Last fall Audi let the European auto media drive its new A4, but kept it away from the public and the North American car guys. So its quiet appearance at the 2001 Geneva Motor Show was its debut before the public and Canadian and American auto writers.
The German luxury firm probably wanted to keep the new A4 secret from the North American media, since it'll be some time before the entry-level luxury car makes its way across the Atlantic and the company probably wants to sell some more of its current A4 before that happens.
It's easy to see why selling the old one might be hard in light of the imminent arrival of the new one, since it's a roomier, more substantial and better looking vehicle with two new engines with aluminum blocks.
Some of the more important dimensional improvements stem from the fact that the wheelbase has grown 33 mm, which means 32 mm more interior length, 43 mm more rear knee room, 15 mm more front headroom, 11 mm more shoulder room, and more elbow room front and rear.
The new engines are a 2-litre inline-4, which joins the 1.8-litre turbo, and a 3-litre V6, which replaces the 2.8-litre V6.
The smaller engine has 5 valves per cylinder, develops 130 horsepower at 5700 rpm and probably a little less than 150 foot-pounds of torque at 3300 rpm.
The bigger engine is a 30-valve V6 that turns out 220 horsepower and about the same number of pound-feet of torque, though you have to have the revs way up to get those peaks.