Not bad for a turbocharged 1.8-liter car, you must admit. It comes close at 10.0 seconds to big brother's 9.9-second surge from 50 to 70 mph. For that we turn to the top-gear passing figures, where the A4 Turbo's 10.1-second sprint from 30 to 50 mph bests the 2.8 model's by 1.2 seconds.
Of course, that's no measure of a car's all-around flexibility. And besides, the 1.8T has none of its sibling's interior wood trim. We weren't quite sure what to expect: a car with glacial lag down at low engine speeds, most likely, even if turbo boost lent enough power at high revs. The concept of lopping off two cylinders and a liter of displacement from a car that is not exactly overpowered did not sound that inspiring-even with a turbocharger thrown in. It was not clear at the start that this would be the case, however. On the contrary, it improved them, and the A4 was reelected to a 10Best seat for '97. As you saw in our January 10Best issue, the 1.8T did not handicap the original 2.8-liter V-6-powered model's chances. Then, just as we were assembling the '97 hopefuls last fall, a hot-off-the-boat, "Cool Shades" Brilliant Yellow 1.8-liter turbo-powered version of the A4 arrived for our consideration. When Audi introduced the A4 in 1995, we were impressed-so much so that we voted it a 10Best winner in January 1996 and considered it a strong contender for the '97 event a year later. From the February 1997 issue of Car and Driver.
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