2003 Audi A4 1.8T from South Africa - Comments

Poor shock absorbers and soft suspension.

Bouncy suspension. Very poor ride.

Very sensitive brakes which are hard to control.

Suffers of Turbo-lag and it is rather underpowered for a car which is marketed with a sporting character.

Nice design and otherwise a good car.

Didn't the reviewer pay attention to these issues during the test-drive?

This car was entirely great! I loved it the first minute I drove it!

Come on...Boys!

Get yourself into a Pug 406, and Feel the difference, in terms like: Handling-cornering-riding.

Generally speaking, DRIVEABILITY and LONGLIVEABILITY.

And all above, surely cheaper. Unless you are snob.

Many people do not get the opportunity to test drive the cars they buy and even if they do, it is usually a short "around the block" test drive.

A prestige car such as the 1.8T may seem to be responsive on a quick around the block cruise, but its lack of real performance may only become apparent once attempting an overtake manouvre on the open road.

By the way, I did not write the original review, but believe that reviewers should be encouraged to tell it as it is (after an ownership experience) without being berated by narrow minded people.

Finally, I agree that the lesser Audis do not live up to their sporting image. However, fork out more money and buy an S4 or RS6, and there are very few cars that can keep up with them on the road.

Oh and don't bother trying to test drive one of these cars - most dealers won't let you test drive until you leave a deposit!

There are much cheaper Japanese cars that can do better for less money.

AUDI is expensive, but you pay the name too.

I just bought an Audi A4 2006 (manual). I was very disappointed because the car clutch and brake pedal are close to each other, and there is no room to rest the left feet. Very stressful to drive in the city, and for long distances. Audi South should have identified this and corrected it sooner.

It is great disappointment from a car like this marketed as a sport and luxury car. I drove a similar car in the USA, but it did not have the same problem the A4 in SA has.

I have owned several Audi A4s and I find the comments in the initial review somewhat strange. The 1.8T in 163bhp form is a rapid car and turbo lag is virtually non-existent. In relation to the other points such as the brakes and the pedal positioning, surely before you bought the car you ensured that you were happy with the ergonomics and the way it drives? Two aspects of the A4 that annoy me are the climate control (noisy, intrusive and erratic) and the rear door openings, which are very narrow. Otherwise I would rate it highly as a drivers car!

I have to ask, because I don't have the same problem, but how many miles does your audi a4 have? because mine has 60k and I have very little turbo lag, yet a lot of people who buy turbo engines don't know that unless you floor the gas pedal a couple times a week, that can cause guck in your turbo and slow down the response and power, so maybe you should have that checked out.

To the 29 August 2007 response...

"Flooring" the 1.8T will not do any more 'gunk cleaning' than normal driving. The 1.8T has a small, low-boost turbo. Almost any acceleration from a stop will max-out turbo boost and gas flow through the turbo.

Flooring a modern turbo to clean-out is an old practice that no longer applies.

I own a 2003 Audi A4 1.8T. It has about 80k on it. At 80k you are supposed to change the timing belt/water pump as a preventative measure. Unfortunately mine is barely over 80k and the car broke down. It costs an arm and a leg to fix. I bought the car because I got an awesome deal on it. It drove great for the last year. I am ready to trade it in for something that isn't so expensive to fix. (I want to be able to fix things like a headlight without having to take it into a dealer to have done!)

Interesting comments regarding the 1.8T turbo lag. I traveled to South Africa about 3 yrs ago on business and hired a 1.8T, I was absolutely disappointed with the turbo lag on that car.

However, I was impressed enough with the overall performance of the car to buy my own A4 1.8T. The one here in Australia performs well and I have no complaints regarding the turbo performance.

I think it strange that there appears to be considerable variability in performance in individual vehicles.