Quick drive: 2016 Audi A4 30 TFSI

Quick drive: 2016 Audi A4 30 TFSI

Small engine, big efficiency, technology and comfort. The new A4 stands for polish, not revolution

Each time I drive an Audi, I’m immediately comfortable. But that’s not to say all of them have a plush ride. The familiarity they breed never seems to tend toward contempt. The new A4 is no different in this respect, though it is in many others.

For 2016, the A4 comes with the now ubiquitous LED headlamps. Though they don’t officially call attention to them like with the A6 ‘Matrix’, I did notice a few clued-in potential buyers already referring to it as the “A4 Matrix”. So be it; it certainly doesn’t hurt the car. Also new are the sharply raked LED DRLs within the lamp housing, giving the front of the new car an aggressive stance. If you notice little else new at first glance, you’d be forgiven. The new A4 looks like many other A4s before it. There are some creases and nods to aggression and sportiness in the design, but substantially, the same shape pops out.

While the car increases in dimensions over the outgoing model, it is also 95kg lighter than the predecessor, which is a very significant drop. Just as well, since the petrol version we drove comes with a tiny (for this size car) 1.4 litre turbocharged engine generating 150hp and 250Nm of torque. Acceleration is claimed at 8.5 seconds for the 0–100 run. We didn’t test this ourselves, but we’ll take their word for it. For us, the interior was more of a revelation than the performance numbers or the understated tweaks to the exterior.

If you intend to be chauffeured in the new A4, you won’t be disappointed by the space available at the back. There’s plenty of knee room for rear passengers, and the ride is about as plush as it could get before becoming bouncy. It’s an excellent package of comfort and handling, and we felt no crashes coming through the shocks even on rough roads. That said, the interior trim is underwhelming despite the smart slate colour. The immediate impression is of plastic, but there’s soft-touch materials everywhere. Audi has included some faux wood trim to class up the cabin, but we could take it or leave it.

For the driver, the new console system is lovely. Audi includes a large 12" TFT screen where the speedo and tacho would normally be, just like the Audi TT. The display can be configured in a myriad ways, displaying all sorts of useful information without needing to glance away from the road for too long. We enjoyed keeping the navigation playing on the driver binnacle, while our co-driver for the day played with the technology bits on the main MMI screen. The jog-dial system remains, and now has a capacitive touch surface which can be used to input queries via handwriting. Gone are the jumbo-jet level button panels for every function, simplified into a small navigation console with some key functions getting their own controls.

The MMI system also gets a big boost with the inclusion of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which takes smartphone integration to another level. Audi have even put a wireless charging system into the storage box under the centre armrest, which is just darn clever. Also new is an air-conditioning vent system that goes across the entire length of the dashboard, though we didn’t detect much air exiting the central vents. The climate control system is now three-zone.

Enthusiasts of big, brawny engines will not enjoy the new 1.4 litre TFSI unit in the new A4, though it makes almost as much horsepower as the old 1.8 units. There’s plenty of torque available too, and the car does not feel sluggish. It’s deceptively fast while cruising, in fact, thanks to the 7-speed dual-clutch S Tronic transmission that keeps things at a quiet RPM level. Shifts are quick enough and paddle shifters are offered. New is the “coasting” mode, which essentially puts the transmission into neutral when you’re off the gas. We weren’t able to figure out what specific conditions it must encounter to decide when it goes into this mode, but it was entirely transparent to the driving experience. Audi is claiming over 17kmpl, undoubtedly helped along by this feature.

The engine note, while accelerating, sounded unnecessarily gruff to our ears, though as the speeds rise, you can forgive this as an aural confirmation of what your body is experiencing. We suspect an aftermarket exhaust will make this engine sound sweet. There was always power available on demand for quick overtaking procedures, and the spectacular coastal road from Bhubaneswar to the Konark temple made for some good long-haul testing. That said, the power quickly falls off near the redline, so it’s best to keep things in the meat of the torque; downshifting imprudently just produces noise. We can confirm that the new A4 will be an excellent inter-city cruiser, whether as driver or passenger. Even within the city, the tight turning radius, light steering and soft ride made it an easy car to get along with.

There are no headline-grabbing features with the new Audi A4, nothing to write effusive praise about. Potential buyers may be put off by the smaller engine, but when modestly driven, it’s a good package.