The B6 version of the Audi A4 is nearing the age when it can be considered a classic. It features the Bauhaus styling first seen on the Audi TT, which looks clean and purposeful. This 2001 A4 in Auditography’s video also has a purposeful look. It’s been modified with an S4 body kit, 19-inch VMS wheels, and a gated manual shifter.
Filmed in Poland, the Denim Blue Metalic Audi A4 really stands out against the white backdrop of the Tatra mountains. The 3.0 V6 produces 220 horsepower and sounds like an Audi rally car with its custom exhaust. Covered in a layer of ice, the owner clearly likes to play in the snow.
Inside the Audi is all business. The A4’s interior still looks contemporary, especially with the large aftermarket display screen dominating the center of the dashboard. Like the car’s exterior, it’s cleanly styled and well cared for. It belies the car’s age or the 415,000 kilometers it’s traveled since new. The equivalent of 257,000 miles, that’s more than the distance to the Moon.
But it’s the gated shifter we’re here for. Continuing the theme of the rest of the car, it looks purposeful and compliments the functional nature of the A4’s styling. It’s not at all out of place. The exposed metal of the gate and the chrome shift lever fit the Bauhaus aesthetic.
The design is simple, a round piece of quarter-inch thick aluminum or steel with slots for five forward speeds and reverse. Look at it, and you’ll wonder why Audi didn’t make a gated shifter for the A4 in the first place. Or wonder if you could fabricate something similar.
According to Auditography, this A4 will do 0 to 60 mph in 6.8 seconds, almost a second faster than a new stock A4 in 2001. With a top speed of 152 mph, we’d love to see it make a couple of passes on the Autobahn, like the Audi R8 we saw recently, which also has a gated manual shifter.
