I agree with you on the potential. All-wheel drive is a much more attractive platform to operate on the higher your horsepower climbs. However, I’m not looking to go drop $40K on a premium car only to have to spent another $5K in upgrades just to sort it out. I tend to hang on to my cars for more than 3 years and I’d rather not void a factory warranty on the engine. Suspension and wheels/tire combos are one thing but not the heart of the car.

In terms of tuning cars though – wouldn’t that make the 335i a more attractive car instead? it costs around the same as an A4 3.2 Quattro would but provides more tuning ability due to the turbo setup?

As I mentioned in the article and I still maintain – I didn’t have the opportunity to drive an A4 with the adaptive suspension or with the 18 inch tires. I intend to drive one in January when the manuals are available. I drove an 2008 Audi TT with the magnetic ride suspension and I wish BMW had something in it’s bag of tricks like that – it’s a great system. But, I will reserve my judgement for the S-line package until the first of the year.

I also agree with your earlier point that most vehicles in this segment are bought for badge not performance. However, it’s very unrealistic to think that isn’t the case for any luxury/near luxury vehicles – Audi, BMW, Merc, Lex alike – they all suffer from snobs buying it to show everyone how much they earn.

Enjoy the new S4 then – It’s handsome but it will be a sedan that still starts at nearly $10k more than the base price of the 335i sedan and will deliver the same driving experience. The way the current Audi vs. BMW A4/3 Series is staggered doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. Suddenly the top, non-M car 3 Series is equivalent to what was the top of the line A4 vehicle, the S4 and the M3 now competes with the RS4 – a car that was originally a one-off from the Quattro GmbH(Audi’s sportscar/racing division).

This whole part of the car segment befuddles me right now in what it’s doing/ heading.

I do disagree with the understated vs. being a leader in their segment point. Look at the original E28 M5 – it was the first of it’s kind and you car barely tell them apart from a standard E28 518i. The same can be said of the Merc. 500E – very subdued.

Most car makers think they can still built a Q car thats very understated but then put on huge flared wheel arches, grill work, big rims and brighter paint jobs – it loses the essence of understatement. I think Audi can still provide this as the RS4 is a much more subdued car than the E90 M3 and especially the C63 AMG. Most modern “Q cars” really aren’t that anymore. See the Audi B5 RS4 Wagon – who would ever expect a wagon to be twin-turbo’d and capable of a sub-5 second dash? It’s fantastic!

In terms of the interior, I took out a line before submitting this article that stated that “sitting in an A4 felt like sitting in a Passat and vice versa.” The A4 interior looks like it would be very interesting made of much higher quality than the BMW 3’s or Lexus. But in truth, sitting in there it feels the exact same. The switches and knobs look just like a Jetta – the interior just doesn’t feel substantial and dependable. The interior feels as if the screen is there to distract you from the over-abundance of scattering switches and knobs around the interior. I found myself looking for buttons more than I did looking at the road.

Why can’t European carmakers allow Americans to option up their car individually? In Europe you can tell them what radio, interior, aero package, sunroof, transmission, lights, wheels, security system – everything that you want. Why not us?! All I want is a 328i sedan with the M Sport package, 18 inch wheels xenons and an iPod adaptor. BMW packages options well in the US and I think Audi’s inability to package options how people want them is what will hurt there sales more than marketing, competition or anything else. Audi still doesn’t know exactly what people want.