Since it superseded Audi 80 and 90 in 1995, Audi A4 has been steadily rising in the rank of compact premium sedans. Last year, some 343,000 A4s found buyers worldwide, ahead of Mercedes C-class (329,000 units) and just behind BMW 3-Series (508,000 units). The winning formula of Audi is elegant styling and superb build quality. In the new, third generation car, we found these merits continue to develop. This is a very desirable premium car. It looks tastefully designed and impeccably built. Parking beside the 3-Series and C-class, it makes its rivals looking odd. Well, you might say these rivals are not especially good examples for styling, but when you see how much more elegant it looks compare with Alfa Romeo 159 or Lexus IS, you simply can't help admitting Audi has the very best styling department in the industry. The Italian always shines in inspiration, but only Audi has the necessary attention to details and quality control to finish the design up to the highest standard. The cabin is another trump card of Audi. Nothing else in this class achieves the same level of material quality, solidity and tasteful style. All switches have a tactile feel to operate. For higher spec models there is a classy B&O sound system and MMI multimedia control system, which is more initiative to use than most other systems around (especially BMW's i-Drive). Cabin space is also remarkable for the class. Previously, A4 used to be short of shoulder room and rear legroom. Now the car grows significantly larger – some 117 mm longer, 54 mm wider and the wheelbase is stretched by 160 mm to a class-leading 2808 mm (note that here the "class" does not include the super-roomy Ford Mondeo, as it is not deemed to be a "premium" car). This actually make the new A4 closer to the territory of A6. Rear passengers are now benefited by 36 mm of extra legroom. Access to the cabin is also made easier by lengthening the rear doors. Besides, all passengers enjoy more headroom and shoulder room, while luggage space is increased to a remarkable 480 liters. Audi pushes BMW and M-B to the boxing corner.
However, when comes to driving dynamics, the new A4 still trails its rivals from Munich and Stuttgart. Audi claims that its new ML (Modular Longitudinal) platform from A5 has cleverly solved the long-existing problem of nose-heaviness. This is done by relocating the clutch to behind the front transaxle, thus allowing the longitudinal engine to move backward by a precious 15 cm. The new platform also puts the battery to the boot to improve balance. Moreover, in the case of Quattro models, the new Quattro system has its Torsen limited slip differential sending 60 percent power to the rear wheels under normal driving so to give a rear-bias attitude and feel. Let me say in this way, Audi's engineers have spent a lot of effort to correct the fundamental flaws of its traditional longitudinal-engined front-drive / four-wheel-drive layout. But no matter how hard they worked, they still can't hide the fact that the whole engine rests in front of the front axle line. In contrast, its rear-wheel-drive rivals have most of the engine located behind the front axle, plus, they don't have the front differential to burden the front wheels. Instead of admitting defeat, the engineers at Audi stiffened the suspensions to mask the nose heaviness and deliver a taut body control. It is mostly successful, as the car displays little dive and squat under braking and acceleration. Compare with the outgoing car, it steers with much higher precision, corners more stable and resists understeer a lot better. The front tires generate excellent grip. The steering weighs up beautifully at speed, if the feel is still rubbery. Ultimately, it is not as agile as its rear-drive arch-rivals, but the gap has become so narrow that most drivers won't notice in regular driving. However, the stiff suspension setup is also evident on less-than-smooth roads. The A4 does not soak up bumps and suppress road noise as well as its rivals. This is especially obvious on the S-line package which comes with sportier suspension tuning, larger wheels and low profile tires. The engineers tried everything to sort out the ride, such as using sophisticated 5-link front and multi-link rear suspensions, lightweight aluminum control arms and even an optional electronic adaptive damping (as a response to Mercedes C-class). Somehow, the fundamental weight distribution problem means it cannot have both handling and ride sorted. In the end, Audi chose to favour driver appeal over ride comfort. Most customers are likely to purchase the basic A4 with front-wheel drive and conventional suspensions. However, if you have money, you can spec it up to very classy state: Quattro 4WD, S-line package, electronic adaptive damping, Dynamic Steering and ADS (Audi Drive Select). The Dynamic Steering varies steering gear ratio automatically to correct understeer and oversteer, something like BMW's Active Steer but, thankfully, works in a more subtle way. The ADS is an integrated control system allowing the driver to alter damping stiffness, throttle response, steering weighting and the shift pattern of automatic transmission by pressing a button. Frankly, I am not a fan of fancy electronics, as they won't add to the character of this car. So my advice is put all your hard-earned money on no more than Quattro and S-line package. These are real enhancement to handling, safety and looks.
Like its German rivals but not its smaller Japanese rivals, the Audi offers a wide range of engines to meet the needs of everybody. At the bottom of the tree is 143hp 2.0TDI turbo diesel and 160hp 1.8 TFSI petrol. Middle of the range consists of 170hp 2.0 TDI, 190hp 2.7 V6 TDI and 210hp 2.0 TFSI. At the top (excluding S4 and RS4) lies the 240 hp 3.0 TDI V6 and 265 hp 3.2-liter Valvelift V6. It goes without saying that all gasoline engines employ FSI direct injection and continuous variable valve timing, while all diesel engines adopt common-rail direct injection (VW group is phasing out the less refined pump injection) and variable geometry turbocharger. Generally speaking, A4 has stronger advantage in four-cylinder gasoline engines (i.e. 1.8TFSI and 2.0TFSI) because these light-pressure turbocharged units are remarkably refined and torquey. In contrast, both BMW and Mercedes have yet to offer a light-pressure turbocharged four-banger. We expect A4 will continue to lead the four-cylinder field for the next two years. Comparatively, the 3.2-liter petrol V6 is less remarkable. Although it has one of the few variable valve lift mechanisms in the world, its output and fuel economy are no match with BMW's 3.0 straight-six. Nor it is as smooth or as musical. The odd 90-degree V-angle is a compromise with the company's V8 engine, as they are built on the same production line to save cost. This mean it needs an additional balance shaft to cancel the first order vibration. It is by no means unrefined. It just added some unnecessary weight and fuel-consuming internal friction. Audi claims the A4 Quattro equipped with this engine is capable of accelerating from 0-60 in 6 seconds flat. No matter whether this figure is realistic, in real world it is undoubtedly slower than 330i, let alone the very fast 335i. More embarrassingly, its EU combined cycle fuel consumption is slightly higher than the 335i. In the diesel side, Audi does not have any advantage either. The 2.0TDI is a decent engine, but it is neither the most powerful nor the most refined four-cylinder diesel in the class. The 3.0 TDI V6 does produce massive torque (369 lb-ft) to enable very strong performance – actually quicker than the 3.2 V6 petrol, but it is also a heavy engine. As we have found in A5, hanging this engine at the nose has discernible negative effect to handling. Moreover, there is always a better engine under the bonnet of BMW 335d.
To be fair, we must point out that none of these Audi engines perform below the class standard. Some of them may trail BMW engines, but so do most other rivals in the class, Mercedes-Benz included. In fact, we are glad that Audi always provide a full range of high quality engines, unlike Lexus or Infiniti which offer one or two choices only. The same goes for transmissions. Audi offers a 6-speed manual gearbox, a 6-speed Tiptronic automatic and a Multitronic CVT (with 8-speed manual override) to suit different taste. Moreover, a 7-speed S-Tronic (DSG) twin-clutch automated manual box will join the range later on to please keen drivers. This would not have been possible without the substantial engineering and purchasing power of the Volkswagen group. After seeing all aspects of the new A4, it is time to make a conclusion. In the dynamic aspect, although it is not as sporty as Audi wants us to believe, we have to admit that it is a vast improvement from the old car. It should satisfy most customers except the most demanding driving enthusiasts. What most people will find wanting is a smoother ride and better noise suppression. This seems a little odd, because the A4 feels so high-quality from its interior and desirable from its exterior. It might just redefine the term "premium" should it have the refinement issue sorted out. Does it better the 3-Series and C-class ? The answer depends on your taste and priority. But unquestionably, the new A4 will be a stronger ever threat to the class-leading 3-Series. If it continue to progress like this, some day it might just overtake the BMW. |
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| The above report was last updated on 8 Nov 2007. All Rights Reserved. |
