[s-cars] Audi "Streets of Tomorrow Ride and Drive", or...

[Taka Mizutani]

Man, you guys up in CT have all the fun!

I don't understand the comments about the A3- the chassis is the same as the
new GTI,
heck damn near everything mechanical is the same between the two cars. Are
you all saying
that the GTI does not understeer and the A3 does?

The issue I had with the A3 and understeer is that the tires they use OEM
are garbage- Pirelli P6 really are bad. With more grip I think the car would
be a lot more rewarding to drive. IIRC, the GTI does not use P6s but a
better Michelin or Goodyear tire.

As for the DSG, it's definitely better than an automatic- it allows for
engine braking and shifts much faster than an automatic. I find it
ultimately rather uninvolving for daily driving but for track use, I'd go
for the paddles every time- no issues nailing shifts- every shift is
perfect, every time.

I wish I had an opportunity to drive the RS4, gotta see if I can do that
sometime.....

I didn't have the issues you guys talked about with the A6 4.2 either- the
autobox definitely dulls things down (same issue I have with the D3 A8), but
it hustles quite well for a huge car. Now I didn't have the luxury of
driving really hard on a closed course, but my on-the-road impressions were
fairly good. The A8 is much better, though- I got to drive a SWB A8
4.2Sport for an extended drive (50+ miles) and was impressed. The
tiptronic was
the biggest letdown- didn't let me grab gears when I wanted them, which
would have been "right now" rather than "let's see- you want a downshift?
okay.....".

Taka