2001 Audi A4 SE 1.9TDi
Summary:
Excellent engine, performance and economy
Faults:
Absolutely nothing, except for some idiot running into the back of me, and you can't blame Audi for that!
General Comments:
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!
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 5th February, 2002
9th Apr 2002, 16:10
Got the rear bumper fixed, cost to the insurance company: 600 quid!!! They replaced the bumper and the plastic trim below it, sprayed it (twice, wrong colour first time). Top quality job, can't tell now.
Last week I took a hit from a stone on the front windscreen on the motorway resulting in a six inch crack, RAC Autowindscreen quoted UKP 380 pounds, Audi Wakefield UKP 170? The insurance company asked me to take it to RAC, they came out next day and replaced it on my drive.
25th Jul 2002, 07:59
Another update.
Now 10 months old, it went in for its first service Yesterday at 20,600 miles, cost UK Pounds £244 inc tax and everything. Nothing needed doing, no warranty work, just the normal service.
Replaced the front tyres last month (18,000 miles), 110 pounds each, probably due to a mix of enthusiastic driving and all this torque going to the road :).
Still delighted with the car, especially since they gave me an A6 Avant to drive in for the day, this made me realise just how good the handling on the new A4 is, much better than the A6 and old A4 that I had before.
30th Mar 2005, 10:18
Thanks for the comments and I understand what you mean about the trip counter, I did say that I regularly got 500 miles per tank and 600 on a long run, 650 once. The tank holds 70litres or 15.4 gallons. Divide by 550 miles is roughly 35 miles to the gallon worst case.
9th Feb 2009, 22:29
I get around 650 miles for a tank of fuel on my 115 1.9 TDI - this averages to 42.2 MPG -- the average displayed by the computer is 43.2 MPG. Seems pretty accurate as there are still some liters left when I fuel up.
1st Mar 2002, 04:25
Forgot to say, the only thing that really bothers me about this car is the place they put the button for the boot release on the ignition key. I can't count the number of times I pressed it by mistake in the first few months! I believe this key is a standard design for all Audi and VW vehicles.
I've now got 11,500 miles on the clock and it is still like new, needs no attention and still accelerates like no other diesel known to man and you get to pass all fuel stations for 500 miles. Peugeot are currently boasting about their diesel 307 doing 0-62 in 10.9 seconds, sub 10 seconds on the A4 and it's a much bigger car too!
I don't think I said in the original review I wrote, the car is at least as quiet as any similar petrol car except on tickover, even on tick-over it is not the usual bus type lumpy tickover you expect, it's just a low pitch smooth rumble.
If you get chance take one for a test drive, I promise you'll be impressed!