Re: Audi vs. BMW - Audi "S" cars & E39 M5 article in "Car"

[ben keyes <bkeyes1@xxxxxxxx>]

Dave Beatty said :

>>>I'd love to see Audi offer an //M equivalent with quattro.

Audi does indeed have products designed to compete with BMW's M cars.

The Audi M3/4 equivalent, the S4, has been available in Europe for a
couple of years I believe - twin turbo V6 of around 250-260hp.  I think
that it is coming here in the near future.

Same goes for the S6, which I think has a similar (same?) engine and is
more of a logical competitor to the 540i, given that it has likely
100bhp less than the M5.  I also believe that the S6 will be available
here in the near future.

There was an Avant model of the previous generation A6 sold in Europe
that was actually built by Porsche and was absurdly fast - I recall that
it was something like 350-360hp.  This was a more direct M5 competitor.

The S8 is often up for debate as the best overall big luxury car in the
European car magazines.  It's based on the A8 and I think that it's a
twin turbo V-8, likely around 380+ hp. The new S-class was just judged
to put the BMW & Audi competition a good way behind by "Car" magazine
from England.



I tried to convince my step mother to get an A6 after we drove it back
to back with a 528i.  I recall that the Audi was around $10k cheaper
when comparably equipped than the 528i.  overall they were comparable
but that much of a price difference was hard to let slip. (She ended up
opting for a V6 Passat, which is a _very_ nice ride as well, not as
hard-core as an M car, but a very nice ride none the less, also about
$10k cheaper than the A6).


Speaking of "Car" magazine, there is a good article about the new M5 in
the December issue.  They judge it to be pretty much the best thing
going in sports sedans, noting in a small (2 page feature) that it's
ahead of the E55 & the Jag XJR as a total package.

I also noticed that the car on the cover has orange front turn signals
while the cars in the article had the clear ones.  You can't see the
full plate number on the cover car but it looks to be the same as one of
the featured cars in the article leading me to believe that the cover
was digitally re-touched for some reason.  Anyone in Europe (John F.?)
with access to literature able to clarify this point ??

You can pick up "Car" at Borders or like book stores - it's a bit
expensive ($6) but has lots of good info on cars that we never get to
see here in the states - the Alfa 156 & 166 for example, both tough
competitors for the 3 & 5 series, so long as they manage to keep them
reliable.

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