Could I really buy an Audi?
Mar 4, 2024 18:09:02 GMT
Post by WDB on Mar 4, 2024 18:09:02 GMT
Humph favours inertia. Vić concocts manic pawn-Piers-to-pay-Phil schemes that nobody else understands. And I look endlessly at big, shiny EVs in the hope that something will finally tick all my boxes. They all end up in the same place: nobody buys a car.
But what about Audi? They make a family-sized EV; several, actually, but it's the most affordable one I'm suddenly wondering about, the Q4. It's technically much the same as the Škoda Enyaq - which a lot of people like - and the VW iD.4 - which nobody does, including a colleague who has one. It's arguably better looking than either, despite its Audi face, and it's not as SUV-tall as the Enyaq. It seems - I would have to check this out in person - to have the same wheelbase as, and so similar rear seat space to, the Enyaq, which is excellent in the back. It's certainly better looking than the BMW iX3, and seems at least to equal it for space, in a neater, EV-only body. And various testers seem to have got 3.5mi/kWh out of it, which makes it a better long-trip tool than the electron-squandering (and over-wide) iPace and at least as good as the iX3. It even seems to be available at used prices that equal or beat the Enyaq (which seems bizarrely expensive for a supposed Bison Futé budget option) and for a fair bit less than the iX3. Nicer exterior colours too.
But I'd have to live with an Audi interior, which comes in a choice of black or blackety-black black with extra black bits. And - in some versions, a steering wheel that is flat at the bottom and at the top, which seems odd. And people would think I was an Audi driver - which, I suppose, I would be. And I could have one with a Sonos audio system - although I suspect that's just the amps and speakers, not the option to carry Tim Harford with me from the car to the kitchen.
I suppose I need to find one to try. I drove the Enyaq in 2021 when it was very new, and liked it, but I've not been kicking myself for not ordering one straight away. If the Q4 drives similarly and has door bins that don't bend when you pull them, that could be a good thing. It would look neater on my drive - and through my office window - than an iX3, and it may actually have more space.
Is this a recognised psychological phenomenon? Ingolstadt Syndrome, perhaps? If so, will the cold stare of an Audi salesman be enough to shake me out of it?
But what about Audi? They make a family-sized EV; several, actually, but it's the most affordable one I'm suddenly wondering about, the Q4. It's technically much the same as the Škoda Enyaq - which a lot of people like - and the VW iD.4 - which nobody does, including a colleague who has one. It's arguably better looking than either, despite its Audi face, and it's not as SUV-tall as the Enyaq. It seems - I would have to check this out in person - to have the same wheelbase as, and so similar rear seat space to, the Enyaq, which is excellent in the back. It's certainly better looking than the BMW iX3, and seems at least to equal it for space, in a neater, EV-only body. And various testers seem to have got 3.5mi/kWh out of it, which makes it a better long-trip tool than the electron-squandering (and over-wide) iPace and at least as good as the iX3. It even seems to be available at used prices that equal or beat the Enyaq (which seems bizarrely expensive for a supposed Bison Futé budget option) and for a fair bit less than the iX3. Nicer exterior colours too.
But I'd have to live with an Audi interior, which comes in a choice of black or blackety-black black with extra black bits. And - in some versions, a steering wheel that is flat at the bottom and at the top, which seems odd. And people would think I was an Audi driver - which, I suppose, I would be. And I could have one with a Sonos audio system - although I suspect that's just the amps and speakers, not the option to carry Tim Harford with me from the car to the kitchen.
I suppose I need to find one to try. I drove the Enyaq in 2021 when it was very new, and liked it, but I've not been kicking myself for not ordering one straight away. If the Q4 drives similarly and has door bins that don't bend when you pull them, that could be a good thing. It would look neater on my drive - and through my office window - than an iX3, and it may actually have more space.
Is this a recognised psychological phenomenon? Ingolstadt Syndrome, perhaps? If so, will the cold stare of an Audi salesman be enough to shake me out of it?
