Re: A4Q vs BMW 328i

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

if you can put off your purchase temporarily there are a couple of
different engine options coming up for the a4:

20 valve, turbo 1.8 liter 4: 150 bhp, but lots of tuning potential since
it's a turbo.  this car is coming to the US showrooms within a couple
of weeks.  salesmen are at colorado springs right now for dealer
introduction as i type.  (audi is launching the a8 and the a4 1.8t
at the same time)

30 valve, normally aspirated 2.8 liter V6: 193 bhp.  out in europe
on A6s, but not on A4s yet.  

30 valve, turbo 2.8 liter V6: 240-265 bhp also presumably with lots of
tuning potential.  could be a while before we see this one.

i'm also disappointed at how long it's taking audi to come up with a
M3 competitor... but a4 sales in the US are hardly suffering because
of it.  dealers have no trouble selling every single A4 that they get,
at least around here.

the superiority of the a4 chassis is nicely demonstrated by the success of
the a4 in the various touring car races.  organizers had to slap
additional weight handicaps on the a4 to stop it from running away with
the championship.  the competition in BTCC includes the BMW 3 series, the
volvo 850, the accord, the ford mondeo (what's the US name?)  and other
european cars not sold here. 


eliot