bruddah_man_matt
02-22-2006, 12:50 PM
http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Audi_News/article_2003.shtml
Personally I'm not surprised we're not getting the Avant here in the states. We already get the S4 Avant and I'm guessing Audi thinks that a 340hp V8 powered wagon is enough to satisfy the needs of those who crave a hot estate available with a 6 speed and some oomph. Audi has always reserved it's hot Avants for Europeans only. We never got the first two RS models here in the states as they were only available in Avant form. The Porsche engineered 315hp 2.2L turbo inline 5 powered RS2 Avant and the Cosworth tuned B5 RS4 Avant with it's 380hp bi-turbo 2.7L V6 were only available in Europe. The 450hp bi-turbo V8 powered RS6 Avant (which we only got here in sedan form) and 480hp RS6 Avant Plus were also both Euro only specials.
The Cabriolet on the other hand, now there's a bit of surprise. With the amount of E46 M3 convertibles running around, I'm surprised Audi didn't think there was a market for the RS4 Cab here in the states. Mercedes just unveiled it's all new CLK63 Coupe and Cabrio, and I guarantee both are headed stateside. I'm also certain that BMW will sell the E90 M3 Cabrio in the US as well seeing as how popular the E46 variant was. It's not as though there isn't a market for high performance drop tops here in the US. Mercedes is going ahead and building the 582hp CLK-DTM AMG Cabriolet after the success of the coupe and it stated the US is probably one of the car's largest markets.
In any case, it looks like Europeans will be spoiled yet again. If any of these cars had potential in the US, it was the Cab. Oh well, at least we still get the RS4 in sedan form.
Personally I'm not surprised we're not getting the Avant here in the states. We already get the S4 Avant and I'm guessing Audi thinks that a 340hp V8 powered wagon is enough to satisfy the needs of those who crave a hot estate available with a 6 speed and some oomph. Audi has always reserved it's hot Avants for Europeans only. We never got the first two RS models here in the states as they were only available in Avant form. The Porsche engineered 315hp 2.2L turbo inline 5 powered RS2 Avant and the Cosworth tuned B5 RS4 Avant with it's 380hp bi-turbo 2.7L V6 were only available in Europe. The 450hp bi-turbo V8 powered RS6 Avant (which we only got here in sedan form) and 480hp RS6 Avant Plus were also both Euro only specials.
The Cabriolet on the other hand, now there's a bit of surprise. With the amount of E46 M3 convertibles running around, I'm surprised Audi didn't think there was a market for the RS4 Cab here in the states. Mercedes just unveiled it's all new CLK63 Coupe and Cabrio, and I guarantee both are headed stateside. I'm also certain that BMW will sell the E90 M3 Cabrio in the US as well seeing as how popular the E46 variant was. It's not as though there isn't a market for high performance drop tops here in the US. Mercedes is going ahead and building the 582hp CLK-DTM AMG Cabriolet after the success of the coupe and it stated the US is probably one of the car's largest markets.
In any case, it looks like Europeans will be spoiled yet again. If any of these cars had potential in the US, it was the Cab. Oh well, at least we still get the RS4 in sedan form.