Audi A4 Avant 2017 Long-term Test Review #3

A neighbour of mine is a true Audi fan. To say he’s put his money where his mouth is over the years is an understatement. All sorts of Ingolstadt models have graced his driveway.

So naturally, while the long-term A4 Avant (etcetera) was residing at our place it prompted a chat during which he revealed his decision to purchase an A7 fitted with a 2.0-litre TFSI engine and seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

This is a new 2017 variant of the five-door ‘coupe’, which previously came with only V6 engines.

Without really thinking it over I said something like: “Well, if you want to get to know the drivetrain jump in the A4 and go for a spin, they’re identical.”

Indeed they are, both making 185kW and 370Nm. Both cars also both drive all four wheels via permanent quattro all-wheel drive. Dig deeper and you’ll find both A4 and A7 are based on different derivatives of Audi’s MLBevo architecture that places the engine longitudinally... not that we drilled down into those geeky details.

My neighbour politely acknowledged the offer, but I could tell he wasn’t all that likely to take it up.

It was only much later mulling it over that it occurred to me I’d kinda insulted him, or at least unintentionally downgraded the significance of his purchase by highlighting the technical linkage with a much cheaper car.

A bit like telling someone their Rolex has Citizen innards, I guess.

But that’s the reality of economies of scale, modularity and other modern automotive industry buzzwords that basically mean packaging the same technology in different ways for different customers so you can make more money.

Check through the Audi catalogue and you’ll find different versions of this engine in all sorts of different models from the A3 to the Q5 via the TT. And that’s before you head off into the wider Volkswagen Group…

The good thing about all this – as my neighbour would have discovered if he’d gone for that blat around the block – is the drivetrain of the A4 (and his A7) is a sweety. Good natured, powerful and smooth to a fault it is the very definition of the modern four-cylinder powerplant.

Apart from the tip-in throttle grumbliness that seems unavoidable when it comes to dual-clutch transmissions, the S tronic also worked with great efficiency.

The only word of warning seems to be about long-term engine reliability, about which there have been some negative reports both here and overseas. It’s not an issue we have encountered directly in various dealings with this engine.

Expand out beyond the drivetrain and the Avant continues to show refined manners. The test car is fitted with adaptive dampers and that makes dialing in a ride and handling preference for different conditions pretty straight forward.

There is no doubt the A4 feels more lithe and manoeuvrable than heavier, taller SUVs, be it around town or on the open road.

Speaking of which there is a bit of road roar generated on coarse chip surfaces by the low-profile rubber. But the wind noise from the optional storage pod is more annoying. I actually stopped once or twice to check it was latched properly when it seemed to be more intrusively loud than normal.

Clearly the pod has its uses when on a trip, but it remained empty throughout our time with the A4 as the 505-litre boot was more than enough to swallow a week’s food shopping.

Fold the rear seat and a full-size mountain bike fitted comfortably length-wise, although width was perhaps a tad narrow

Up-front the cabin was typically Audi in its high-class presentation. The optional Virtual Cockpit is a clever and useful step forward for instrument panel design, the seats are comfortable and storage acceptable.

The only thing that really annoyed me inside the A4 was the media screen not being a touch screen. This made operating the excellent Apple CarPlay system a bit clumsy at times.

But for the most part the A4 Avant was anything but clumsy in any of the roles it executed in our time together. We didn’t march off on a long trip or test it with young kids in the back – past that stage thankfully – as other motoring.com.au testers have done, but on a day-to-day basis it simply did all that was asked of it.

I am sure our neighbour would have been impressed.

2017 Audi A4 Avant 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 $65,300 plus ORCs)
>> Mercedes-Benz C200 wagon (from $63,900 plus ORCs)
>> Volvo V60 wagon (from $57,990 plus ORCs)

Related reading:
>> Audi A4 Avant 2017 Long-Term Introduction
>> Audi A4 Avant 2017 review Long-Term Update #1
>> Audi new car handover experience