Faults:

Remote locking not working. Remedied itself though.

General Comments:

Good acceleration in the mid range.

The turbo lag is apparent and can scare the hell out of you when pulling away.

Quite happy with the build and quality of interior (get leather & chrome finish).

The sports seats are not too comfy if you've got a big arse liked me.

The ride is very hard, which is good for motorways and good A-roads, though a real pain if you live in rural areas with rough roads.

The brakes a fab as is the ESP (stability program) - good fun to switch off the ESP as well.

The chassis can handle a lot more power so I'm likely to get a power upgrade to 170 bhp!

Faults:

On delivery, doors appeared to be slightly out of horozontal alignment when compared with showroom vehicle. Hinges re-adjusted.

General Comments:

Despite the early glitch with the doors, the new Audi Cabriolet is a beautiful car to own and drive.

The interior of the car (with optional leather and heated seats) is extremely comfortable and built from the highest quality materials. Adults of average size can be accommodated in the rear seats in comfort, but anyone over 170cm would be better placed taking their own car on all, but the shortest journeys.

The engine is responsive, and whilst is never going to break any speed records, propels the car with sufficient pace for most. A particularly pleasing feature is the fabulous exhaust note from the twin pipes. Audi must have worked hard to get this car to sound right - and they have indeed got it spot on.

For the practically minded, the boot is large enough (even with the roof down to carry a very large suitcase plus an aircraft carry on case and 2 soft bags.

A joy to own.

Faults:

Automatic box screwed up on at least four occasions, one stranding me in the middle of nowhere at 2am.

General Comments:

The A4 is beautifully screwed together. There isn't a shake, a squeak or a rattle to be heard anywhere, over any surface. It's very quiet and refined, and comfortable to be in. On the right road, the handling is superb. It corners flat and feels very safe doing so. At the same time, the car is too light, meaning it bounces alarmingly over uneven surfaces. Imperfections in the road cause the car to jump off line.

At high speed, poor road surfaces are nothing short of worrying, and the car has a habit of skipping off track. Undulating roads are a nightmare, and you find yourself going from having your spine compressed into the seat to bashing your scalp on the headlining. It's really not the most calming of experiences.

The multitronic or continuously variable transmission (CVT) box is a nonsense, and has caused the car to break down on four separate occasions. As it lacks gears it is very smooth around town, but when pushed it makes the engine sound strange and raucous. There is also an annoying pause when moving from forward to reverse gear. Performance is sluggish. Pickup at high speeds isn't worth writing home about. Given the choice, I would have the regular automatic. The fuel consumption is on the poor side, I thought, averaging 23mpg around town. I expected 30mpg at the very least.

The brakes are perhaps the car's largest bugbear. They are over sensitive, over assisted, snatchy, and generally wooden. Sit in stop-start traffic and you'll need a neck brace by the end of it. The brake pedal is also a good two inches above the throttle, making emergency application of the anchors rather fraut: the left edge of your shoe whacks the right edge of the pedal. I know of at least one person who went for the BMW 3-Series over the A4 because of the brakes. They really are that uncomfortable an experience.

Overall, a brilliant and well engineered package let down by some fairly fundamental issues when on the road.

Faults:

There was a rattle from the driver's side door mirror housing, which was quickly resolved by the dealer.

General Comments:

Having been used to the comfort of a Saab for long and short journeys I've been very pleasantly surprised by the A4. The Sports seats are fabulous.

The Bose sound system is superb, although I guess that's the least one would expect given its price...

The general build quality of the car seems excellent and it's a pleasure to drive.

Faults:

There were very fine scratches in one corner of the windscreen when I took delivery. These were particularly noticeable as it was early in the morning and the sun was shining.

General Comments:

The overall buying experience has been excellent. This can be attributed to both the excellent sales staff who were almost as impressed with the product as I was.

The Multitronic transmission is excellent, both in terms of performance and economy.

The combination of performance and economy would be reason enough for some to buy. Add to that its good looks and that it is a joy to drive on both short and long journeys and you have a real winner.