Re: Wait for a new Alfa or buy and A4?

[Scott Fisher <sfisher71@domain.elided>]

--- Doug  Gould <wdgould@domain.elided> wrote:
> I'll weigh in to this debate with my $0.02. When my
> last 164 was killed by a
> falling tree an Audi A4 was near the top of my list
> for a (newer)
> replacement. The car looks good, reads well on
> paper, but I found it a huge
> disappointment to drive. In fact I cut the test
> drive short and returned the
> car to the dealer.

Lest everyone (except Tess, whom I won't be able to
fool :-) think I've converted entirely -- this was my
experience with the free A4 loaner we had for a few
days over the summer while my wife's '93 100CSQ was at
the dealer having the fuel injector seals replaced for
free under a factory recall.

(Everyone with a '93 Alfa in North America, we'll now
pause for a moment while you try to keep from
swallowing your tongue at the idea of getting a free
loaner from the dealer while your injector seals were
replaced at no charge...)

Anyway, I was very disappointed in the A4 loaner. 
There were some things to like about it -- great
engine, I think, but hard to tell because the
automatic (not even Tip) masked much of its goodness. 
But it had an almost Italian revviness to it, really
enjoying being taken up to the redline in the
intermediate gears, at least.  

The shock absorbers were either worn out (at 58,000
miles indicated on the loaner's odometer), or too soft
to begin with; in fact, like Doug, I cut my own test
drive short -- gave up wailing on my favorite back
road in favor of getting home quickly via the freeway,
where the car was quite pleasant if a little bland.

My comment at the time was that for those of us who
grew up enjoying European cars for the way they feel,
it was depressing to sit in a European car that felt
barely distinguishable from the Ford Taurus that I
borrowed while visiting friends a few weeks before.  

I understand, from friends on the quattro list, that
the A4's sport suspension goes a long way toward
fixing this, and that quattro does even more, but I
haven't tried to find out.

Oddly enough, not only did this A4 fall far short of
the Spider in feel, responsiveness, and driving
excitement (there, a LITTLE Alfa content anyway :-),
it fell noticeably short of both of our Audis (a '93
100CS quattro and an '83 Coupe GT) as well.  
But I think that just as Alfa will have to do on their
return to the US, Audi has experienced their
resurgence and huge growth in market share by reaching
far, far beyond the traditional enthusiast market.  A
worthwhile lesson for Welch and company to ponder, if
a bitter pill to swallow for those of us who prefer
driving cars to riding in them.

--Scott Fisher
  Tualatin, Oregon
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