Audi A4 1.8T Minutiae

I come to you today with a piece of minutiae that’s very minute, even for PlaysWithCars.  It’s not taillight changes, bumper design, or exhaust pipes.  It’s not even wheels.  It’s a one-inch red stripe.

Behold, the original Audi A4.  You probably remember this car, since every previous Audi was unreliable crap, and every Audi since has been unreliable crap with cool headlights.  Just kidding, it’s not just the lights: they also have the continuously-variable automatic transmission.  It’s a wonder this brand doesn’t outsell BMW.

Anyway, back to the A4.  US models came out in 1996, and the lineup expanded the following year to include a turbocharged 1.8-liter four-cylinder model, called the “1.8T.”  There was nothing remarkable about the 1.8T, except that – at 150hp and 155 lb-ft – it was quite a bit underpowered.  But the drivers didn’t mind, since it had no trouble shuttling between baby showers, bachelorette parties, shopping malls, and yoga classes.

Regardless, Audi boosted the 1.8T’s numbers slightly in its final year on the market, increasing horsepower by 20 to 170 and torque by 11 to 166 lb-ft.  I have no idea how this was achieved, though Audi probably explained it in a 900-word press release, quoting a German engineer who used phrases like “we massaged the headers.”

Rather than advertise the horsepower increase, Audi decided to be subtle.  The only way a 2001 A4 1.8T can be told from its less powerful 1997-2000 brethren is a tiny red line, one inch high and a few millimeters wide, placed directly next to the “T” in the rear 1.8T badge.

Now that’s minutiae.