[Big Block Mopar]

footie,

I agree that the S5 is overpriced. "Severely overpriced", I guess I'd have to see what your definition of that is. To me it's about $5k over where it should be. With that, it doesn't appear that they have had much trouble selling the S5's they bring into the country. The car is in the same market as a 335i coupe and given that, would obviously be considered more expensive. Do you get more when you pay more? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Most would agree that the S5 is visually more appealing and that the interior is a nicer place to be. Dynamically, I like the delivery of a FI motor and would perfer the BMW powerplant. I also like the tuneability and fuel mileage of the Turbo 6. The suspension is a push to me as the Audi Drive Select really firms things up nicely, while I think BMW has done a really good job at pleasing most with the set up in the 335i.

Seeing as how this is a car forum on the internet, most discussions breakdown to a stoplight drag race. I think we all know that there are $5,000 Honda's out there with 4 bolt, 80 series turbos, that will blow all of these cars away. Is it a car you and I would want to spend time in? Probably not. I don't really spend much time worrying about 3 tenths here or there. That time for me came and went a while back. I drive my car b-f to work, a little spirited driving now and again and take a few business trips in it. I am not an aspiring F1 driver. Nor do I feel like I need to make up for the fact that I am not by acting like Speed Racer on public roads.

The question is, does the performance match the car and do you feel like paying X is reasonable? If you find no value in the differences of the more expensive car, you won't buy it.


Regards,
John

[footie]

Originally Posted by NC Audi

footie,

I agree that the S5 is overpriced. "Severely overpriced", I guess I'd have to see what your definition of that is. To me it's about $5k over where it should be. With that, it doesn't appear that they have had much trouble selling the S5's they bring into the country. The car is in the same market as a 335i coupe and given that, would obviously be considered more expensive. Do you get more when you pay more? Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Here is the problem with debating things on the Internet, in the US the S5 is way over priced (from what I hear) but here in the UK and in Europe the difference in price between it and the 335i isn't quite as great. So it depends on whether you simply value outright performance or a combination of things that might include, looks, build quality, materials used, comfort of ride, benefit of awd, etc, etc.

As I live in the UK I actually think it's not that bad of value for money and the newer examples with the option of Select drive plus Sportsdiff are (like the S4) even better handling cars than the 335i.

Originally Posted by NC Audi

Most would agree that the S5 is visually more appealing and that the interior is a nicer place to be. Dynamically, I like the delivery of a FI motor and would perfer the BMW powerplant. I also like the tuneability and fuel mileage of the Turbo 6. The suspension is a push to me as the Audi Drive Select really firms things up nicely, while I think BMW has done a really good job at pleasing most with the set up in the 335i.

I also like the delivery from an FI motor, though I much prefer the SCv6 from the S4 compared to the 335i, zero lag and an even boarder sweet point.

Originally Posted by NC Audi

Seeing as how this is a car forum on the internet, most discussions breakdown to a stoplight drag race. I think we all know that there are $5,000 Honda's out there with 4 bolt, 80 series turbos, that will blow all of these cars away. Is it a car you and I would want to spend time in? Probably not. I don't really spend much time worrying about 3 tenths here or there. That time for me came and went a while back. I drive my car b-f to work, a little spirited driving now and again and take a few business trips in it. I am not an aspiring F1 driver. Nor do I feel like I need to make up for the fact that I am not by acting like Speed Racer on public roads.

You hit the nail on the head there, this forum is made up with a usually large amount of stoplight racers there 'POWER' is everything. I'm actually surprised everyone of them aren't all driving something homegrown.

Originally Posted by NC Audi

The question is, does the performance match the car and do you feel like paying X is reasonable? If you find no value in the differences of the more expensive car, you won't buy it.


Regards,
John

Again this comes down to geography and where you happen to live. But as I said above, it all can't come down to performance because 90% of the time you are seldom using more than a third of a car's potential.

[MaybeBIM]

Originally Posted by NC Audi

Have you looked into a CPO'd RS4? To me, it's the best car Audi has built (R8 is a different deal) and can be purchased at a very reasonable price.

Whichever way you choose, it will be a nice mode of transport. At the moment you're trying to sort b/w an Audi and a BMW. That's a pretty good problem to have, eh?

Regards,
John

Wow! The RS4 has terrible gas mileage. Furthermore, I'm looking for my first NEW European car. For some reason, I have bad feelings about pre-owned vehicles; I have this feeling that they were beaten and the previous owner left me with many hidden burdens that will affect me shortly after my ownership. The choices between an A5 2.0t and BMW 328i Coupe are my staple pick right now because of their balance of fuel economy, sportiness, comfort and darn good looks. Before I chose these two vehicles, I was actually going to buy a 2009 Hyundai Genesis 3.8 sedan for $36,000; however, its lack of manual transmission and first year model bugs veered me away from that car for now.

[Big Block Mopar]

The Genesis is definitely a nice car and by the reports I've seen is reliable. You could also get the coupe with a 6 sp. As far as price, it's unbeatable.

Known platform, good MPG, sporty, the 328 would definitely do the trick.

By the way, for what it is, the RS4's MPG isn't too bad. I've seen 24-25 MPG on trips while cruising at a pretty good clip. Also, the original owners tend to be a little older. Not saying the couldn't have been beaten on, but most I have seen are very well maintained. Major issues were the Dynamic Ride Control (DRC) and some carbon build up in the intake. Appears to be from the direct fuel injection that bypasses the manifold and provides fuel directly into the CC. Haven't heard of many, but it's out there.

Regards,
John