i just bought a 98 a4 2.8 5-speed and drove it from reno to palm springs then to vermont for my daughter to keep and had such a great time i just bought a a4avant 2.8 triptronic (ist auto trans owned in 35yrs) and am not sold on the idea yet. i forget to shift when bose is blasting loud and sometimes confused about the +/- paddle shifters and it seems like the sedan has better power at high speeds but the auto is easy in traffic. i,ve only had the avant for 2 days so maybe it'll grow on me but it's not like my porsche spyder 1955 550a!!!