Audi A4 2004 Review

What we liked
>> Dynamic, sporty performance
>> Good equipment levels for money
>> Understated sports styling

Not so much
>> Overcomplicated stereo
>> Too-light steering on some models
>> Brakes lack bite

OVERVIEW
Audi underwent a major reshuffle in the first half of the 1990s, renaming its core model lines from 80-series and 100-series to the new A series. At the same time, Audi exploded into a full-line prestige car maker, adding compact hatches, super luxury limousines and performance sports coupes to its portfolio. Today, though it can't match the overall sales of BMW and Mercedes-Benz, Audi has a strong following as the German automotive equivalent of the prestige underdog.

In 2001/2 Audi went one step further, increasing the 'quattro' all-wheel-drive presence in its range, and playing heavily on this point of difference in its marketing. It also launched a number of high performance AWD products, which unashamedly traced their heritage back through Audi's all-conquering rally experiences in the 1980s, to pound home this advantage.

Today Audi's range, if not its sales volume, is a direct and worthy threat to the other two German prestige brands. There's no doubt Australians are spoilt for choice, and nowhere more-so than in the A4 range, which boasts at least 14 variants.

The A4 is charged with taking the fight to BMW's benchmark 3 Series and the Mercedes-Benz C-class, among others. For this task, Audi offers a sedan, wagon and convertible with engines from turbo fours to high-performance V8s. Audi's company motto "Vorsprung Durch Technik" -- progress through technology -- is exemplified by the A4's quattro all-wheel-drive and continuously variable transmissions (CVT).

FEATURES
Audi launched the current generation A4 sedan and wagon in June 2001, adding V6 models to the line-up 12 months later. The A4 convertible, known simply as the Audi Cabriolet, arrived in time for Christmas 2002, followed by the S-Line range of A4s, with slightly more power and overt styling in late 20003. February 2004 saw the arrival of the V8-powered S4 super sedan, which made its intentions clear by packing exactly 1kW more power than BMW's all-conquering M3 sports coupe.

At the time of writing (February 2004) Audi's A4 line-up is formidable. Entry to the range starts just under $50,000 with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder, front-wheel-drive sedan. A more powerful 120kW turbocharged 1.8-litre sedan occupies middle ground around $60k, and is offered in both front-drive and all-wheel-drive (quattro) form. From there, the range dumps turbo fours and picks up V6s, namely a 125kW 2.4-litre V6 and a 160kW 3.0-litre V6, the latter also available with quattro all-wheel-drive.

A tweaked 140kW version of the 1.8T quattro with a body kit, known as the A4 1.8T S-Line, or A4S for short, slots in above the 120kW turbo and just under $70k.

Transmission choices fall between traditional five (2.0-litre) and six-speed manuals (1.8T quattro and S-line), a five-speed Tiptronic auto (3.0 quattro) and a new generation stepless auto continuously variable transmission (all fwd models) dubbed 'Multitronic' in Audi-speak.

Audi's A4 range includes two wagons, or Avant, a 2.0-litre front-driver with multitronic transmission or a 1.8-litre, turbocharged quattro with the S-line 140kW engine, more overt body kit and six-speed manual gearbox.

Top of the range is the Audi S4, a no-holds-barred super sedan with a high-output 4.2-litre V8 engine. It's a real belter, capable of devouring backroads in a single gulp, yet equally able to cosset and coddle on the urban crawl.

COMFORT
Audi's brand positioning as a 'sporty' alternative dictates a bias towards driving and performance over occupant comfort. The driver's seat adjusts for height, reach and tilt, and the steering wheel on all A4s tilts and telescopes, making it dead easy to achieve a comfortable driving position. Seats are sculpted slightly to offer good side support, even in the base models, and headroom front and rear should be sufficient for 95 percent of the population.

Leather seats are standard on all models, bar the base 2.0-litre, which gets cloth trim. The sedan's firm rear seats offer good legroom for a car of this size, and there a decent amount of space in the boot, even before you split fold the rear seat.

All models include air conditioning, electric windows front and rear, electric wing mirrors, remote central locking and cruise control. CD player with 10-speaker sound system is also standard equipment.

SAFETY
Start with a safe, responsive chassis, add sure-footed quattro all-wheel-drive grip and you've got the basis for a safe 'n' sound sports sedan equally at home in wet and dry. Audi adds a number of electronic aids to the A4, all in the name of stability and safety, including ESP electronic stability program, ASR anti-slip regulation, EDL electronic differential lock and, of course, ABS antilock brakes with BA brake assist.

Passive safety features include lap-sash seatbelts in all five seating positions, dual front airbags, front-side airbags, and head airbags for both rows. The Audi A4 achieved four stars in EuroNCAP's independent safety testing in 2001.

MECHANICAL
Unlike the bigger A8, the A4 is not an aluminium-bodied car, but it does use the lightweight alloy in its components. Underneath the steel body, engines are alloy-block, and the suspension is primarily alloy, which contributes to a low kerb weight, which inturn improves vehicle performance and fuel economy.

Power outputs for the various engines are not astounding, ranging from 96kW to 160kW in the A4 range. Standing start acceleration is acceptable on the less powerful cars, (0-100km/h in 9.9sec for 2.0-litre) and definitely spirited on the 3.0-litre V6 (6.9sec) The S4, with its 4.2-litre V8 engine producing 253kW of power, exactly 1kW more than the BMW M3, knocks off the 0-100km/h sprint in just 5.3 seconds.

Audi offers five different gearboxes across the range, depending on which model you buy. They are; a five and six-speed manual, five and six-speed tiptronic automatic, and a stepless automatic CVT continuously variable transmission. This last gearbox eschews traditional gears, for two stepless cones arranged in opposition and connected by a chain which can slide up and down the cone, thus changing the ratio. That's a very simplistic explanation, but you get the idea. For more on how CVTs work, check out http://auto.howstuffworks.com

COMPETITORS
It's a hard-fought marketplace where sales hinge as much on brand cachet and 'the latest thing' as they do on value and performance. BMW's 3 Series and Mercerdes-Benz's C-class are the undisputed kings of the prestige small/medium car segment, though Audi's A4 is fighting hard.

Second tier competition is huge, including Alfa Romeo 156, Jaguar X-Type, Volkswagen Passat, Lexus IS200 and IS300, Saab 9-3, Rover 75 and Volvo S40. Stretch the net further and cars like the Citroen C5, Peugeot 406, Renault Laguna and even the Nissan Maxima drop in.

Competition for the high performance S4 is really down to the Mercedes-Benz C32AMG, the supercharged V6 C-class sedan -- and soon to be replaced by the C55AMG packing a 5.4-litre, 270kW V8 punch. Open the performance bahn door to coupes and BMW's M3 barges in, along with all sorts of exotic niceties priced between $100,000 and $150,000. But keep the S4's -- and M3's -- four seat practicality in mind and the wannabes soon drop off.

ON THE ROAD
Audi's A4 really suffers at the hands of the dominant brands in the prestige segment. Time and again the A4 slips past buyers' noses as they wander across the road, intent on buying the badge of their choice. At this end of auto alley, value for money plays a low-brow second fiddle to cachet.

Which makes Audi's job doubly hard, because the A4 deserves better. It's a good prestige sedan and wagon, teamed with enthusiastic engines, supple, supportive suspension settings and a pretty solid dynamic character. It's all good, but all-too invisible.

In February 2004 we jumped aboard an S-Line 1.8T for a quick lap of the NSW/QLD borderlands. It's a ripping good car, capable of pumping your pulse rate up a notch on the backroads, and equally happy to tootle through town in a calm, competent and refined manner. All-wheel-drive grip is unbreakable, and proved itself supremely capable even on a lengthy dirt drive.

Play the loon and the AWD system gets you outta jail more often that Rene Rivkin's lawyers. Go completely bonkers, as our co-driver did... once... deliberately... and the quattro system drags the rear-end back from oblivion with a bit of help from the throttle.

It helps if there's plenty of power on tap to accomplish this, and the A4S certainly qualifies. OK, 140kW is not gonna shame homegrown V8s, but it's a good sized punch in a car weighing less than 1500kg.

A couple of minor gripes surround the steering, which is too light though never vague, and the soft pedals, which require a committed push to get a reaction. Oh, and the brakes need more bite and stability on heavy applications.

Overall, we still reckon the Audi A4's a worthwhile alternative to the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-class, which -- let's face it -- are becoming more common than flies at a family BBQ.

It has been a long time coming, but Audi has at last rounded out its mid-sized A4 line-up with a range of new engine and transmission combinations that take the choice for prestige buyers to seven different variants.

The all-new A4 was originally launched back in July 2001, but at the time, the choice was limited to the 2.0-litre with a manual gearbox or Multitronic CVT -- continuously variable transmission -- and a 1.8-litre turbo manual quattro.

The Multitronic is the first application of a CVT by any maker to a larger-capacity engine and offers, as it says, continuously variable gearing. Just to confuse punters, Audi has dropped in six electronically defined points, to allow those drivers who like to do their own shifting the chance to do so by pushing the gear lever forward or backwards. Leave it in drive and you are treated to the greatest benefit of the transmission, a seamless and incredibly smooth acceleration.

Audi has, however, not quite worked out how to combine it with its all-wheel-drive system so for the moment Multitronic is front-drive only. For the quattro V6, the transmission is a Tiptronic. This system is basically a regular five-speed auto that allows the driver to shift gears like the Multitronic, through tipping the shift lever forward or backward. Years ago, you had the same option by shifting the lever up and down through the gate, tiptronic has just made it faster and easier.

Now that we've got the transmissions sorted, what about the cars? For our test of the new A4 models, we decided to top and tail it, taking a look at the 1.8 turbo Multitronic and the top of the line 3.0 quattro Tiptronic. The former hits the streets at $58,500 -- with only the two 2.0-litre models under it starting about $10,000 less -- while the latter retails for $84,500.

Having already tested the Multitronic and 3.0-litre V6 combination in the A4's bigger A6 brother, we reckon it is one of the smoothest power-trains around, but somehow when mated to the 1.8T engine, the transmission loses some of its shine.

Despite being tagged as a sporty model, the 1.8T is hardly a rocketship, with its 110kW of power and 210Nm of torque being barely adequate to get the A4's reasonable bulk off the line. This engine has already been given a power boost in Europe with an extra 10kW and 15Nm and will go on sale locally in September.

There also appears to be a bit of lag getting off the mark, but once moving, judicious use of the almost instantaneous tip shift to keep the revs mid-range does keep the torque connecting with the tarmac.

At the other end of the scale, the 160kW/300Nm 3.0-litre V6 offers superb throttle response and is quick off the line, with plenty of power right through to the redline. The auto box is smooth when left to its own devices, although like most tiptronics, the response to driver input shifts is a little slow.

The suspension on both cars is biased towards handling and there are never any concerns that the A4 is anything less than solid and stable on the road but there is some payoff in the ride quality, which while not uncomfortable, does transmit a lot of short sharp road ruts through the seats.

Both offer plenty of grip from the 1.8T's 16in 205/55 rubber and the V6's 17in 235/45 tyres but when the roads get wet and slippery, nothing works like a quattro system to keep the car on its desired line.

A full suite of electronic nannies also assist but like the A4 before it, the brake pedal offers little feel and the brakes tend to be grabby, making smooth stops a learned experience.

Inside, the new A4 is bigger than the previous iteration, particularly for rear passengers and is well finished with plenty of standard kit.

The 1.8T gets six airbags, dual climate control, a CD changer, leather upholstered sports seats, remote locking, power windows and mirrors and cruise control.

As the top-spec model, the 3.0-litre quattro also gets full electric front seats, xenon headlights and an excellent 10-speaker "Symphony" sound system.

The new A4 models add some much needed choice to Audi's volume A4 range and gives it the goods to compete effectively alongside its German compatriots. The range now spans a $37,000 price bracket but if you want to experience Audi's technology at its best, the 3.0-litre Multitronic is our pick of the line-up.

Prestige compact wagons are back, says Audi. After a period of decline, when booming sales of four-wheel-drives ate into this already small niche market in Australia, Audi is predicting increased demand for these type of 'lifestyle' vehicles and has decided to re-introduce its A4 Avant wagon.

Audi's plan of attack with the Avant is to differentiate the luxury wagon from its main rivals on the basis of price. The 2.0-litre Avant is priced at $54,250, which undercuts the 320i Touring ($67,200) and Mercedes-Benz C200K Classic ($66,974), although these wagons are better equipped than the Avant.

The new A4 Avant has a stiffer and larger body than its predecessor, according to Audi. The increase in external dimensions has resulted in more interior space, with increased headroom and elbow room at the front and more legroom in the back -- although taller adults will still find it cramped, particularly on longer journeys.

In typical Audi fashion, the interior is stylish, well designed and comfortable, with all switches and dials in the right place and classy design touches like aluminium trim and door handles.

Standard equipment levels are high, and include features like integrated fog lights, aluminium roof rails, dual-zone climate control air conditioning, electric mirrors and windows, remote central locking, cruise control and 10-speaker sound system with CD changer.

Safety features are not lacking either, with six airbags, ABS and ESP (electronic stabilisation program). There's a number of options available at extra cost, including 17-inch wheels (15-inch are standard), Xenon headlights, sports suspension, trip computer, and leather upholstery.

Not surprisingly, the Avant exhibits most of the driving qualities of the A4 2.0-litre sedan on which it borrows most of its internals, which means responsive, predictable handling, good grip and respectable but not scintillating performance. Steering and braking are light, and suspension is firm but reasonably compliant.

But it's the added versatility provided by the large luggage space behind the rear seats where the Avant's $4350 premium over the sedan starts to make sense. Although not quite up to Aussie family station wagon standards, the loading area is generous and importantly, provides good access as well as a number of useful features designed to make the best use of available space.

These include a tailgate that opens to various heights, providing unhindered access for even the tallest adults. Inside the smooth cargo area there's no protruding wheel arches to eat into valuable space and for more capacity, a panel in the floor can be removed to unveil an extra compartment, which provides another 65 litres of space.

Other clever designs are a neat, retractable luggage cover, and a cargo barrier that can still be used when the rear seats are folded flat. Child anchorage points are also neatly tucked out of the way behind the rear seats.

The Avant is a well-designed, well-equipped and practical alternative to the A4 sedan. Although the value-for-money factor is less of a consideration at this level of the market, the Avant certainly shapes up well in its role as an 'entry level' prestige wagon.

BOTTOMLINE: Understated, exciting sports sedan packed with luxury and performance.

Truth be known, the idea of shoehorning a big engine into a trim, tight and terrific chassis isn't anything new. It's just that it had sort of gone out of fashion...

There's no better example than the arrival of four-litre-plus V8s into cars we're more used to punting with turbo fours -- like Audi's latest V8-powered S4.

Top of the performance tree in the Audi A4 class, the S4 is aimed four-square at the likes of BMW's M3 coupe and Mercedes-Benz's hot C-Class cars (the latest now sporting a 5.5-litre V8). It's loaded with goodies including supportive and not half flash Recaro seats and puts its power to the ground via 18-inch alloys, low profile rubber and Audi's trademark quattro permanent all-wheel-drive underpinnings.

Displacing 4.2 litres and boasting DOHC for each bank and a five-valve-per-cylinder combustion chamber design, the S4's V8 is familiar to fans of the brand. Not only does the engine grace the S4 but it also sees service in the allroad, A8 and S6. Fitted with twin turbochargers, it's also the motivation for the marque's uber-performance RS6 wagon and sedan.

In the S4, the mill produces a healthy 253kW and 410Nm and is coupled with manual or auto transmissions -- both six speeders. Our test car was equipped with the former and it was a delight to use. Shift and clutch action were both precise and light with none of the baulk and weight we've come to accept in locally produced V8-powered manuals.

Despite boasting aluminium-focused construction, the S4 is saddled with a not inconsiderable kerb weight of circa-1650kg. That said performance is prodigious -- both standing start and in-gear. Though not in the league of its 330kW-plus big brother, the S4 will deliver 0-100kmh times of approx 5.6sec. That's fast in anybody's language. Top end is electronically limited to 200 and plenty.

As we noted in the allroad, the engine's got a wonderful aural signature -- a growl down low that changes to a delightful lilt in the midrange and a snarl up top. Relatively low geared there's few overtaking moves that require more than one down change from the S4. And unlike some six-speeders healthy acceleration is available in top from legal speeds.

We especially liked the subtle body kit, big exhaust pipes and lower stance of the S4. A none-too-subtle red, the car drew admiring glances at every stop.

Inside there good levels of comfort for those up front and the equipment level is high, befitting its $130,000 pricetag. FYI: 'our' S4 had a further $10K in options, namely full Silk Nappa leather ($1400), multi-function wheel ($600), Sat Nav ($7000), aluminium cockpit inlays (NCO) and Bose speaker pack ($990).

That said, the rear seat is tight, in terms of leg and shoulder room. This car may have the convenience of four doors, but the impression is that there's little extra space offered over, say, a BMW 3 Series coupe.

It's the performance of the car in the twisties that really sets the S4 apart from the pack, however. This is a car that is unbelievably competent in terms of poise, braking potential and pure grip -- to the point of being almost boring. So high are the limits of the all-paw S4, that like the RS6 they are close to unapproachable in anything other than 11/10ths driving.

And therein lies the rub, the sheer unflappabilty of the S4 had me wishing for the hint of a chink in the armour, and thinking of how much more involving a rear wheel drive version of the same package might be.

Jezz, we're a hard lot to please...