2004 european car's 1.8T Challenge

摘要

Our first drive of a 1.8t-powered car was back in 1997. It was a Thursday, about 3 p.m. and partly cloudy, which made the silver A4 with the Audi Sport interior, 16-in. alloys and dual-tip exhaust even more striking. Why do we remember that in such vivid detail? Because we knew from the start this was a special car with a very special motor. A year later we found ourselves behind the wheel of our first long-term Audi. Jo Hoppen, former race guru for Audi Motorsport, gave us a performance ECU, free-flow exhaust and hooked us up with the guys over at BBS. We were left with considerably more horsepower and grip that left most cars wanting. It was almost too good to be true. We knew the 1.8t was destined for greatness and thousands of high-powered examples serve as rolling testament to this vaunted block of engineering. While the term "1.8T Challenge" invokes images of intense competition (and there was plenty of that), this whole gig is more of a celebration of European-bred cars. It's the reason we drive them, covet them, love them. It's the reason european car is.