A2 v Mercedes A Class

[FACtOR]

quote:Originally posted by Mal2002

I have to disagree with Factor about the 1.4 petrol being "pants". Being an owner of one I have to say that Ive not got any complaints about the power, when the accelerator is floored in 3rd gear the power is instant and the car shifts, plus the power is there right up to 100mph. Ive noticed though that the power is best between 2500 and 3500 revs.

Has anybody taken their A2 along to a track day?, it would be interesting to see how it copes.

2002, 1.4, azure blue, 2 tone leather, concert II single cd. Member of A2OC site.

Well considering all teh complaints i have with my petrol lack of power in comparison to ofther petrols being one of them u could possibly have a point, but i find i need silly revs like 3k+ to get into the power band and thats only 2nd gear that give me such decent accellertation, 3rd gear is feeble and 4th gear lmao dont get me start on 4th gear it wont even go into 4th gear i have to fight it onto 4th gear (put into 4th but no it slips clutch down put into 3rd then back to 4th slips again, 3rd times a charm [:I]) i have gotten to the stage where i dont car what happens to the petrol anymore for all the hastle it give me, just today me and a lamp post had a disagreement, i said i wanna park there , it said no.

1.4SE petrol 2001, Dark interior, Sat cloth, Brilliant Silver, 3 spoke Steering wheel, Rear electric windows and Panasonic MR555 stereo, Panasonic 8CD changer, 10 speakers (2 extra 13" 190 watt each.)

1.4TDiSE 2002, Biege interior, Brilliant Black, Concert II.

 

[ecoangel]

There are only two marginal advantages to owning a 1.4 petrol as opposed to a diesel: The first is cold start up noise (at cruise speeds the diesel is far less strained and operates at lower revs) where all diesels suffer from clatter (except perhaps for Peugoet HDi engines - they even do one for the 406 Coupe now!) and the second is weight: A diesel engine operates at far higher compression ratios: eg: 19 to 1 as opposed to 9 to 1.

In every other respect a modern turbo diesel wins hands down. Just look at in gear acceleration (despite the diesels extra weight) 30 to 50 mph in 4th: petrol 8.2, diesel 7.3 secs, 50 to 70mph in 5th: 12.2 petrol to 10.3 diesel. And you get 20 to 40 % better economy with lower CO2 emissions........

Incidentally i never liked the Merc but I think they are looking at a fuel cell version in the USA at the moment.....



Lukas

First A2 1.2 TDI in UK
Style pack + Chorus + Advance pack + winter wheels + iRiver MP3CD

 

[yoyoman]

I just read it and I could not agree more I also would have loved a quatro version.
My stepson has a quatro *(an old one) It is realy excelent

Jeff Huisman
2000 silver coloured A2 with some options

 

[runboy]

I've written on this A class V. A2 before. My experience is of sitting in an A class and being suprised at the cheap feel.

I have also read that the A class was the last model to suffer Merc's recent poor quality stage where build went down hill fast. Maybe they got complacent but build quality is now on the up but you can't change a bad design that much without spending a lot of money.

Plus the A class residuals are worse than the A2 (don't ask me how, but they are!) due to oversupply (easyjet rent-a-car had them as rentals).

Steve - 2002 1.4SE petrol, Silver, black/black interior, Then an identical replacement 2003 A2. Now a Toyota Corolla 1.6 T-Spirit

 

[vinnyk]

As I have owned both A class and A2, I think they are both good little car and both have their plus and minus points. As a car itself, the A2 appears to be a better car however as a package, including dealership, etc. Audi is not as good as Mercedes-Benz. For example, I took my A2 to my dealership for waranty work, it took 4 weeks to have a courtesy car where it would never happen to Mercedes and Mercedes-Benz UK is far better in terms of customer service than Audi UK. Therefore in my personal opinion, Audi has let down itself by its after sales service for otherwise a good little car.

 

[JohnW]

Yes I agree with Vinnyk about the package aspect, the A2's better but after sales is poorer. A mate told me about his A4 ( £23000 ) and his dealers attitude to a problem he had. One day he climbed in and his foot went through the floor!! He had a looksee and found a big hole under the carpet.His dealer refused to redeem the situation and suggested it was my friends fault. He said " you are climbing into car incorrectly" !!! Even Audi Uk technical people looked at it and refused to do anything. My friend sold the Audi and changed manufacturers. What is it about Audi?
Regards JohnW. 2002TDI SE.