New cars from the last century
The exorbitant pricing and lack of electrification we’ve talked about. But another issue with cars like these is the nagging sense that their performance stylings aren’t underpinned by any dynamic substance: that their good looks write cheques their oily bits can’t cash.
To an extent, that’s true of the A5. This is not a driver’s car to fire the imagination, prompt endless long-way-home detours or have you browsing trackday dates for the Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. But this is neither a surprise nor the product of any real engineering shortcoming – Audi knows its customers, and most are far more interested in breathtaking refinement and a knockout interior than ultimate brake-pedal fidelity or on-the-limit adjustability. But to dismiss the A5 as stodgy would be wrong. Front-wheel drive it may be but there’s grip and composure and real cross-country ability here, not to mention the enormous feelgood factor born of the handsome design inside and out. It just needs more power, allwheel drive and a less vexing list price.
The A5 could also use a rival less rounded and talented than the new 4-series. BMW’s is an impressive and desirable new coupe now able to match the Audi for cockpit quality and refinement while trumping it on core BMW values.
The 420i’s interior feels largely cribbed from the 8-series, and if it doesn’t feel special enough to go up against 911s and Bentleys in the 8, it feels pretty special at this price point, the G22’s reassuringly traditional volumes (high ’n’ wide transmission tunnel, slim side glass) dragged into 2021 by the neatly integrated infotainment screen, sci-fi ambient lighting and crisply resolved design.
And if some of the materials feel cheap after the Audi (beige textured plastic!) find solace in this being one of the best infotainment set-ups out there. Oh how we mocked the multiple control methods, using them as a stick with which to beat BMW for a lack of decisiveness. But it was right and we were wrong. Touch, voice, gesture and iDrive are all valid means of communicating with the 4-series, and if they’re effective individually, they’re particularly convincing in combination.
The 4 lands its knockout blow on the road. Adaptive dampers mean it rides better. The stiff body shrugs off even the most awkward, asymmetrical hits, while the suspension damps wheel movements in a single cycle. And though the under-nourished engine will leave you yearning for a six, the BMW’s poise, accuracy, grip and fluency all add up to a more satisfying and addictive driving experience.