ecoangel
Well-Known Member
The latest edition of Diesel Car has a review of this model - but it is completely biased (in a Clarkson kinda way) against it. Here's my reponse to the points raised - I know the A2 isn't perfect but it's not as bad as this!
From: Lukas Will****s
Date: Mon Jul 12, 2004 5:16:47 PM Europe/London
To: [email protected]
Subject: have you lost the plot?
Attachments: There is 1 attachment
What on earth has become of Diesel Car magazine?
I don't mean the boy racer image makeover - why not go for MAX TORQUE as a new title!
No, what's annoying is how idiotic some of the articles are. I have been a diesel evangelist for over a decade and enjoyed your magazine for years - but now articles with agendas that are about as truthful as a tabloid stories - Come on Diesel Car authors - it's one thing to slag off Jeremy Clarkson - it's quite another trying to imitate him!
Huh? What is he going on about?
Well lets take the review of the Audi A2 1.4 TDI - a car that has been around for ages even in Sport format. A more biased review couldn't be found this side of a French newspaper article on English cuisine.
Will you kindly stick to the facts and report genuine plus and minus points instead of lambasting your readers with personal issues.
All in all the Audi A2 is a remarkable machine - yes it is overpriced over here (especially if you choose to spend a fortune on the options list) and the dealer servicing isn't all it should be but apart from that it has brought Aluminium and incredible fuel efficiency to the small car market. You only need visit www.audi-a2.net or www.a2forum.net to discover the following the car has created. If initial expenditure is the issue - buy a second hand example - better still import one from the mainland - I did and according to your figures saved around £6 grand.
So no it's owners are not all millionaires - in fact on less than the national average wage I am certainly not.
Ok some points for your consideration - generally following through the text (the pics weren't too bad):
Intro: what a load of utter b******t
"Blobmeister/ half Wart"- what "half wit" thought that line up? It designed in the same era as the Merc A class but to a far higher standard and now stacks of new cars have followed suite - Fiat Idea, Vauxhall Meriva, in fact most of the mini MPVs. The 1.2 TDI has a Cd of 0.25 - as low as the Honda Insight but carries twice the load just as far. A teardrop is pretty much the ideal aerodynamic shape.
"resent Audi owners" - why? It's so different across the channel - Audis are ordinary - Mercs are taxis and 5 series BMW Estates are used by window cleaners.
Geese: my parents have kept such beasts for decades - they have never attacked/hissed or shat on the A2 or it's driver - perhaps you forgot about the Birds and the Bees season? Geese are far more territorial in the Spring for obvious reasons - but a handful of grain or loaf of bread should be on your packing list next time you venture out of the city.
Image - I've left mine parked in the middle of Middlesborough without a scratch for over 3 hours - try that in a Ford Fiesta.
The A2 was not launched in 1991 !!!!!! Neither was it as cheap as the bottom of the range A3
X type Jag - OK but isn't that a jazzed up fwd Mondeo? hissss i hear you cry.
36.3mpg / 9000 miles between servicing - were you stuck in 3rd gear all day?! - Also PD engines are notrious for tighness early on - try one after 30000 miles.
Uncommunicative steering? Were you alseep at the wheel or did it speak German? Autocar rated the A2 as one of the best handling cars on the road when it first appeared - those ultra low profile tyres are best avoided for UK roads but on a smooth autobahn or race track they are awesome. Turning circle is also related to tyre width! Auto Express rated the brakes as best in class.
Lightness and sturdiness: Aluminium is lb for lb stiffer than steel - that's why aeroplanes aren't made of the latter!
Practicality:
1. Sloping rear roof line - did you take a trip in the back? I'm over 6 foot and have never rubbed my head on the ceiling when a passenger in the rear - yes it's only for 4 people but that was the design brief - to take four adults in comfort with their luggage as frugally an efficiently as possible from Frankfurt to Milano.
2. Not spacious? There's more space up front than an Audi A4
3. Small Boot ? Did you look? take the false floor out, remove the rear seats (they fold up like briefcases) and you can get a washing machine and a heck of a lot more in there. I decided against the Polo, Fabia and Seat ibiza because they could take my Trace Elliot valve amplifier and Electric guitar set up without crunching the tailgate.
4. Front pillars - agree with you here - watch out for cyclists!
5. Rear vision - actually very good once you get used to it - My wife has just passed her test and has no problems reversing the A2. Why have a parking sensor when the rear screen is on almost the same spatial plane as the rear bumper?
6. I believe the central locking, tilt steering wheel and electric front windows are standard.
7. How did your knees jar against the steering column? Are you built like Clarkson? Did you use the seat height adjuster as well as the push/pull/ tilt steering column?
8.You can't open the bonnet ? Why would you want to? Oh no what on earth are we to do! Of course you can remove it - no you don't have to dismantle teh whole front end - just rotate the two knobs inside the front flap and the whole bonnet comes off in a jiffy - very light weight - just don't bump it! DIY is possible and in fact a removable bonnet gives greater access than a normal one without bumping your head in the process.
9. You'd rather have a ...... ? I take it you aren't talking cars at this point?
So please can we have some well researched and accurate reporting in future?
PS: My Audi A2 averages 83 mpg - Worst recorded was 44 mpg when driven by a Lotus Elise racing instructor around Caslte Combe last year- best 103 mpg in the rush hour over 28 mile journey. OK it's the 1.2 TDI - a real world 3 litre car unlike the Accord on p 53 - even averaging 90 mph on the German Autobahn it sipped just 69 mpg. The DVLA charge me £75 per year road tax (due low CO2 emissions D3 model 86gms/km)
Cheers
Lukas Will****s
[3]
Lukas
First A2 1.2 TDI in UK
Style pack + Chorus + Advance pack + winter wheels + iRiver MP3CD
http://www.audi-a2.co.uk/mar.htm
From: Lukas Will****s
Date: Mon Jul 12, 2004 5:16:47 PM Europe/London
To: [email protected]
Subject: have you lost the plot?
Attachments: There is 1 attachment
What on earth has become of Diesel Car magazine?
I don't mean the boy racer image makeover - why not go for MAX TORQUE as a new title!
No, what's annoying is how idiotic some of the articles are. I have been a diesel evangelist for over a decade and enjoyed your magazine for years - but now articles with agendas that are about as truthful as a tabloid stories - Come on Diesel Car authors - it's one thing to slag off Jeremy Clarkson - it's quite another trying to imitate him!
Huh? What is he going on about?
Well lets take the review of the Audi A2 1.4 TDI - a car that has been around for ages even in Sport format. A more biased review couldn't be found this side of a French newspaper article on English cuisine.
Will you kindly stick to the facts and report genuine plus and minus points instead of lambasting your readers with personal issues.
All in all the Audi A2 is a remarkable machine - yes it is overpriced over here (especially if you choose to spend a fortune on the options list) and the dealer servicing isn't all it should be but apart from that it has brought Aluminium and incredible fuel efficiency to the small car market. You only need visit www.audi-a2.net or www.a2forum.net to discover the following the car has created. If initial expenditure is the issue - buy a second hand example - better still import one from the mainland - I did and according to your figures saved around £6 grand.
So no it's owners are not all millionaires - in fact on less than the national average wage I am certainly not.
Ok some points for your consideration - generally following through the text (the pics weren't too bad):
Intro: what a load of utter b******t
"Blobmeister/ half Wart"- what "half wit" thought that line up? It designed in the same era as the Merc A class but to a far higher standard and now stacks of new cars have followed suite - Fiat Idea, Vauxhall Meriva, in fact most of the mini MPVs. The 1.2 TDI has a Cd of 0.25 - as low as the Honda Insight but carries twice the load just as far. A teardrop is pretty much the ideal aerodynamic shape.
"resent Audi owners" - why? It's so different across the channel - Audis are ordinary - Mercs are taxis and 5 series BMW Estates are used by window cleaners.
Geese: my parents have kept such beasts for decades - they have never attacked/hissed or shat on the A2 or it's driver - perhaps you forgot about the Birds and the Bees season? Geese are far more territorial in the Spring for obvious reasons - but a handful of grain or loaf of bread should be on your packing list next time you venture out of the city.
Image - I've left mine parked in the middle of Middlesborough without a scratch for over 3 hours - try that in a Ford Fiesta.
The A2 was not launched in 1991 !!!!!! Neither was it as cheap as the bottom of the range A3
X type Jag - OK but isn't that a jazzed up fwd Mondeo? hissss i hear you cry.
36.3mpg / 9000 miles between servicing - were you stuck in 3rd gear all day?! - Also PD engines are notrious for tighness early on - try one after 30000 miles.
Uncommunicative steering? Were you alseep at the wheel or did it speak German? Autocar rated the A2 as one of the best handling cars on the road when it first appeared - those ultra low profile tyres are best avoided for UK roads but on a smooth autobahn or race track they are awesome. Turning circle is also related to tyre width! Auto Express rated the brakes as best in class.
Lightness and sturdiness: Aluminium is lb for lb stiffer than steel - that's why aeroplanes aren't made of the latter!
Practicality:
1. Sloping rear roof line - did you take a trip in the back? I'm over 6 foot and have never rubbed my head on the ceiling when a passenger in the rear - yes it's only for 4 people but that was the design brief - to take four adults in comfort with their luggage as frugally an efficiently as possible from Frankfurt to Milano.
2. Not spacious? There's more space up front than an Audi A4
3. Small Boot ? Did you look? take the false floor out, remove the rear seats (they fold up like briefcases) and you can get a washing machine and a heck of a lot more in there. I decided against the Polo, Fabia and Seat ibiza because they could take my Trace Elliot valve amplifier and Electric guitar set up without crunching the tailgate.
4. Front pillars - agree with you here - watch out for cyclists!
5. Rear vision - actually very good once you get used to it - My wife has just passed her test and has no problems reversing the A2. Why have a parking sensor when the rear screen is on almost the same spatial plane as the rear bumper?
6. I believe the central locking, tilt steering wheel and electric front windows are standard.
7. How did your knees jar against the steering column? Are you built like Clarkson? Did you use the seat height adjuster as well as the push/pull/ tilt steering column?
8.You can't open the bonnet ? Why would you want to? Oh no what on earth are we to do! Of course you can remove it - no you don't have to dismantle teh whole front end - just rotate the two knobs inside the front flap and the whole bonnet comes off in a jiffy - very light weight - just don't bump it! DIY is possible and in fact a removable bonnet gives greater access than a normal one without bumping your head in the process.
9. You'd rather have a ...... ? I take it you aren't talking cars at this point?
So please can we have some well researched and accurate reporting in future?
PS: My Audi A2 averages 83 mpg - Worst recorded was 44 mpg when driven by a Lotus Elise racing instructor around Caslte Combe last year- best 103 mpg in the rush hour over 28 mile journey. OK it's the 1.2 TDI - a real world 3 litre car unlike the Accord on p 53 - even averaging 90 mph on the German Autobahn it sipped just 69 mpg. The DVLA charge me £75 per year road tax (due low CO2 emissions D3 model 86gms/km)
Cheers
Lukas Will****s
[3]
Lukas
First A2 1.2 TDI in UK
Style pack + Chorus + Advance pack + winter wheels + iRiver MP3CD
http://www.audi-a2.co.uk/mar.htm
practical and spacious seating and luggage arrangement and style too. What does a similarly priced VW Golf offer!? ‘Fleet News’ (
