Audi adds another allroad

Having rejected it back in 2009, Audi has now added the freshly updated all-wheel drive A4 allroad quattro crossover to its Australian line-up.

However, Audi is hedging its bets by limiting sales of the high-rise wagon to just 150 examples of what it calls a limited-edition.

While that doesn’t mean it won’t import more A4 allroads once the 150 have been sold, it does mean it won’t be reappearing in the same specification.

Intriguingly, Audi Australia has adopted the same tactic for the third-generation A6 allroad, which it has also launched this week.

Priced at $69,990 (before on-road costs), the A4 allroad comes with a 130k/380Nm 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine mated to a quattro permanent all-wheel drive system via an S tronic (dual-clutch) seven-speed automatic transmission.

The equivalently engined A4 Avant, upon which the A4 allroad is based, is $9000 cheaper (albeit available with only front-wheel drive and CVT), while the Q5 2.0 TDI SUVs undercuts it by $7700.

Outside Audi, the A4 allroad’s most direct competitor is the Volvo XC70, although the cheaper Subaru Outback, Skoda Octavia Scout and new Volkswagen Passat Alltrack fall into the same genre.

Audi Australia Product Planner Peter Strudwicke explained the rationale behind the allroad’s positioning.

“This car has lots more equipment. There is at least $10,000 worth of added equipment (over the A4) in addition to quattro,” he said. “In terms of Q5, it has the 2.0-litre drivetrain but higher equipment than the 3.0-litre TDI (which is priced at $75,000).

“People will buy it rather than Avant and Q5, but we think it will also bring new people to the brand.

“Not everyone is taken with the SUV concept. So this will appeal to people who want rough-road ability but don’t want that high-riding feel and bulk and want a more car-like driving experience.”

He also explained why Audi Australia had reversed its position on the A4 allroad, which it had previously rejected as being too likely to cannibalise sales from the A4 Avant.

“We always thought the appropriate drivetrain for this car was the 2.0-litre TDI and S tronic transmission and once that was available to us we decided to bring it in,” he said.

The A4 allroad is distinguished from the Avant via its 37mm-higher ride height, vertical bars in the single-frame grille, accentuated bumpers and large air-inlets, stainless steel underbody guard, roof-rails, flared wheel-arches and 17-inch alloy wheels.

The standard feature list is longer than either the A4 or Q5 2.0 TDI, including Xenon headlights with LED driving lights, eight airbags, an electro-mechanical park brake, cruise control, parking sensors and a reversing camera, tyre pressure monitoring, keyless entry, foglights, 10-speaker six-channel audio, Bluetooth, three-zone climate-control, MMI controller with sat-nav, powered front seats and a combination of natural and artificial leather trim. The spare wheel is a collapsible space-saver with compressor.

The A4 allroad boasts 490 litres of luggage capacity with all five seats in place. However, that expands to 1430 litres and a 1.78-metre length with the rear seat folded.

Thanks in part to a fuel-saving idle-stop system as standard, Audi claims a 6.0L/100km fuel consumption average (156g CO2/km) for the allroad’s drivetrain, and a 0-100km/h acceleration time of 8.1 seconds.

The A4 allroad's ride height is 180mm and it is supended via multi-links front and rear. The car’s track is 1583mm at the front and 1574mm at the rear – some 19/23mm wider than the A4 Avant's.

The rack-and-pinion steering system is electro-mechanically assisted. Braking is via 314mm front discs and 300mm rears, aided by ABS, EBD and brake assist.

The electronic stability control system features an Off Road Detection (ORD) mode which identifies driving surfaces and tolerates more wheelspin when appropriate. However, the ESP system can never be fully turned off.

Visit motoring.com.au again soon for our launch review of the all-new Audi A4 Allroad.

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