yep - I'm on stockers for now, but hopefully I'll be picking up a new set of 18s next weekend. If I am able to, I'll be putting Green Diamond carbide-embedded snow/ice tires on my stockers and garaging them for the summer, ready to go when the bad weather hits again. These cars are great even on all-season tires in the snow, thanks to quattro and a good suspension setup. On snow tires, they're damn near unstoppable.

In the 1980's I ran a number of Saab 900T's [front drive cars] with snows on all four wheels. The problem you encounter is depth. If the snow gets too deep, which is not very deep on a low car, and gets packed or more dense, the car rises up on the snow like a toboggan. At that point the tires are not touching the road and you are stuck.

Living in the country and driving a 7,000 pound 4X4, diesel powered truck, you soon learn that there is snow that even that can't negotiate. The quattro car would do better than a typical front drive car, but neither are any match for serious snow.

Having said all that, I would like to have another set of wheels with snow tires for winter.

I decided to buy the 4-cylinder car. Now I have to do some reading here to see what is the favored chip. :-)
 
Thoughts on that?
 
I did ask the dealer and they said chipping it would not affect warranty. If I chipped it, installed different exhaust, different springs and shocks, then they might look hard at warranty and failure, but a chip was fine.

Congrats on the purchase, you wont be dissapointed! The 2.0T strikes a great balance between performance and efficiency

quote:

ORIGINAL: MrFlippant

My 12v has 127,325-ish miles, and I get 30-33mpg on the highways

wtf? oh thats it.. there HAS to be something wrong with my car... I get only get 15-20MPG and I have a 3.0 B6! aaahhh!! I'm gonna call the Audi Service place tomorrow and get a copy of the service records and then I'm taking it to this Audi shop to have it looked at for the Gas issue and the noise when I turn that I posted about...