Audi's TV ads portray the slick new A4 sedan as some sort of road rocket.
We'd say that's a bit of a stretch.
When it comes to pinning occupants against the seatbacks, it's not quite in the hunt
with a car like the all new BMW 328i, its prime competitor.
Nevertheless, this is a compelling little sport sedan, strong in the other virtues
that still set German cars apart from the rest of the herd--decisive handling, superb
high-speed stability and terrific brakes.
And in the case of our test car, There is the Audi Quattro extra of all-wheel drive,
with an electronic locking center differential.
Although Subaru also sells all-wheel drive cars, Audis are the only sedans in the
luxury end of the spectrum to offer this feature, and it's a big plus. Yes, 2-wheel
drive traction control systems are closing the gap in this area, but when the going
gets slick we'd still rather have all four wheels making the most of whatever grip
there may be.
All this and good looks, too.
BMW's beautifully proportioned 3-Series cars are still the design pacesetters in this
realm, but the A4 is a graceful piece of work, with a distinctive presence of its
own--not quite as aggressive as the Bimmers, but smoothly purposeful nonetheless.
In fact, this strikes us as the greatest-looking design to come out of an Audi studio
since the radical aero look of the Audi 5000 back in 1985.
One area where the A4 does run neck and neck with the BMW is price.
Even though Audi has been fighting its way back in the U.S. market with pricing
rollbacks, you still pay a premium for that German pedigree and Autobahn breeding.
The A4's $26,500 base price isn't the sort of number that would make you clutch your
heart, but when you start adding goodies like the $1550 Quattro system--it's now
available as a free-standing option on all Audi cars--the bottom line inflates quickly.
You could get better straight-ahead performance and more room behind the front seats
in a number of less expensive cars--the Pontiac Bonneville SSEi, Pontiac Grand Prix SE,
Oldsmobile LSS and Nissan Maxima SE, for example.
But people obviously do not buy Audis and BMWs strictly on a basis of value. There's
that old prestige intangible involved here, and when you look at competing makes that
factor prestige into their pricing--BMW, Mercedes, Cadillac, Lexus, Infiniti and so
on--the A4 stacks up as a pretty good buy.
So let's talk nuts, bolts and floorpans.
Introduced late last year, the A4 is the direct descendant of the Audi 90, a car that
never quite caught on here, due in part to its high price.
Direct descendant does not mean freshened-up in this application. Although a few Audi
90 components found their way into the A4, this is basically an all-new car--redesigned
exterior, interior, suspension and chassis.
The A4 is a bit shorter than the 90, and it's also an inch and a half wider, lending a
more aggressive look to its stance, and its much stiffer chassis lends real authority
to its reflexes.
Suspension tuning is a trifle softer than the 328i, and even though BMW has also taken
some of the suspension starch out of its recent sedan offerings, the A4 gets the edge
in ride quality.
