The New Audi A4 : Q-Car for the enthusiast
The new Audi A4 2.0T is perhaps the ‘Q-car that many people are looking for. It combines the essentials needed for a ‘family’ or ‘executive’ look, but has the potential to blow a lot of other cars away if the driver so desires. It looks like its bigger brothers, the A6 and A8, with an aggressive looking front mask, followed by logical and beautiful lines that flow smoothly over its entire length. Carrying bulges in the right places, its shape appears so harmonious and so complete that the next upgrade will be a great challenge to its designers.
The beauty of the outside is matched by an equally beautiful inside, with comfortable, yet firm leather upholstery, plenty of legroom for all, and full electric controls for the driver and front passenger seats. The rear seat splits and folds, and also has a foldaway centre armrest that also opens up to hold little oddments. For the driver, the seats have a memory function, and the steering is adjustable for reach and height. Even our very petite lady driver could find a suitable driving position, a definite plus point in a car built to cater for large-sized Europeans. Instrumentation is analogue, with the right things in the right place. An onboard diagnostics check function, including information on when the next service is due, is a thoughtful feature. A tiny red light located on the roof console bathes the interior with a red ambience at night, and the switches and controls are also lit up for convenience.
The performance part of the A4, the part that makes it a serious contender for first off the line at the traffic lights, comes in the form of the turbo charged 2.0-litre FSI engine from the Volkswagen group, yes, the very same engine that powers the very exciting Golf Gti, a car that I raved about some time ago. With 200 horses raring to go at the touch of the accelerator, the Audi A4 is a saloon that makes your road dreams and aspirations come true. The engine is mounted in the north-south position as opposed to the conventional transverse position to make it common with the Quattro (the 4WD version of the A4). This probably means that someday in the future, some enthusiast may well do some serious upgrade in this direction. What is basically needed is the gearbox that has a prop shaft going to the rear end, the rear diff and carrier, and the drive components, and you are done.
In the case of the A4, I think Audi must have had the family in mind when they coupled this technological beast of an engine with a seven-speed CVT (constantly variable transmission) to give it a smooth build-up of speed. The DSG – Direct Shift Gearbox would have made it even beastlier, and in my opinion, even more desirable, the CVT being more suited for less aggressive use. The designers have also gone into the direction of ‘ease of use’, having switched to automatic up and down shifts based on driver demand, over-riding the paddle shifts located on the steering wheel. Even so, it is still fun to use; you get some vestige of control, with the idiot box taking over when you aren’t quick enough with your up and downshifts.
Drive is to the front wheels through a modified double wishbone arrangement, with aluminium members to reduce un-sprung weight. The rear is held up by independent trapezoidal-links. Coil springs and twin tube gas shockers are on all four wheels. We note with interest a very large stabilizer bar on the front to minimise roll.
To ensure the A4 stops safely, large disc brakes are on all four wheels, with ventilated ones in front, and solid discs at the rear. ABS is standard equipment, as is EBD (electronic brakeforce distribution). ESP (Electronic Stability Program) with BA (Brake Assist) comes with the package, complete with an on-off switch for the ESP, located on the dashboard. Wheels are 7.5-inch wide, and 17 inches in size, with 235/45 R tyres. The spare is a steel piece tucked away in the boot.
Zero to one hundred kilometres per hour is claimed at 7.3 seconds; we managed 7.8 seconds with the air-conditioner on. Top speed is claimed to be 235 kilometres per hour, and although we have no reason to doubt that the A4 can actually do it, we just couldn’t find any road within the Klang Valley that was clear and safe enough to check it out. What we do know is that the A4 builds up speed awesomely fast; not as fast as the Golf Gti, considering that the A4 is heavier, and tips the scales at 1450 kg. This does not make the A4 any less fun to drive; think of it as having your cake and eating it too, because you can now have a ‘family’ car that can also give you some fun on the road.
The 70 litre fuel tank is still at the halfway mark after 250 kilometres of mixed driving (some of the kilometres were eaten up with pedal to the metal, including our acceleration tests, plus lots of exuberant driving); anyway, the posted urban consumption is between 11.2 to 11.5 litres per 100 kilometres, and the overall consumption is listed at between 8.1 to 8.3 litres per 100 kilometres. Translated to ringgit and sen, it would range between 13 to 18 sen a kilometre (as claimed). In real world terms, considering our hot climate, expect something between 20 to 30 sen a kilometre, depending on the weight of your right foot.
In the classic 20 words or less, I would say the A4 2.0Turbo is a great car, and worth every sen of the RM274K it costs to put it on the road here in Malaysia.
