All they need now is to make all their cars RWD standard, across the line and move the engines BEHIND the wheels like BMW / MB and they will be unstoppable.

Jon.

To my understanding, they have developed a new tranny that will move the engine back 3 or 4 inches which is huge. This will totally change the weight distribution. It may debut on the next A4 and throughout the rest of the line. I also don’t think they will ever go RWD, they will be RWD bias quattro.

Yeah…I should have gotten Quattro on my car…oh, well next time. They really have to move the engine as back as possible, the closer they get to 50 / 50 distribution, the better.

Jon.

Considering they were in the automotive toilet not very long ago with some really sh_tty product… They’ll be like BMW however, never breaking thru in real numbers. Just hope smaller companies can make enough money to move forward instead of becoming cosmetic shells like Saab.

j i m

Where I’m from the men who like TTs also like each other. Think about it.

Jim,

They never made a “some really sh_tty product�. If you compare 80’s or 70’s Audis to comparable BMW’s of the same era they were on par with each other in terms of quality. Simply, BMW sold quite a bit better in the US and EU because they were better known. At the same time, in the 70’s and 80’s Mercedes outsold both brands.

The reason Audi got a bad reputation is because for the most parts Americans are idiots. I’ll explain:

1) On a manual transmission car, you have three pedals. The middle pedal, which is the break pedal, tends to be about the same size as the clutch and gas pedal so it can fit in there.

2) On an automatic car you have two pedals, which are both in the same position as in a manual car, but sans clutch pedal. The break pedal tends to be larger on American cars, presumably so people can find the break pedal quickly.

Audi used to build their automatic cars in the exact same configuration as described in # 1, but simply removed the clutch pedal, thus the break pedal was about the same size as the gas pedal. The rest of the world had no problem with this configuration, but it seems that some retarded lady who owned an Audi could not tell the difference and one day hit the gas instead of the break pedal. And then there was a whole expose on TV, and some other idiots that had no idea how to drive also stated that they had done the same thing.

The media chalked it up to Audi cars malfunctioning, instead of realizing that people have no idea how to drive.

Jon.

haha sadly true Jon. Unfortunately IQ tests are not given in conjuction to a driver’s test….

Yea steve. We get it. You’re very clever. Thank you for your contribution.

And Jon, thats exactly right. Audi got a bad rap because of a few stupid people who couldn’t drive, and blamed the company. I believe Audi withdrew from the US at that point for a number of years. Then they came back and continued to kick ass. I owned an Audi 5000, and it was a very very nice car. I currently own an A8.

The whole “Unintended Acceleration” thing (as it was called in the day) that Jon refered to was blown out of proportion by a 60 Minutes ‘news’ report in 1986 which was about the time of the original ‘accident’. No doubt their report was ‘pumped up’ for ratings.

Audi never actually withdrew from the US market but their sales dropped so dramatically at that time it just seemed like they did.

Bottom line: Ill trained, idiotic, sue-happy, “not my fault” owner/drivers could ruin ANY car company..

jon’s a good man

Mmm yeah the Unintended Acceleration really put a dent in their sales. And when I mean really I mean REALLY. But the way Audi handled the situation is the textbook example of what not to do with a faulty product. They blamed the drivers not their cars. I mean buying an Audi after that was almost unheard of. But they’re coming out with some nice products, I actually like Audi more than MB.

I also never see a RWD future in them, only in racing which they’ve already done (R8, R10)

[...] Audi upbeat about 2006, future | Leftlane – Car News For … I owned an Audi 5000, and it was a very very nice car. … I also never see a RWD future in them, only in racing which they’ve already done (R8, R10) … [...]