Audi A4 3.0 Quattro Review

Overall Rating

Quattro four wheel drive, balance, cornering, not a BMW or Mercedes, gearbox (tiptronic)

Electrics: at least one light bulb blows a month, which is expensive unless you change them yourself.

Minimal understeer and fussy esp makes the car overprotective

Having driven about 25,000 miles over 4 years I've become very comfortable with my A4 (3.0 Quattro Sport). Its behaviour is predictable and impeccable on all but the bumpiest surfaces. Traction is great, and its ability to pull out of corners is first class. Unfortunately, the Quattro four wheel drive and ESP software are a little bit too risk averse so enjoying understeer is almost always out of the question. Still, the flip side of this is that you have more confidence to push the car towards its limits.

The interior of the car is to the highest standard I've seen in a mass produced car. The use of aluminium and touches of chrome (the four circles on the steering wheel, the door handles) is tasteful. Well taken care of, it doesn't really wear down much either, and, best of all for the smokers out there, it doesn't seem to absorb any smoke. Mine still smells like a new car after 4 years of fairly extensive exposure!

Anyway, there are a few bad points, although I'm loathe to admit it. The electrics seem to be in a semi-permanent state of confusion. I drive with lights on all the time, and I seem to have to change at least one bulb every month. Sometimes the warning signal on the dash goes on when the lights are all still functioning fine. There's not really enough space to stash your belongings around the driver's seat, although what space there is has been very well thought through. There's only one cup holder which is a bit annoying sometimes, and if I was the designer, I'd probably have made it possible to flatten the rear seats to make the boot deeper.

But the biggest complaint I have is with the brakes, which fade very quickly and start whistling in that way that makes you almost embarrassed to be associated with your car. Audi says it's because of dust caught between the disc and the brake pad (or something like that) but I can't believe this is right, since it always seems to happen when the brakes are hot, not dirty. Anyway, I'm changing over to either Brembo or Porsche 993 brakes. AMD, who are doing the fitting, are really nice people and offered me lots of advice on what to do.

Another very serious gripe that I have is with the maintenance costs associated with getting repairs done at Audi service centres. I feel robbed every time I go, but I've learnt how, as a result to do all the basic things (oil, filter, light bulbs) myself.

But I should say that I wouldn't change my car for anything else (except an RS4 or a 911, obviously).

Members' Comments onnader0102's Review

• nader0102 on 2nd Oct 2006

  By way of an update, I've got the 993 Turbo brakes, and they have changed the car. There is no whistle, no fade, less erratic pedal travel and more progressive pitch under heavy braking. They weren't cheap, but frankly and in a nutshell, if you like to drive, and you have an A4 (or by all accounts, most VAG models), uprate the brakes but don't get yellow or red calipers. They ruin the respectability of the car.
  
  And finally, I wonder whether (a) anyone reads this page, and (b) anyone has any experience of aftermarket superchargers?

• bunnytails on 5th Apr 2009

  yes, people really do read this page. I'm purchasing a 2002 a4 3.0 next week and am researching as much as i can.
  bunnytails.