Audi A4 3.0 TDI: Road Test

Now throughout its history, Audi has always been known to play it smart. The brass at Ingolstadt, has always been one to move with the market, rather than stick with one particular way of making cars which they call their own. No wonder all Audi's really offer the best combination of luxury and performance as compared to their rivals from Bavaria and Stuttgart.

And this top-of-the-line A4, armed with an impressive 3.0-litre TDI diesel engine and Audi's proprietary 'Quattro' four wheel drive system is no different. But is this German entry-level luxury car really the perfect all rounder? Well, 'perfect' might be a stretching it a little too much, but it should be quite close. Let's find out shall we...

Styling: She's got the look

Audi's of old have been described as uninteresting or too plain-Jane in the looks department. But Audi has really broken out its make-up kit and gone all out towards making this new A4 saloon a lot prettier than any of its predecessors. The first things you notice, and boy do you notice, are the LED daytime running lights. Sure, this trademark of Audi's has been around forever now, but one still can't help cooing with delight every time one sights them.

Keen eyes will notice the small 'Quattro' badge hidden away in that new gigantic inverted trapezoidal grille on the front which speaks volumes about the car's deft handling and rally heritage. Apart from the fantastic front end, the proportions of the car are pretty conservative - not bad looking by any means, but nothing too exciting. But the new taillights, and that integrated boot spoiler again work wonders in setting the A4 apart from regular sedans, while that '3.0 TDI' badge with the little 'Quattro' written underneath and twin exhausts are sheer bragging rights material. Overall, this A4 looks the part of a fast German four-door sedan rather well, and there's very little to fault over its aesthetics.

Interiors: Awesomeness runs in the family

While the A4 might be considered an entry-level luxury car, this one is after all the top of the line model and the interior is really oozing with class and luxury. In fact, you'll be surprised how much the interior of this A4 resembles that its larger sibling, the A6. In fact, barring the difference in space (which isn't that much anyway), a layman might be forgiven for thinking he's sitting in the same car. All the luxuries you'd want from a car in this segment are there - dual zone air conditioning, a fantastic Bang & Olufsen music system, Bluetooth phone integration, a voice command system and even seats which can be heated or cooled (the latter of which is an absolutely welcome addition for dealing with Indian summers). The A4 also packs in Audi's brilliant Multi Media Interface (MMI) system with an LCD screen in the centre of the cockpit which doubles as a display for the rear facing parking camera and can even show TV channels when the car is stationary. Overall, the car has enough buttons, knobs and dials on the inside to impress even the most ardent non-auto-enthusiast. Nothing to complain about the interiors then - comfy seats, both in the front and back coupled with extremely luxurious and elegant designed levels of trim.

Engine: Enough torque to pull down a house

Now what makes this A4 so special and stand out against not only other A4s, but also the other two German entry-level luxury cars? Why it's the engine of course. The huge 2967cc 24-valve V6 common rail direct injection diesel engine under the hood is an absolute stonker. 240 PS of power may not seem too impressive for an engine this size, but the torque figure is nothing short of astounding - a monstrous 500Nm which comes in as low as 1500rpm. It's difficult to imagine being able to put this much amount of torque on the road with even a rear wheel drive system and expect the car to behave predictably. But Audi has that base well covered. 'Quattro', the company's proprietary four-wheel drive system which revolutionized rally cars in the 80s and which was adopted and perfected on its road-going cars, does the business of transferring all that power and torque to all four wheels in this A4. A 40-60 split of torque to the front and rear wheels respectively endows this car with the best of road manners.

Performance and Mileage: Go Speed Racer Go!

The performance figures are all sorts of nutty. In a straight line, this A4 will dash to 100km/h from a standstill in a mere 7.5 seconds, making it faster than any of its immediate rivals. This oil-burner is even quicker than its 3.2-litre V6 petrol powered sibling. In the roll-on figures too, this diesel A4 has nearly everyone beat. Foot down at 80km/h, and it will hit 120km/h in a hair over four and a half seconds. The only real party-pooper here is the Tiptronic gearbox. It's smooth enough in automatic mode when chugging around in city traffic. But if you want to get a little frisky with it, it's ever ready to start its own non-cooperation movement. Once you put the pedal to the metal, for a moment, nothing happens. Then after a second or so, nothing continues to happen. It is only after you've reached the (wrong) conclusion that the gearbox may indeed be broken, does the car leap forward with the gusto of a starving cat on a helpless canary it has just spotted. As for the fuel mileage, in the couple of days we had the car to test in and around Pune, it returned an overall mileage figure of 8.5 kmpl. But with a little lighter foot and a little more highway time, we have no doubt that this figure can be improved well over the double digit mark.

Suspension and Handling: Rally pedigree

The handling department is one that Audi really rules over. Not one of their sedans are bad handlers or even nervous or twitchy if you cane them a little harder than you should. The Quattro four-wheel drive system really takes care of the job of managing traction really well. Sure, there is a little understeer at the limit, but it serves more like a gentle reminder to back-off a little bit. You would really need to be a ham-fisted knuckle-head to get this car into any sort of a tight spot, on an open twisty road. The steering is delicate, but at the same time, exceptionally precise and direct. It does feel a little too light when taking high speed bends, but it's something that one can get used to quite easily. And the anchors are particularly good. Hit the brakes at 100km/h, and the near 1.7-tonne of metal, rubber and plastic will ground to a halt in just 2.96 seconds, covering just about 38m in the process.

Verdict:

This A4 really is great car. From an enthusiast's point-of-view, it really does excel in nearly every department. Even from the perspective of someone who has a fleeting interest in driving their own car, this A4 is all that. I'm tempted to say that this is the perfect car for our roads, but almost. In all honesty, it's difficult to make that statement. At a price tag of Rs. 37-lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), it costs nearly the same as the entry level A6 2.7 TDI. Of course, for the bigger car and the flashier badge, you would be sacrificing the mental performance of this A4 as well as the delectable Quattro four-wheel drive system. It's also a good Rs. 10-lakh more than the entry level A4 and about Rs. 4.6-lakh and Rs. 5.5-lakh more than the top-of-the-range diesel Merc and Bimmer respectively. But then again, both these other two cars come only with smaller 4-cylinder engines as opposed to the 6-potter in this Audi. Is it worth it? Well, that's a real difficult question to answer. As for me, I'm saving up for the Audi TT...

The Audi A4 3.0TDI at a glance: