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Audi A4
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BMW 335d
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Test Price
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$49,975
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$50,895
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Horsepower
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265bhp @6500
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265bhp @4200
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Torque
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243lb-ft @3000rpm
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425lb-ft @1750rpm
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Engine
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dohc 4-valve 6cyl
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dohc 4-valve 6cyl
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Matching up a diesel against a performance gas vehicle even 10 years ago would have been inviting both shameful and predictable results for the diesel burner, but the technology has come a long way. Taking a short ride in the BMW 335d will prove exactly how far diesel engine has come. Spitting black exhaust fumes are history, intrusive engine noise no longer exists and one look at the inline six, and you’ll know this isn’t a car designed primarily to deliver a high MPG – it is also smartly tuned to squeeze out every drop of performance a modern diesel engine can provide. Road and Track’s diligent match-up of the two cars produced surprising results, with the BMW not just trumping a few categories, but soundly beating the Audi A4 in every category tested. And it did it with a substantial savings on MPG, too, with the Audi A4 returning 18.3 MPG and the BMW 335d maintaining a 25.5 MPG combined fuel economy over the course of their demanding and numerous road tests. Nay-sayers of diesel technology might counter the BMW’s MPG savings by pointing out that diesel gas is more expensive than the premium fuel required for the Audi, which as it turns out, is another surprise. A quick check on www.gasbuddy.com shows diesel fuel is currently 8 cents per gallon CHEAPER than premium unleaded in my area of Miami-Dade. To sum it all up, it appears the BMW 335d has every advantage over the Audi A4, in terms of 0-60, 0-100, braking distance, slalom speed and gas mileage. What do you think – Is diesel in the future of performance vehicles, or is the 335d just a remarkable flash-in-the-pan? Post your comments or participate in our poll… |
Are you kidding. The BMW gets about 40% better gas mileage AND delivers 74% more torque. Mechanically, there is no comparison between these two vehiciles. Very few cars on the road do compare to the 335d in the performance / efficiency ratio. Other than the a comparable price and their European ancestry, the Audi doesn’t come close. The BMW 335d doesn’t come in AWD yet. If you live in Alaska or Colorado, this may be a better fit during the snow season. They offer the AWD in the 335i and 328i trims, but probably kept the 335d in RWD form to make the vehicle more efficient. Besides, they their xDrive cars for that anyway. It would be nice if beemer could offer the 335d in the future, though. Just in case they want to show up some souped-up Soob in a WRX Sti.