RE: If it WASN'T a Quattro - would you buy one?

[Ron Williams <golf@bway.net>]

I decided to buy my new Audi last year at the New York Auto Show. I try
to make the show every year. Last year I vowed to sit in every car I was
the least bit attracted to based on previous research, what simply
looked good and how I felt that day. Trying on a car on at the NYAS is a
trial as one wades through crowds of knob and loose stuff pinching kids
that swarm the show. Ford locks their cars up tight (so much for the
SHO) and others turn off the electrical system to thwart experimenters.
I was only vaguely interested in the Audi based on what I'd read and
what I'd seen of Audi engineering exhibits in previous years. 

This time I sat in an A4 and when I closed the door I was suddenly in
another world. The car was supplied with a selective power source that
allowed the seats to be moved and and a few other accessories to work.
It fit like a glove. The difference in the quiet as the windows went up
and the roof panel closed was amazing. The visibility was far and away
the best of most of the cars I visited. I'm 6'-2", 190lbs., and I was
more comfortable in this little car than in the Cadillac STS. I hadn't
even thought about quattro yet.

When I road tested A4s, the first two or three I drove had no quattro.
When I first drove a quattro it was under the eye of a salesman on a
rainy slick day on winding Long Island back roads. As we hit a turn that
was awash in gravel I instinctively reacted to avoid a skid but suddenly
realized we were through the stretch without a twitch. The salesman
laughed and commented about how quattro sells itself.

Ultimately, I was attracted to the A4 because it was so far ahead of
anything else I encountered, comfort, styling and engineering wise.
Quattro was truly an accesssory for me. Would I buy it without? Yes, but
only if it wasn't available.

Ron