Vorsprung durch facelift
Ashout from across the forecourt: ‘Watch it, mate, you know your bonnet’s not shut?’ Full marks to the Dales builder at the Shell station for spotting this facelifted Audi A4. Zero points for not realising that’s how the bonnet looks now. The Group B Sport Quattro-influenced snout is the new A4’s biggest giveaway, but it’s far from the only one. Cost considerations usually limit visual changes on facelifted cars to lights and bumpers, but Audi has changed every major panel, ditching the original model’s perimeter swage line for smooth doors and slash-cut front and rear arches. And, of course, shrunk the grille to create that hungry bonnet gap the Dales builder clocked.
Thing is, though the calendar and the imminent arrival of the new 3-series said the A4 was due a tweak, there wasn’t a lot wrong with the outgoing model. First introduced in 2016, it was one of those cars that was pretty comprehensively great but didn’t make a lot of noise going about it. Lack of noise was one if its strongest assets. Still is on this evidence. The oldest car here beats both its newer rivals when it comes to refinement. The familiar VW Group 2.0-litre turbodiesel puts out an identical 187bhp and 295lb ft to the 320d, but makes less racket whether you’re inside or outside the car. You’d never mistake it for a petrol, but what diesel din the engine does generate is more muted and less bassy than either of its rivals’, particularly the Volvo.
And it’s quick, at least in 40 guise. An ocial 7.6sec to 0-62mph puts it two tenths behind the BMW, though in practice the difference is as academic as the 143mph Audi’s 3mph top-end win.
Unlike BMW, Audi is happy to let you pair low-power engines from the saloon range with the estate body, meaning the base £31,265 Technik significantly undercuts the cheapest BMW. Move up the ladder to our S-line car, and you’re still saving £3k by taking the Audi.
But despite the bigger spread of powertrains, from 134bhp 35 diesel to 242bhp 45, only the entry-level 148bhp 35 petrol (these days a down-tuned 2.0 litre rather than an overworked 1.4), can be mated with a six-speed manual ’box. Everything else gets a seven-speed dual-clutch as standard.
We all love stirring a manual when the mood strikes, but the prospect of a free auto ’box probably suits most buyers just fine. Drive it and you’re not quite so sure. Though upshifts are happily snappy, clogging the right pedal into the bulkhead for an impromptu overtake sends the ’box into a bit of a flap. Neither does it feel quite as plush in stop-start trac as the BMW, whose conventional automatic transmission uses a torque converter for drive take-up smoother than a daytime TV host.
Throw in some ordinary British bumps, though, and it’s the Audi that feels the most polished. It fidgets less over patches, seams and drain covers on urban roads than either the BMW or the Volvo, and cruises effortlessly on the motorway. Combine that with the lower noise levels,
competitive interior space and a bigger boot than the BMW and you’ve got a winner if comfort and refinement are your priorities.
It’s quietly capable on these Dales roads, too. Not quite as engaging as the other pair – the steering, light and slightly lifeless next to the BMW’s, is the least satisfying. But the A4’s chassis is grippy, composed and more than able to hold its stuff together on the Dales’ gnarliest compressions with the S-line’s firmer suspension set-up. Adaptive dampers are optional. Surprisingly, for an Audi press car, which normally come with a Vegas CES show’s worth of gadgets, ours doesn’t have them. Even more surprising is that we don’t miss ’em.
In fact, despite this example’s surprisingly light-on-options spec, the decent standard kit, handsome interior and great materials in no way smack of penny-pinching. The A4’s cabin is a great way to while away three years of your life. Always was, bar some missing under-thigh support for taller drivers, and that’s why Audi’s designers haven’t wasted time wondering how to improve it.
The same-again rotary heater controls are the easiest to locate and operate in this test, the versatile Virtual Cockpit instruments are the best looking and most useful, and the little column stalk makes cruise controlling a breeze, even if the lane-keeping assist is slightly over-zealous on smaller roads.
There’s one big change, though, and we don’t think it’s for the best. After almost 20 years perfecting the MMI’s rotary-dial set-up, Audi has ditched it for a faddy touchscreen. We get it: we’re all used to touchscreens, and in the old days trying to move the cursor across the map was like operating one of those grab-a-fluffy-toy-with-the-claw games at the fair. Now it’s a cinch, but zooming out means a pinch, and not a simpler, safer twist of the dial. Privately, even some of Audi’s engineers admit that BMW’s decision to combine touch and twist functionality was the better call. It’s a rare blunder from an otherwise very complete package. ⊲
Privately, some Audi engineers admit BMW’s touch and twist approach was the better call