Audi A4 Avant 2017: Long-Term Test #2

While I don’t question the practical benefits of the optional roof-top box fitted to our Audi A4 Avant long-termer, it doesn’t exactly enhance the wagon’s style.

And a word of warning, it does add height to the car when you’re driving underneath a roller shutter or into a low-roofed garage. The wind noise from the supporting roof rails is more apparent too. At least it’s an item that can be removed and left behind when necessary.

For a family that doesn’t usually go places with a lot of goods and chattels along for the ride – maybe a couple of school bags or some groceries – the roof-top box was overkill. Colleague Rod Chapman found it enormously useful on an interstate vacation, but for us the Audi’s basic boot alone was more than up to the demands we placed on it.

Without the roof-top box the Audi would be a smart-but-discreet wagon that would fade into the background. That doesn’t mean it’s boring however... not with an engine producing just 12kW less than a Subaru WRX – and 20Nm more torque.

The turbocharged four-cylinder engine in the A4 Avant delivers plenty of verve, but it does suffer a little turbo lag when left in Normal mode. This becomes relevant when you’re attempting to rocket across a busy intersection. Once it’s on the boil, however, the engine pulls pretty hard and yet remains refined high into the rev range.

It’s coupled to a seven-speed S tronic (dual-clutch) transmission that shifts gear quickly without any hiccups, although there was a mild thump accelerating away from a street corner on one occasion. Overall, however, it’s a pretty smooth unit. There was none of the clunking and thumping that earlier dual-clutch transmissions used to exhibit. If the S tronic feels different from a conventional automatic, that’s down to little niceties like engine braking, close ratios and ‘arithmetic’ (manual-like) acceleration in gear.

For the week the long-term fuel consumption rose from 8.9 to 9.0L/100km according to the trip computer. That was a consequence of my daily commute, with fuel consumption averaging 11.0L/100km in either direction.

Along with the wind noise from the Audi’s roof rails, there was some tyre noise joining in on country road surfaces, but very little – which spoke of the quality of the 19-inch Hankook tyres fitted. The tyres were also a good ‘fit’ for the A4 Avant’s ride and handling balance, the Audi delivering the same tidy cornering and grip we’ve come to expect from the A4 sedan, and with the Audi Drive Select system left in Normal mode, the Avant’s ride was undeniably cushy.

A few aspects of the Audi’s controls and driver-assistance systems left a little to be desired. At the lower end of the scale were the indicators, which I found to be a bit quiet at times.

The adaptive cruise control was puzzling. Generally it operated to specification, but on occasions the Avant would back off and keep losing speed – with nothing in front. The only possibility is that the system was scanning too wide, and thus picking up vehicles in adjacent lanes on freeway bends.

And I hate to sound like a luddite on the march, but the Audi Pre-Sense system, which alerts you to obstructions ahead, fit the mould of a true ‘safety nanny’. It would display an alert as you lowered your foot on the brake pedal if you intended to brake harder and later than the system preferred (and I’m not particularly heavy on brakes). Sometimes, too, it was displaying an alert and sounding a chime AFTER you had begun braking.

But as a counterpoint to those issues, the A4 Avant was a comfortable and practical wagon for the whole family, not least of all at the driving position.

Audi’s ergonomic design goes through stages. Each time a new model arrives in recent years it has introduced some new method or location – like shifting the Drive Select switchgear from driver’s side to passenger side, for example. But there’s no doubt that the arrival of Virtual Cockpit has simplified the use of instruments and controls considerably, despite the added functionality. The optional instrument display was stylish as well.

Audi’s habit of using a calibrated scale with LEDs for the fuel tank level detracts from the ease of reading the high-tech instrumentation. This type of display can be outshone by sunglare – something I’ve found in other Audi models from the past.

Seat comfort was commendable, with nice shaping and relatively soft cushioning. Despite that, the seats also held occupants in place securely during harder cornering. Even the rear seats were nicely shaped for comfort, although climbing into the rear of the car wasn’t especially easy, due to the slightly narrow door aperture. That said, there was more than adequate kneeroom and headroom in the rear once adults were ensconced.

Rear-seat passengers had separate map-lights where the rear dome light would be. At night the Avant was a visual delight, thanks to ambient lighting – including lighting for the cup-holders in the centre console! – and the multi-colour displays for the instrument binnacle, the infotainment screen and the climate control interface.

Occupants welcomed the tri-zone climate control during some fairly warm days during the week it was tested.

At the luggage-loading end of the Audi, the powered tailgate rose automatically if you held the appropriate button depressed on the key fob, but the same action wouldn’t bring it back down. The user had to press the button on the tailgate itself. Some SUVs do feature a tailgate that will lower from key fob actuation.

As another feature to delight first-time users, the Audi’s parcel shelf rises and retracts with the tailgate.

Finger pulls in the boot were there to flip the seats down, but the seats didn’t flop down as they do in other cars and were heavy to lift back up. They had to be pushed from behind or pulled down from the side doors.

Not so delightful – although increasingly a matter of little relevance to typical buyers – there was a space-saver spare under the boot floor.

In some ways the A4 Avant suffers from the inherent conflict in being a very driveable motor car that’s also thrust into the role of transporting the entire family and all the associated trappings of modern life. It feels slightly more compromised than the sedan, but it remains a very satisfying car nonetheless.

2017 Audi A4 S tronic quattro 2.0 TFSI pricing and specifications:
Price: $72,900 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 185kW/370Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 6.3L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 152g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP

Also consider:
>> BMW 320i wagon (from $72,651 plus ORCs)
>> Mercedes-Benz C200 wagon (from $71,372 plus ORCs)
>> Volvo V60 wagon (from $64,902 plus ORCs)

Related reading:
>> Audi A4 Avant 2017 long-term Introduction
>> Audi A4 Avant 2017 long-term Update
>> Best Prestige Car Under $100K: Audi A4