I'm driving through France tomorrow night in my parents' RS6 😀

Sure it doesn't handle like sports car, but it still isn't exactly a blancmange….

Doesn't really matter with 444bhp and bucketloads of torque on N and A roads anyway 😈

FWIW, I wouldn't buy a lower priced audi over most of their rivals, especially the 2.0 TDi models, bleuurgh!

Leggy blonde – take plenty of money for the envitable fines and amount of petrol you will use.

I'll contact your dad about having the speed limiter put on!

I'll stick to my humble diesel estate 🙂

It's already limited 🙁 We're sharing the driving with 2 hour stints, and he's bringing his credit card!

HAve you bought something new then Tony? I have a love/hate relationship with my Laguna estate

Captain – what Porsche Turbo? Could be a 944, 911, Cayenne or a few others. Porkers are most definitely not crap – a 997 Turbo S is my dream "slightly realistic" car in fact.

I've not had an Audi but I've tested many assuming I'd want one – to date, none so far. Plus driven mates/relatives and hired a few.

I like a huge number of cars from Micras (underrated) and Fiestas to Porsches and Range Rovers. I just don't "get" the last 15 years of Audi models.

Leggy – enjoy! Lovely sounding engine.

Hmm, I have driven a newer model Micra and thought it was rubbish…

Iain gilliam – sounds like you were going to a rubbish garage if they kept not being able to fix stuff.

yep leggy blonde – pm me

I used to have an Audi, it just felt like someone at the airline was going to tell you you couldn't use it cos you needed special Audi air, which you could only get at the dealers, for £200, In 3 weeks time.

I do like the "look" of Audis, even the pimped up lower power models.

However, the few that I have test driven – and I admit, not current A3 and A4 models, were disappointedly uninvolving. For my first company car I chose a Fiat Bravo over and A3 (!!) and later a 3 series over an A4. 156SW was better than all 4 of those though 😉

TBH I'd err on the side of styling vs power anyway – too few occasions when the bhp can be called in to play. Id rather have an engaging fun car upto 70-80, rather than a technical and power tour de force that only shines at 130+

The German cars that I have owned (3 series, C class, mk5 Gti) have all been brilliantly capable – but that capability has been their undoing…. not enough fun on normal speeds / roads.

On the other hand, the French and Italian cars I've owned have not measured up to the Germans in terms of build quality, but have all been hugely entertaining.

Buy a car thats comfortable to you.
Crashy horrible ride is not a function of stiff suspension, my 993 is the most comfortable car I've ever been in and its a sports car. My S3 is slightly crashy on rough roads but the r32 i had for 2 days was worse, more noise, painful to drive, Golf R was the same. And our roads are sh1te.

So i bought the blue one because my wife liked the colour and quite frankly i'm not jackie stewart so i'll leave my hardcore driving for the porsche and the track thanks.

Its much easier here because ALL drivers are sh1te, honestly.

NZ – I really enjoyed driving in NZ, especially on the South Island. Had a 2.0 Honda Accord but wish we'd had something pokier!

If you like the styling, can afford one and get on well with it on a test drive then go for it. Not sure I'd buy an Audi though, mostly because I to keep noticing the majority of **** on the road seem to be driving them and that's turned me off the brand (although I drive a BMW so perhaps they just drive like **** around me :p ). Not really a whole lot of options around £30k for a premium brand smallish car if you rule out BMW, Audi and Mercs. You can certainly get a lot higher spec. Mondeo for £30k but I'd need to test drive one first and then decide if I could buy into the brand/image (yeah I'm shallow).

Surf – oh yes , i might have got the ferry during the summer on a friday at 8pm with the 993, driven through Nelson, round Lewis Pass and back to ferry and home ! Clear moonlit night, warm, roof of the targa back and the paaaaarp as i hammered through Lewis pass at 3am avoiding all animals and driving well within my ability ( 😯 ). Best most spontaneous bit of fun i've had in ages. Got home, wife came back the next day and was gutted she missed out !

Paarpp? People like the sound of those things? I mean the cars are nice and all, but I can't stand the noise they make.

Col – I saw both a 911 Turbo and a Ferrari 550 several times on our tour – I assume they were doing a similar trip but in much more style?! Very nice.

Areas around Haas Pass, lots near Queenstown and surrounds were utterly sublime driving roads.

I'd love to go back there in the Bimmer and give the roads a damn good torquing to… (oh dear)…

My R32 Golf "paarped" on the overrun – wicked noise!

Pah.. noise.. Gimme an electric sports car any day 🙂

electric sports car

Das ist ein Oxymoron

Snapped this at Le Mans this year…looks amazing:

Das ist ein Oxymoron

Lol, definitely not.

Have you heard of the Wrightspeed X1?

0-60 in 3 seconds
0-100 in 6.8 seconds
0-100-0 in 11.2 seconds

The video on this page shows it not just beating a Ferrari and a Porsche, but absolutely weeing all over them from a very great height.

It's basically a fullsize version of an RC car but with performance scaled up to match 🙂

That's basically an electric Ariel Atom and will have a range (like a Tesla) of about 16 feet, then it'll need overnight charging.

Hardly useful; the "practical" and useable electric sports cars is a long way off. Not hard to make an electric car go fast – they have massive instant torque. But to make it go fast for any useful distance is still nowhere near being developed.

Mat, I didn't say that a practical electric sports car was a viable option. But the point about sports cars is that they need not be practical, no? You only have to look at it to see that it's not meant to be.

The clue is in the name – sport. And I can imagine having an enormous amount of fun in that thing 🙂

my dad has a 4.2tdi A8 – awesome car, quick powerful ace on long drives –

also bit of handfull round corners – fun is a scary 2tonne kind of way

but is not the sort of car that make you think 'bolly knickers fire up the quattro' (yes i know the car in the tele is not a quattro just a coupe)

neither is my sis's A3 tdi

but still a bit dull, like all modern audi's

it's audis rather than BMWs that are driven by the sort of people who sit 5mm off your bumper at 80 when you're overtaking. The bloody stupid led lights rather single them out as bellendmobiles too I'm sad to say. Not that I suppose you should be put off a nice car by the people who tend to drive them, but I am.

YUUUP and yuuup.
tossermobiles.

Middleclasstrackworld members who drive audis with "look at me" lights on them, could you help me on a few genuine wonderings i have please?

1: Can you turn them off, or are they "automatic"/always on (as automatic as on volvos, RTFM)

2: do you find people in little french cars, or anyone else for that matter, flashes you a lot to tell you youve left your lights on.

The 'lookatme' lights are there so people see you – effective, are they not? 🙂

mmmm, very good at hiding cyclists, creating glare in dappled woodland, and if it hadnt been noticed by anyone else, they do actually flash very fast, which some people find HIGHLY irritating.

Audi drivers irritating you is your problem, not theirs.

lies, i refuse to believe it, when I'M king……!!

Only to a point, mike. Some drivers (not restricted to any make of car) take liberties with our road space and safety.

Audi drivers irritating you is your problem, not theirs.

Not if their driving actually puts you in danger (tailgating, etc) but then that's the same with all marques.

But coincidentally, I was on a pedestrian crossing in Truro yesterday with my 21 month old boy and had to jump back with him as a silver A4 Avant with a very angry looking middle aged man drove over it without any sign of stopping… Had I been able to stop him, he'd now be in Treliske hospital.

"Captain Pugwash – Member
I have had an 06 A4 Avant S line Tdi 140bhp and it is a great car, it gives me 650 to 700 miles to a tank of fuel (driving between 60/ 70mph
"

I have the same car – personally I love, think it is great to drive, very comfortable and much prefer it over Ford/VW/Citreon "equivlants".

As for comparing it to BMW, I cant as they were way more expensive I didnt bother.

Long live the A4 🙂

Molgrips/Mat – Olly's comments seem to be solely aimed at the DRLs, not the way the cars are driven. Presumably the DRLs have been deemed legal/safe (won't all new cars have to have them in a few years' time?) and therefore not a hazard to other road users. So if the DRLs irritate Olly, it is his problem.

Personally, I don't like the DRLs either, but they don't bother/irritate me any more than any other type of car head light or bicycle light.

Correct – DRLs will be a legal requirement on all new cars very soon. Manufacturers use the LCD ones as they are reliable and use tiny amounts of energy so barely impact on fuel consumption.

More and more new cars now have them (Mercs, Porche, Vauxhall etc) but for some reason it is the Audis that offend. Maybe it is because the styling makes them look happy and it upsets angry people?

*My Audi has DRLs but they are just the sidelights, not the LCD chasers and yes I can (and do) have them switched off all summer. I tend to switch them on in autumn so I have 'always on' lights for the murkier days.

I've driven Audi's for past 15 years had every model from the 80,90 and every A4 to the current model and really like them. S Line are to harsh in the suspension dept SE spec is a lot better.

I agree there are a lot more on the road but doesn't that say a lot about the brand??

Have tried BMW 1 and 3 series and didn't like the "plain" interiors for one and the hard ride due to the run flat tyres, many folk I know have suffered with bac issues in current BMWs and changing when possible to Audi.

as for the "day lights" yes they can be turned off via the MMI interface easily but as a believer in being seen I use them.

All new VW's including the beloved STW Transporter has day lights now too so we'd all better get used to them.

I appreciate there are other brands to choose and maybe just as good or even better cheaper alternatives but as a company car driver employed by a German company we have no other choice than drive a German brand car and out of my choice the A4 is the best in terms of spec etc compared to BMW 1/3 or VW Golf/Passat

Only gripe with new A4 is the need to change the front tyres after around 10,000miles and at £200 each this is not good for a private individual.

I won't be buying this one off the company at the end of the lease.

However service costs seem a lot cheaper than previous A4.

I enjoyed my A4 1.8T as an all rounder it was a nice car and solid and loved the dash.

My BMW is so much better built but was a lot more cash-no I don't drive like an idiot and I do use my indicators!

I would gladly get a Audi again but BMW is my 1st choice but now need an estate with good gas miles and space to take a bike.

I wouldn't bother getting a sports version unless you need the image and love sports cars with 500bhp. I just find no need for that power with so many cameras and police and safety for others.

estate with good gas mile

That'd be a Bluemotion Passat then 🙂