A4 "Steering feel" -- Again

[Scott Stiles <scottst@microsoft.com>]

Hey all,
I'm driving a '98 A4 30v qm/sport, complete with what has to be the numbest
steering this side of a city bus. It's bad enough that even my wife's grown
to hate it. We fight over driving our Miata because the A4's such a snore.
The car came OEM with 205/55-16 Dunlop SP Sport2000s -- a WR rated tire with
I'm guessing relatively stiff sidewalls (== road feel), so it's not the
tires...
My goal is to increase road feel, especially steering feel. My target is
BMW's 3-series (M ideally) -- but even to the level of my past Corrado VR6
would be a HUGE improvement. 
I know, (compared to the WMB, tradeoffs of driving the front wheels and all,
but it's good to have goals :) We drove another 3.2L M3 this weekend, and
are scratching our heads as to whether we should try to enhance the A4's
driving experience, or if we should scuttle the ship & go to the dark side
(WMB).

Questions:
- anyone out there share my dissatisfaction with the A4's steering? I think
I've heard at least 1 other listmember complain about it -- calling the lack
of feel "almost criminal".
- anyone out there w/a 225/45-17" setup on their A4? how did this affect
steering feel & general road feel?
- Is this an artifact of the new 4-link virtual-axis steering setup? I've
heard similar complaints about the new S4's steering -- I would think that
if they were going to "fix" the steering, they'd do it in the S-car.
- I've asked about this before, so forgive me for pinging again, but has
anyone investigated the Quattro GMBH "improved feel" steering rack? I'm
assuming obscene $$$ for this swap, so the point's probably moot.
- I'm wondering if a bit of toe-in might help feel a bit. Anyone gone down
this path?

Thanks much, grabbing at straws,
Scott Stiles
'98 A4 30v qm/sport.
mailto:scottst@microsoft.com