Pros :
- Looks great.
- Impeccable build quality inside and out.
- Loaded with interior gizmos.
- All-wheel-drive handling.
- Fairly good value for German luxury car.
Cons :
- Occassionally harsh ride when equipped with Sport package.
- Heavy all-wheel-drive system.
- CVT not offered with Quattro models.
- Pricey when loaded with options.
- Tight rear seat room.
Interior :
Press Coverage :
All Audi A4 models are well equipped. They come with a full compliment of power amenities, including power up/auto down for all windows (with pinch protection). Standard equipment includes dual-zone climate control with charcoal filtration, concealed headlight washers and a 150-watt, 10-speaker stereo with six-CD in-dash changer.
Safety features that come standard include antilock brakes, electronic stability program (ESP), dual front airbags that deploy at different rates depending on the severity of a crash, front side-impact airbags, curtain-style head protection airbags on each side of the cabin, three-point seat belts at all five locations with pretensioners, force limiters in front. Rear side-impact airbags are optional.
A Sport Package ($750 for 3.0) includes a sports suspension and 17-inch wheels. Audi's GPS navigation system ($1,350) is available for A4 3.0 models.
Front seats adjust to accommodate people in the six-foot, five-inch range. The seats are comfortable and supportive in nearly all circumstances. Yet a sedan this good should have buckets with more side bolstering to keep occupants firmly in the center. A thick, grippy, leather-covered steering wheel and shift lever are standard, with a choice of fabric or leatherette (vinyl) upholstery. The driver's view is nearly unobstructed in every direction. The small, sculpted side mirrors are stylish and aerodynamic, but from the driver's seat they offer a limited viewing range.
Rear passengers should find adequate legroom, as the A4's design makes great use of the floor space. There's room in back for three, with three-point harnesses at all positions, but average-size adults will feel much more comfortable with only two.
Trunk space in the A4 sedan is among the largest in the class (13.4 cubic feet, compared to just 10.7 in the BMW 3 Series and 12.2 in the Mercedes C-Class). Moreover, the lid swings high and back for easy access. Four tie-down hooks in the carpeted floor and a removable grocery net are designed to keep things in place. The Cold Weather Package includes a nylon ski sack that allows snow skis to slide through the trunk and into the cabin without leaving a damp mess.
Avant holds twice as much cargo as the sedan with the seats in place (27.8 cu. ft.), providing a nice, flat cargo area. It comes with a retractable luggage cover and a partition net. Fold down the rear seats The rear seats fold to reveal 60.6 cu. ft. of cargo capacity.
Like everything else about the A4, the V6 engine is very smooth. Press down on the throttle and power comes on linearly, evenly. It does not paste you to the back of the seat, but delivers solid torque throughout the rev range. Variable-timing intake and exhaust camshafts optimize air/fuel delivery and combustion, boosting horsepower and presenting 90 percent of peak torque from 2200-5200 rpm. So there's a deep well of power available whether you're winding up on an empty country road or just cruising along. Jab the gas pedal, and the A4 responds immediately.
With the six-speed manual, the A4 3.0 is a match for BMW's 330i, long the performance benchmark in this class. The six-speed's gear ratios are nicely matched if you want to shift frequently and really work the engine. Yet the new V6 is flexible enough that you can shift less frequently, allowing the engine torque pull the car along. It's a nice gearbox, though not the easiest to coordinate with the clutch for smoothness. If you prefer an automatic transmission, you have two options: A4 quattros are available with a five-speed Tiptronic automatic.
Nctd.com
Utility is crucial in wagons, so when early reports of the newly enlarged Audi A4 started dribbling in, we hoped to find a silver lining of improved cargo capacity inside the anticipated dark cloud of weight gain and lost agility. It stood to reason: Relative to its predecessor, the new car appeared to have been squared off a bit in back, plus it grew 1.3 inches wider and 2.2 inches longer on axles that were 1.7 inches farther apart. In fact, the new car lost 3.5 cubic feet with the rear seats up, 3.1 with them folded (leaving 27.8 and 60.6 cubes). That's well shy of the Swedish competition (the V70 measures 38/72, and the more directly competing V40 carries 34/68). At least the A4 Avant can out-tote its chief rival, the 26/60-cubic-foot BMW 325i wagon. Turns out the added length was used to move the rear seat aft, yielding a noticeable inch-plus of needed legroom but crowding the cargo area somewhat. The load platform in back was also raised to provide room for a full-size spare on a matching alloy rim and to provide for a shallow underfloor stowage space. The good news is that some of what was lost in volume was made up in cargo-area features. There's a standard dense-screen retractable partition that can confine pets and projectiles to the cargo hold—with the rear seatback up or folded. There are also bag hooks, elastic straps on the side panels to restrain small parcels, tie-down hooks, and a retractable cargo shade that is much less fiddly than most to hook into the D-pillars.
We'd certainly choose the standard six-speed manual, but the five-speed Tiptronic abets sporty driving nicely, even in automatic mode. If the control inputs indicate a red mist coming over the driver, it hangs onto revs and downshifts during braking. Even when the mist clears, the torque converter locks up early and stays locked longer, providing the feel of a manual transmission in its application of engine braking at the slightest lift of the throttle.
Caranddriver.com
Power to all four wheels ensures that the A4 is surefooted at all times, whether rounding a hairpin curve at hair-raising speeds or traversing an ice-slicked road. The Avant handles just as well as the sedan; while exhibited body roll is a little more than its German counterparts', it's still able to take switchbacks and sweepers with vigor. The wagon is actually more equally balanced than its sedan counterpart, with 56 percent of its weight over its front wheels as opposed to the 58 percent of the quattro sedan. Traveling over a rough road could result in a rather jarring ride, due to the optional sport suspension package and the ensuing Dunlop SP Sport 9090 P235/45ZR17 tires with which our test vehicle was equipped. While steering lacks the Lexus IS 300's razor-precision, and its chassis falls short of the Mercedes' stability, its overall drivetrain characteristics leave little to pine for. The four-wheel vented front and solid rear disc brakes stopped the vehicle in a commendable 118.5 feet. Supplemented by ABS, electronic brake force distribution (EBD), a stability control system (ESP) and brake assist (BA), it provided excellent feel and modulation.
And the best part about opting for the wagon? The Avant gives you 27.8 cubic feet of cargo space, which is more generous than what other luxury sport wagons offer. Folding the 60/40-split rear seat more than doubles that number to an impressive 64 cubic feet. That's 10 cubic feet more than what the tall and bulky BMW X5 provides, and one more cubic foot than what the new Range Rover, a true SUV, allows. The floor opens up to cubbies and there are storage bins on either side of the cargo area. Should you find that this isn't enough to store all your belongings, know that roof rails come standard on the Avant but lack cross bars to secure loads properly.
Inside, we found all the aspects that make you remember you're driving a luxury vehicle; namely great-feeling materials, brightly lit gauges and buttons, an in-dash six-disc CD changer, a trip computer, auto-up and -down front windows and dual-zone climate control. Leather upholstery is not an option for the 1.8T, but the perforated leatherette feels nearly as nice, though we weren't crazy about the patterned aluminum trim decorating the dash area. Luxury items like a navigation system and rear parking sensor aren't available until you step up to the 3.0, which raises the price precipitously.
Edmunds.com
History:
1996-2001 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro
2,771 cc / 190 hp / 207 lb-ft / 3263 lbs / 0-60 mph 7.0 sec.
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