[A4] Sale of A4/Purchase of A3

[Brian O'Connell]

Just sold my 98.5 A4 2.8Q Auto.  I had had enough of
the poor performance throughout most of the year due
to the large and inefficient A/C compressor (I live in
Houston, so it was on for about 8-9 months out of the
year), and with some expensive maintenance issues
looming, I broke down and traded it in for a new A3
2.0T manual.

I couldn't be happier.

First of all, the suspension on the A3 (stock) is as
tight, if not tighter, than the sport suspension on
the A4.

The A/C draws almost no power from the engine,
although this might be slightly deceiving since I have
a stick shift as opposed to an auto, so it is easier
for me to keep it in the power range.

There is significantly more back seat legroom than in
the A4 (I suppose the hatch design allows them to move
the seats further back since there is headroom
clearance).

And this thing is FAST.  At $25k for the base model,
it's not a bad deal, and not much more than the new
2-dr GTI.

In any case, if any of you are thinking of doing the
same thing, I can't recommend it more highly.

Downsides: rear visibility is terrible - what makes
the car look good is not good for visibility - small
back and hatch windows, high side-cowl (right term?). 
Suspension is a little louder when going over bumps -
not sure if related to sound deadening, or design of
suspension, which has changed compared to the older
models.  And road noise is also up, but again, either
sound deadening or perhaps tires (Pirelli P6 Four
seasons).

But overall a GREAT car for $25k.

-B

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