I'm curious if anyone else has made the jump from Acura to Audi. I want to make the drop but i love my RL, especially the SH-AWD system. I dont know if anyone has driven the RL or TL with the SH-AWD and really pushed it you can feel how it holds up. I have never driven an Audi but the A4 is probably one of the sexiest cars i've seen in years, especially those lights. I am mainly curious about the Navigation system in the A4. Acura/Honda usually has the best Navi systems. How does Audi's navi systen hold up? I'm new here so i'm just trying to get an idea of what the Audi has to offer from other owners.

 

i think you'll enjoy the handling, suspension, quattro, transmission and maybe engine (depending what engine you pick) more than your acura's. as for looks/styling, interior and overall build quality the audi is far better. i don't have navi, so i can't comment there.

test drive one. i'm partial to the 2.0T because it's the best engine in it's class and it is moddable if you get the mod bug. the v6 is pretty much completely de-bottlenecked from the factory so there's little aftermarket. with forced induction, OEM tuning is always conservative.

 

the 2009 A4 is pretty impressive IMO

 

I have had an RL 2005 and I have to tell you that the A4 is a more fun and even more refined car, more noisy, but more fun and the tech advances are very nice. There is a character difference between german and Japanese cars, and some people perfer one over the other... like being a leg man vs a breast man, both are good.

 

LOL...nice comparison.

Audi quattro will have more understeer than the SH-AWD but it is still a great system.

The Nav system in the 2005 Audi's has a somewhat akward user interface but that may have been resolved in later models. If you buy an older model, you could just outfit it with a Garmin for $200.

 

I went from a 2005 RL to a 2007 S4. The main reason for my switch was I wanted a high performance sedan which the S4 is whereas the 05 RL is a performance sedan. My 07 S4 has noticeably more understeer than the RL. My S4 does have the navigation system and there are differences but once you learn either one I'd have to say they provide you with similar features. The Audi's navigation screen is a few inches smaller diagonally as well.

The Audi's will typically cost you more to maintain and they definitely drop in resale value at a quicker pace than an Acura. My guess is it will mainly boil down to which car your particular taste likes/desires more.