This is my review of a friend's car that I drove on two separate occasions. The first was a 20 minute test drive because I was curious involving mixed town/highway with one burst of high speed. The other was when I was the designated driver on a dark and stormy night with over an hour of driving time picking up various people with city and highway all in between.

I should qualify my review in that the car is not stock. My friend obtained a modification from the dealer that upgraded the 2.7 twin turbo to 375hp specs as found on the insane RS4 while still preserving the factory warranty as well as some minor suspension changes.

The car really fits him. He loves fancy clothes, fancy restaurants, and a fancy car. Regardless of social status or what I make, even if I had a billion dollars I wouldn't be caught dead driving a luxury marque. It's not about the money, because I think anyone can afford anything with all these banks wanting to lend you all sorts of money. If you've ever read "The Millionaire Next Door", you will know that rich people don't drive fancy cars; actually, fancy cars are a threat to one's financial well being unless they are used as part of your business to impress clients such as being a high end real estate salesment etc etc etc. With this in mind, the car fits him and his personality to a glove.

When you first sit in it, it has a very solid feel with a sumptious leather seat. The door slams with a solid *thunk*; this phenomenon has been studied and has no bearing on crashworthiness or chassis rigitiy, but rather is engineered to be that way only for the pleasure of the consumer. It is pleasing to sit into this car for sure, it's got that Farfegnugen/showroom pizzazz (I don't know how to spell it). I am not familiar with the switches in german cars, but unlike some very annoying I-Drive type systems, everything is intuitive and I was off to go right away.

There is plenty of room for all, even 5 people will sit in comfort although the sunroof detracts room from tall passengers. I don't like sunroofs for this reason because I am very tall. If you are over 6 feet, try before you buy. The trunk is also very capable for a sedan, but I am a wagon kind of guy... why shortchange the room when you can get the same thing in a wagon. If the style of a wagon doesn't appeal to you, then I suppose this trunk is decent for a sedan, but once you own a wagon, you will see what I mean and never want to go back.

Comfort is of course very high, but is no better than my mother's Toyota Highlander or my inlaw's Honda Pilot. Cars have improoved a lot over the past 15 years to the point where luxury marques such as this really have a difficult time providing value and something meaninful other than a badge. All cars have ABS, most have stability control, all have crash zones, even the economy cars are safe, they are getting more powerful by the year, even cheap ones have AWD, they are all fuel injected, electronic everything. The consumer is becoming very jaded and now they have to turn to less useful things like automatic parallel parking, video games on the dashboard or radar sensors (anyone remember curb feelers from the 1970's?) to justify their high prices. As sumptious as this car is, I feel the same way about far less expensive models, albeit with slightly less refinement. It doesn't really offer anything a well equipped Accord or Camry cannot, but this one costs a LOT more. It's also not very reliable.

Did I mention poor reliability? Well, Volkswagens have had much worse than average reliability according to multiple sources, including Consumer Reports, with Audi faring only slightly better. True to written word, my friend's Audi keeps giving him electrical niggles every few months, although I cannot say with exactness as he keeps changing the subject when I ask him about this car's track record. When I hang out with him, go places and follow him, every time he gives it gas I do see a plume of blue smoke come from the exhaust pipes, which a 3 year old car should not do. Perhaps it's because the car isn't stock, but in one way the motor was turned into what an RS-4 has by the dealer in a very stock-like way. Either way, I am not impressed and would have a hard time recommending this car for this reason alone. If you pay 40 grand for a car, it should be better than a 20 thousand dollar car, and better than my reliable Toyotas and Subarus this German POS is not!

The motor itself is quite nice. With 375 turbo horsepower, one would think that it would be very extreme and quirky. Instead, it feels completely like a normally aspirated but high winding V6. There is no turbo lag, but you have to really wind the motor to get into the powerband. Even at low RPM's, there is no spoolup and some power is always available. Unfortunately, very few of the 375 horses are available at legal speeds. Around town, on back roads or merging on the highway, though no slouch this car feels every bit the 4000 pound mass of steel it is. I think most people could live with this feeling, but I drive a light, more extreme turbo car and once used to that rush of power available when and where I want it, find myself wanting more oomph at low speed, especially with 5 people in the car. When pulling out in busy intersections, it can definately get out of its own way, but you do have to give it some gas as it does not have the same rush of power as some other lighter, more nimble vehicles I have driven.

On the highway it's a different story. When I first met my friend he was telling me stories of driving around at 140mph which I thought were a bit exaggerated until I tried it firsthand. We were doing 70 in the left lane and there was some large american pickup blocking our way in front of us with a clear middle lane. With the both of us feeling a bit transgressive, he gave me permission to pass him on the right and urged me to keep the pedal to the metal. I didn't even downshift from 6th gear, I just floored it. Aparently the truck had other plans and accelerated as for a second or two I didn't gain when I moved to the right lane with full throttle applied. Then, with an authoratative rush of power the car gained speed faster and faster.... 80, 90, 100 the needles climbing upward faster and faster without neary a noise. I could hear that truck with its custom exhaust screaming and I just flew right by as if he had all of a sudden engaged reverse. I finally let off around 115 since it's not my car and I wasn't familiar with it, not wanting to push the envelope. I didn't want to push it any more but the point was clear. This thing is a highway monster and though has a none too impressive 0-60 feeling, will continue to gather speed once rolling much like a freight train speeding downhill with rocket assist boosters all fired up.

This kind of powerband would be very useful on the european highways. There are only a handful of speed limit free "autobahn" roads in germany; most highway speed limits in Europe such as Italy, France or Spain are about 80mph but people drive however fast they want. If you want to stay in the left lane without getting rear ended (and they won't brake if you jump out in front of them!), you need to be going at least 120mph. If that's not your cup of tea, then maybe you'll be tooling along at a very sedate 90-100mph in the middle lane until a fully loaded tractor trailer jumps in front of you with little room to spare. Most people have to floor their brakes, but with a car like this you could just get on it while changing lanes, quickly running up to 120-130mph to merge with all the other mega Mercedes and BMW and Audi running at full throttle there. Unfortunately, this type of powerband has little to do with the driving in the snowbelt northeast. Even my friend, who came from California, commented that his car isn't really up to the roads around here ( I should say down, because the roads aren't very good), or that perhaps the roads aren't up to such a special car.

Handling wise the car is a very responsive and stable platform at high speeds. On the highway you can take S-curves at triple digit speeds with one hand on the wheel and the other typing away on your lap top to finish that high power job. At low speed it's a different story because the car has a lot of mass and bulk and doesn't like the broken pavement. Around town I can run rings around this Audi in my Forester turbo, but that's not saying much. I could run rings around this huge car in traffic in a Geo Metro! I didn't have enough time nor did I want to push it very hard to see how it over or under steered, but I think that this car is most in its element on the highway and suffers in local traffic due to size and mass. I must say that the handling felt safe at all times. I do appreciate a more darty handling that a light vehicle imparts, but if this kind of car, even with its modifications, has a very reassurring character when traversing puddles. It may also be due to the tires, but hydroplaning resistance and wet weather traction were very good. The ride was also nice and supple, which was good because my friend and his acquaintances were intoxicated. I drove kind of fast because I was late (but sober) that night and my wife was mad at me about being late. Believe me, I am Italian, have driven in Italy and know how to drive like one, and nobody vomited which I think is a testament to the stability and comfort of the vehicle.

Overall this is a very impressive car, but given the current state of automobiles and how slow most americans drive, I don't think anyone needs this car, especially seeing how unreliable it can be. If you want something fast and fun to drive with AWD, look to the sport compact segment, there is always a new turbo car with lots of letters and numbers (WRX STI, SRT-4, you get the point). If you want a larege-ish sedan with AWD and a manual transmission that is still fun to drive, try a Legacy GT. If you are a real estate agent that sells to high bidders and need to make a sumptuous, luxury car impression, go for a much more reliable Lexus or a just as fun to drive but also more reliable Infinity (both can be had with AWD depending on the model as well). If you're just the average joe who wants to keep up with the joneses and you're going to be tooling in the left lane at no more than 70mph, then don't play that game and your wallet will thank you. Get a nicely optioned 4 cylinder Camry or Accord instead and you will be almost as comfortable but a lot happier reliability wise. You will be laughing all the way to the bank!

Amount Paid (US$): 30000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: 2.7 TT with RS-4 375hp engine and suspesion upgrades