2001 Audi A4 SE review from UK and Ireland

Absolutely nothing, except for some idiot running into the back of me, and you can't blame Audi for that!

The first thing that strikes you is just how fast this car seems, yes I know it's an oil burner, but it performs unlike you would expect from it's 1.9litre engine. Okay so the 0-60 figures are slightly slower than the 1.8 Turbo petrol engine, I took both of them out before and the diesel feels the fastest.

I thought this was in my head until I talked to another owner, at 95 miles per hour the car seems to get its second wind and rushes up to 110 with no problem. Very nice if you're on the motorway and need to get out of the way quickly.

So, all this performance must come at a price, yes? Not that I can find, the trip computer has my average mpg at an impressive 46mpg over the last 60 hours of driving! Town driving always gets over 30mpg, long distance motorway driving can get you 50+ mpg.

I am a huge Audi fan, I've had a total of three of them up to press, an Audi 80 1.6, an A4 1.9TDi 90 and this one, the new A4, I must say, is completely different from it's earlier versions. Audi have made some massive improvements in the handling and performance areas, where the old A4 would bounce round corners, this one is rock solid.

I didn't think I'd love the new A4 shape as much as the old one, you have to admit it was a beautiful looking car, but the features taken from the TT really grow on you like the wheel arches and the double front grille.

All is not perfect though, recently someone did me the honour of running into the back of me, not much damage, a deep scratch on the bumper. No problem, took it down to the dealer and they said, "As it's a new car, we'll replace the bumper". Okay. No one told me that red is the worst colour to match! I'd have asked them to touch it up if I had known.

While it was in the shop, they gave me a nice new A2 1.4 to drive around in. It was fun for a couple of days. I was expecting better fuel economy even though I could see the fuel gauge moving when I drove it. They have a tiny tank. Just before I drove it back to the shop to collect my car I filled it up, did a quick calculation and discovered that I'd used exactly the amount of fuel that I normally do? This says a lot for the economy of the A4 1.9Tdi engine pulling along a much heavier car. The larger tank of the A4 gives it a massive 600+ mile range, I normally do about 80 miles per weekday and a bit on the weekend. When you get used to filling up this infrequently it's hard to go back to the more usual 300-400 miles between fills.

The on-board computer tells me that I don't need to take it in for a service for another 9,500 miles, that's nearly 20,000 miles between servicing! Mind you, the long life oil costs £15 per litre so it's a good job!