Yea but he never said it was just going to be a commuter..

 

So far i don't think anyone's given a truely unbiased opnion but if you knew me, you'd know i'd be more then glad 2.
1) The handling is a matter of taste, FWD is more predictable at its limits and gives warning sooner especially if your not payin anttention. AWD enables you to put more power down but if your not paying attention the car will get away from you faster then the FWD if your a newer driver. AWD isn't really necesary unless your doin plenty of snow,ice and incliamte weather driving or plan on hitting up twisties in the car tryin to put down as much power as you can outta corners. If you plan on keeping the suspension stock it's a pretty moot point as they don't handle as well compared to other cars in the class like a 325 as people on here would like to believe. I'll get flamed but around a road course,equal drivers the 325 is gonna be spankin the Audi, As a Daily grocery getter in a warmer climate FWD is fine and this is coming from someone who has a Quattro and test drove both many times.
2)DON'T GET THE 3.0
DON'T GET AUTO WITH EITHER
People on here have posted threads complaining of the abysmal gas mileage the 3.0 returns, 14city 21 highway in the real world was agreed upon as normal. If you can afford it then by all means. With the 98-01 cars i've driven in Tip they were dogs compared to the stick. Pulling away from a stop light was a joke with a fast lookin super heavy,slow car with wide gear ratios. I think the quarter mile diffrence is about a second 0-60 stock manual vs auto and when you have 2 merge in front of a truck on I95 that second matters. With Auto my friend with the exact same car with my driving style gets around 21 mpg mixed. On the exact same trip from NYC to Wildwood,NJ and back about 300 miles with me drivin his car i was averaging about 26 mpg with the bitchbox, in my car with stick a lil over 30.With stick i get about 24 city 30-34 highway in NYC nightmarish traffic. Nuff said.
3)Don't purchase used from a dealer,have the car inspected by a triple A certified mechanic prior to purchase,only purchase a car with full maintence records from day 1. An Audi is either a reliable well maintained car or a horrendous unmaintained car. Get a 2001 and up because the 1997-200 1.8s are slower then a bone stock civic of the same year. Theres a more generous torque curve with my 01 stock and more top end kick then all the 98s- 2000's i test drove. the timing belt issues are also resolved that model year i believe.

The Audi isn't the greatest handling,fastest,best looking or most luxurious feeling car i've owned but it is extremely fuel efficent,with a chip very quick and the AWD is a necesitiy for NYC winters with my job. For the price range theres no BMW of a comprable year for what the Audi can do and its all around abilities.

 

buy an a4 youll probably never buy anything but an audi (atleast thats how it is for me)

 

i drive the fwd its much faster, and lighter i believe on my experience i had a friend who has the quatro same model as mine. he enjpyed himself alot with my fwd he came to my work just to drive it

 

best answer on this tread..i wish i got a quatro though, coz thats what audi specialize on their car

 

I have only had an my A4 2.0T Quattro for 2 years and have 45,000 miles on it. So far I am happy with the car and the 4WD is incredible in both rain and snow. I guess I baby my car because my mileage is usually over 32mpg.

Good luck