I'm in the same boat. Audi driver looking at the G now.

 

Mind if I ask why you are considering a change and what Audi you are n now?

 

I have an Audi Avant 1.8T, 2003 with approx. 28000K on it so far. It has had no significant problems, and has served us (me and my wife-since it is mainly her vehicle) well.

The audio system is terrible in the Audi! The gas mileage in the Audi is also not very good (around 14 mpg in city driving vs. about the same for my 2005 G35C with AT that gets between 13-14.5 mpg). when you factor in the performance advantage of the G35 coupe, the Audi is a clear loser. The interior of the Audi is nicer than the G35- but, it does not have a power seat for the passenger! Ours did not have auto-dimming mirrors, even with the premium package. The front seat arm-rest in the Audi is a joke compared to the G35.

We rarely use the sunroof on the Audi- and the G35's sunroof is a lot more pleasant to leave uncovered all the time.

The ride of the Audi with the sport suspension and 17 inchers is more punishing than the G35 with 19 inchers. IMO, the G35 is much more comfortable in daily driving in pothole city (Tampa) than the Audi. And, the 2005 is a clear winner in the brake-dust comparo! That brings up another point, the brakes on the Audi do not stop as well as the G35 brakes!

On the highway, the Audi is about as quiet as my newer G35- we have all season Potenza tires on the Audi now vs. the performance Potenzas on the G35). I had to buy new tires for the Audi to replace the caca Contis at 17K miles.

The performance of the Audi does not compare to the G35 here in Florida (or anyplace where you are not driving it in cold/snow/icey conditions).

One of the neat things, IMO, about the G35 is that my wife loves to drive it now (I could not get the 6MT a few months ago when I got the G35, so, I went with the AT version and actually enjoy it myself after many manual shift vehicles in the past). She really likes the performance in the G35!

The upgraded interior of the latest G35 coupe still does not come close to the Audi- but, the seats are at least as comfortable for me (I have not taken a long trip in the G35 yet).

The warranty with maintenance included is a plus for the Audi. You are supposed to change the oil every 3500 miles on the G35 coupe at owners expense.

Have you seen any info about the Audi A3 that is supposed to be sold here in a few months?

 

yup next car is a s3 for me.

Audi a4 for u who want refined interiors and AWD
G35 for u who are more into power and good service from dealers

 

Well, where to begin. I leased a new 1996 Audi A4 Quattro 5 MT and thought it handled well, especially in the snow and rain and it had a nice interior (with a very tight back seat, which I think is bigger now).

BUT-the car had multiple problems, many of which the dealer could not fix or took forever to repair. The second day I had it it would not start and seemed electrically dead for 20 minutes. The alarm to detect interior motion never worked. It was delivered with an alarm module that recognized only one key at a time and was repalced. They kept it for two weeks to fix the trunk alarm sensor and never fixed it. The radio made scratchy noises and they initially said it was fine but later replaced it. At one point the steering wheel had to be turned 5 degrees to drive straight, so they aligned it. It was the same afterward and when I told them, they said it couldn't be. They agreed to send a tech out with me and then they believed me. Oh-their loaner cars are not Audis, which could be OK, but they were always little unsafe cars and one had a door lock I had to use a knife to open every time for the 2 weeks they didn't fix my alarm. My Infiniti dealer always gives Infinitis (now G35x cars).

My Infiniti dealer took the Audi off my hands with 3 months left on the lease (he paid the last 3 months) when I bought the I30 I had for 6 years before getting the G35x. By the way, I had zero problems with I30.

So---I'd get the Infiniti.

Good luck.

 

the Bose "premium" sound system in my '03 Audi A4 sounds like total crap (even with the built in sub)... poor bass at higher volumes; no staging, everything kind of blends together... oh, it IS decent for AM radio

bottom line, i've always fealt audi sound systems were quite inadequate (i've owned two), so don't think the listening experience in an A4 will be any better than in a G... my 2 cents...

also, why couldn't you improve the performance of the stock headunit without changing the look? if the head has pre-am outs, then you can connect high quality amps to run the components and the rear speakers... then you can swap out the stock speakers for something reputable, depending on how much you want to spend (JL Audio, MB Quart, Alpine, Boston Acoustics, Eclipse, etc.)

 

This is interesting as I have heard the Audio Symphony radio in my friends 2001 A6 and it sounded great to me. I thought I heard people saying the radio in the a4 was good as well. Guess I was wrong. Thank you for the info.
Mike

 

Just test drive the G I'm sure everyone in here will agree that you will love it. The car is not perfect but one thing is for sure it will give you a big smile on your face everytime you're driving it.