Audi A4 2011 Review - International

What we liked
?>> Much improved ride quality
?>> Still the leader in interior design
?>> These engines keep getting smoother

Not so much
?>> Does it look different enough?
?>> Lane change warning is annoying

In Fortress Europe, Audi’s A4 has been playing second fiddle to BMW’s all-new 3 Series in the last month or so. Thus it has chosen to drop its Euro launch directly on top of BMW, and the new A4 specifications line up perilously close to the rear-drive 3 Series at most grade levels.

With local Australian deliveries starting in the second quarter of 2012, the Ingolstadt carmaker is hoping it has done enough tweaks the engines, suspensions, interiors, electronics and fuel economy of its A4 sedan and wagon to stifle its German foes.

With the baffling choice of six turbodiesel and four turbo or supercharged petrol engines, the A4 range has dropped its fuel consumption by 11 per cent over the current car, in spite most of the power plants gaining more power and torque.

It also sees the mass-market debut of the all-new 1.8-litre, direct-injection, turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine that arrived with the A3 Cabrio and the more-recent A5 facelift.

Where BMW offers a 320d EfficientDynamics turbodiesel with 120kW of power and a standard 320d with 135kW, and Benz has a lone 125kW C220 CDI, Audi will offer its new A4 with 100kW, 120kW and 130kW versions of its own 2.0-litre TDI four-cylinder.

The main petrol competition comes from BMW’s 328i, which combines turbocharging and direct fuel-injection to come up with 180kW and 350Nm and will have a more modest petrol motor down the track. Benz’s C200 CGI and C250 CGI have 135kW/270Nm and 150kW/310Nm from the same 1.8-litre turbo engine.

Audi has countered these by offering economy and power at the same time, with its petrol engine range starting with the 125kW/320Nm 1.8-litre four-cylinder motor then moving to the 2.0-litre TFSI. Essentially the same engine as the one inside the VW Golf GTI, the multi award-winning motor has 155kW in A4-spec, but the range doesn’t stop with the fours.

There will also be a 3.0-litre, direct-injection, supercharged V6 with 200kW of power and the same engine, in the S4, will pump out 245kW.

The chassis hasn’t been left alone, either, with revisions to the front and rear suspension, the adoption of fuel-saving electro-mechanical power steering. Audi has also moved the A4’s rear suspension control-arm mounts.

Audi protested when we called the update a “facelift”, which is a bit defensive, because from the outside, that’s exactly what the new A4’s lights, tweaked bumper, air intakes and chamfered grille look to be.

A brand that made its reputation on interior design and material quality couldn’t leave its cabin alone. There is a new infotainment unit and a host of new driver assistance systems, including an adaptive cruise control that will leap to a full emergency brake application if it detects an imminent collision.

Of all the new models, which drop their claimed fuel economy 11 per cent over the outgoing range, the 2.0-litre TFSI will be called upon to do the heavy lifting against its fellow Germans.

But it fights well above its weight (and output figures) and contrives to deliver its performance with a lot of character and smoothness, punching the A4 to 100km/h in 6.5 seconds.

It hits its torque peak at a diesel-esque 1500rpm. In fact, its 350Nm torque peak arrives lower in the rev range than it does in Audi’s 2.0-litre TDI. The petrol engine's torque stays at its peak to cheer on the rising power until 4200 revs. That’s convenient, because the power peak hits just 100 revs later and stays solidly on duty until 6000rpm.

The result is an engine that gives you everything it has from just above idle until you are ready to change gear.

It is one of the smoothest four-cylinder motors out there, too, and offers up an engine note that begins unobtrusively and builds through a muscular mid-range before spinning enthusiastically across the last 2000 revs of its range.

As it has in the past, Audi mates this engine to either a six-speed manual or a seven-speed, double-clutch gearbox that doubles nicely as an automatic transmission. It slides through its upshifts calmly, quickly and smoothly. It’s the same coming back down the gears, where it stays out of the way until you ask it to attack, then it blips the throttle on each downshift.

It’s a nice thing inside, too, as you’d expect. Still very clearly based on the interior of the outgoing model, it’s as clean and user friendly as ever, even with the surprisingly practical addition of the A8’s multi-media system that turns the whole car into a rolling WiFi hotspot.

It means you can (in Europe at least) navigate with Google Earth and zoom in with street view while the kids are using the iPad in the back seat.

A4 3.0TFSI
Some of the A4’s engines have carried over unchanged, including the 3.0-litre TFSI supercharged V6 that powers both the S4 and the 3.0-litre TFSI.

The 3.0-litre is a much-improved car, even though it never really wanted for much before. Now it’s copes better, with a more composed chassis underneath it.

The motor is super strong, though; with 200kW and 400Nm. And you know that it’s understressed, because it has a lot more power in the S4.

It’s quick enough but the engine note is nothing special, coming across as more of a snapping roar than anything lyrical. It’s smooth, though, and fuss free, and it just seems at its happiest when you’re simply asking it to get the job done.

The test car had Audi’s Drive Select system wired in, though it will be optional in Australia.

You can see why they used it, because it works terrifically. Its Eco mode shifts up early and does a host of other tricks to pull down the consumption. The Comfort mode manages to do what it says on the tin, while refusing to turn into a wooffly vomit comet. Sport makes everything taut, including the suspension and the accelerator and steering.

Yet you’re best off in Automatic almost all the time. We found ourselves dropping into Comfort over some rough inner-city roads, Sport when the road started winding and Eco when we were bored in traffic. And Auto for every other kilometre.

It’s not all great news, though, because the steering is particularly rubbery and disappointing. To be fair, nobody ever went over to the Audi brand in search of sparkling steering feedback and nothing's changed.

A4 3.0TDI
Australians love their petrol motors, but the 3.0-litre TDI would sway a few true believers. It’s the engine to have.

Its power delivery (180kW at 4000-4500rpm) is capable of matching wits with plenty of petrol sixes, but it’s the V8-style 500Nm of torque, from 1400 revs, that steals the show.

This thing is strong everywhere, all the time. In the real world, it’s a better engine to have than even the mighty S4. And that's not just because it is fast (though a 6.1 second sprint to 100km/h is convincing). The 3.0 TDI is frugal with it, clocking 5.9L/100km on the combined cycle.

It’s doesn’t shrink from audible demonstrations of its muscle, either, sounding deep and rumbling without ever crossing the line into harshness. It even contrives to sound as though it loves to rev, even if it doesn’t.

Its handling is not quite at the level of the petrol engines because of the added weight over the front end, but the ride quality doesn’t suffer because of it. Anything with Drive Select should ride better than big-wheeled Audis of the recent past (even this one runs standard 19-inch boots).

S4
You could just say: “245kW, all-wheel drive and better than it was” and that would just about cover it.

The supercharged V6 doesn’t mess about in delivering its gristle, firing up with a deep, menacing howl that belies its 3.0-litre capacity and leaping to deliver 440Nm at 2900rpm. Then it builds, sharply, to 245kW at 5500rpm and revs cleanly and crisply out beyond 6500 revs without losing any of its urgency or manners.

It’s quick, too, flitting to 100km/h in 5.1 seconds and feeling unburstable doing it, with its all-wheel drive keeping things stable beneath you.

Where the old S4 felt like stability was everything, this new one manages to cross the line deeper into the world of entertainment as well, without losing its assuring grip levels. Throw the S4 too deep into a corner and it will scrub the front end lightly before gently regaining grip and then transferring the weight to the rear tyre and slingshotting itself out of the bend.

It was always the strongman of the family and it still feels like it.

That’s a pity, because it’s a charming, comfortable, surprisingly agile and a touch more robust, too. There are those inside Audi Australia keen to redress its absence and we wish them well in their endeavours.

It’s a car that’s garnered a cult following in Europe and the rest of the world. It’s a not-so-high rise crossover that’s not quite an SUV. It has more ground clearance, but shares all of its body panels with the standard wagon, with the exception of its chromed grille and matt plastic wheelarch protectors, plus some underbody protection.

The new A4 Allroad can be easily identified from a long way off, thanks to its grey plastic wheel arch blisters and sill protectors, and it also sits 36mm higher than the standard A4 wagon. The Europeans get three A4 Allroads, including 2.0 and 3.0-litre turbo-diesel versions, but there’s not much wrong with the petrol version, either.

We are keen to get some independent testing on the Allroad’s performance, because Audi claims it gets to 100km/h in 6.8 seconds, which is more than respectable and feels pretty much on the mark. Yet it also claims the standard A4 with this engine, exactly the same transmission ratios and far less weight is a tenth of a second slower. Hmmm.

It won’t see a lot of track days, but the Allroad wagon didn’t feel demonstrably slower than the stock A4, even though it carries extra weight. This engine has always been economical and it continues to be, with Audi claiming 7.3L/100km on the combined European test cycle.

It doesn’t sound like much, but the Allroad’s additional height works wonders for its ride quality. You expect comfortable interiors made from expensive-looking materials, from Audi, but the brand hasn’t always delivered premium-class ride quality. The Allroad doesn’t just bridge that gap, but it steps across it to lead the pack.

For some reason, though, the Allroad’s handling doesn’t suffer from the increased wheel travel or from the addition of a fuel-saving electric steering system. Its body rolls more than the sedan when it’s cornering hard, but that never becomes disconcerting and it somehow comes together as one coherent package.

The softer springing lets its inside tyres walk calmly across mid-corner bumps without upsetting the car’s stance, while the steering seems to provide more feedback in the Allroad than it does in all the new A4s bar the taut S4.

Somehow, the A4 feels at its most right in the Allroad, and all of its underbody systems come together to feel coherent, balanced, natural bedfellows. It’s helped by the Audi Drive Select, which lets the car flit between its eco-warrior, soft-commuter or corner-eating guises by pulling in disparate areas like the engine mapping, the gearshift points, the throttle response, the skid-control and the shock absorbers. Fiddle around with it, and you find it does provide significant differences, but the core of the car remains unmistakably Allroad.

That said, there are shortcomings which mean the Allroad won’t quite manage all roads. It’s less than two inches taller than the standard A4 and the standard underbody protection is plastic (though you can get a steel sump guard as an option), which is good enough for made tracks, but not exactly ready for adventures down the Canning Stock Route.

But please, Audi, bring it to Australia.

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