Here at GCFSB, there’s a running joke that ties in with the Saturday Night Live “Behind the Music: Blue Oyster Cult” skit featuring Christopher Walken. We’ve just gotta have more wagon around here, and I’m happy to oblige. Today’s oblation to the GCFSB Church of the Heavenly 5 Doors is an interesting blip on Audi’s Avant radar; the short-lived B6 Ultrasport package. Available in either 3.0 V6 or 1.8T configuration, the Ultrasport was introduced in 2004.5. It took the normal Sport Package A4 with either a 6-speed manual or 5-speed Tiptronic transmission in either sedan or Avant form and added the S4 door blades, a European rear bumper and a quattro GmbH designed front bumper cover. RS4 “Celebration” wheels were added, bumping the rolling stock from the standard Sport 17″ to 18″. Those wheels lay under the lowered fenderline, suspended by the 1BE sport suspension that was 20mm lower than standard and 30% stiffer. The package also included a stiffer 18mm rear sway bar and an upper stress bar in the engine bay, which held a standard version of each of the motors (220 horsepower with the 3.0 V6 or 170 horsepower in the 1.8T). Inside, the 2005 Ultrasport gained a 3-spoke S-line steering wheel and the only interior color offered was ebony, accented with perforated leather shift knob and aluminum trim. It was as close to a S4 Avant as you could get without actually opting for the V8:
CLICK FOR DETAILS: 2005 Audi A4 1.8T quattro Avant Ultrasport on Boston Craigslist
Year: 2005
Model: A4 1.8T quattro Avant Ultrasport
Engine: 1.8 liter turbocharged inline-4
Transmission: 6-speed manual
Mileage: 101,000 mi
Price: $14,900
Extremely rare A4 avant Ultrasport, 1.8T, 6 speed manual. Silver on black with leather interior, Xenon headlights, 18” RS4 style wheels. 101k miles, never been in an accident, new brake rotors and pads all around, 4 new tires, showroom condition
The wheels on this particular example have been upgraded to B7-esque RS4 wheels which are popular and not unattractive. Condition wise this example appears to be excellent throughout; overall it appears to be far above average condition with below average mileage. The color combination isn’t hugely exciting but there weren’t many options available and few of these expensive 1.8Ts sold. It apparently has the Cold Weather Package ($625), Lighting Package ($750) and obviously the real kicker was the Ultrasport option, the most expensive single item you could select ($2,950). That was on top of the $28,250 you’d fork over for the standard A4 1.8T, so this was a mid-30s wagon by the time you had optioned it out; expensive, but a substantial $13,000 or more under the base price of a S4 Avant. Of course, you only got half the horsepower of the S4, and a decade on it’s hard to contemplate paying half the original sticker price for this car, even as nice and as rare as it is. It’s effectively a pretend S4, but the pricing in this case actually puts it above market value on similar cars; the S4 I recently wrote up was purchased for around $4,000 less than this asking price with comparable miles. That’s a hefty premium to stomach for the exclusivity of a rarely seen package. The S4 might have the legacy of being more expensive to maintain, but it’s the car I’d rather own if I was paying over $10,000 for a B6 chassis.
-Carter
I woud prefer this to a S4 if it were about $9500 and I could throw some APR parts on it.
That would put it in the same performance realm as the S4 and no expensive engine out services to worry about.
@Poorhouse, agreed completely. These are great cars at 8-9K. At double that, there are more compelling alternatives.
you’re still talkin big $$ for maintenance on this guy tho. is had a B5.5 before the timing belt snapped. really have to keep up with that or you’re in deep sh!t. this repair alone (every 70-80K) is about $2000. plus the clutch and flywheel at some point too. the 1.8T is still an expensive engine to maintain. although no need for engine-out, the entire front bumper, rad assembly needs to be removed. just saying for this price its not worth it.
I wouldn’t be scared of this one.
Timing belt should have already been done so you are good for another 50k-60k.
Clutch? Sure, same as any other manual transmission car..
Otherwise, I wouldn’t expect anything worse from this car than it’s German competitors.
Yeah, you’ll do the breather pipes and the valve cover gasket/cam seal and probably coil packs, but none are horrible jobs. Parts on the AWM are plentiful at least, it’s the same motor used in my Passat. The front does have to go into “service mode” (read: remove the entire front) to work on the timing belt but I agree that beats yanking the motor in the S4. Believe it or not, the actual recommended interval is 105K.
@Poorhouse, with 101,000 miles the timing belt could still be stock. Volkswagen/Audi maintenance schedule claimed 105,000 for the replacement period on these engines. At least that is what it was on my 2003 New Beetle 1.8t. Rest assured that was the first thing I replaced when I bought the car with similar miles as this. Belt was original.
Either way, I would love to have an A4 exactly like this. my A6 2.7t sucks fuel and parts. I’m still waiting to replace the valve covers, and I think it needs a new auxiliary water pump.
@Benjamin – Might be why the car is being sold now, to avoid the timing belt job. That makes the price all the more pie in the sky. At $7500 needing a timing belt I would be happy buying the car.
As for the 2.7t, as long as you are doing the valve covers you may as well throw some K04’s on…
Agreed on the price. The valve covers don’t look that hard to replace but still a lengthy job. I think it took me ~5 hours to replace the one valve cover +half moon seal on the bug, but it had many more vacuum lines/etc that needed to be moved.
In the long run, it’s a Tiptronic and I’m hoping I can convince my wife to sell it for a 6spd A6 Allroad or something like this, so I don’t think I will invest much $$$ besides maintenance and maybe a new drivers seat. A pair of K04’s or Frankenturbos would be nice though.