Road Test: 2017 Audi A4
The Audi A4, first released in the USA in 1996, was the car that singlehandedly put Audi on the map as a serious alternative to Mercedes Benz and BMW. Audi always built great cars, but just didn’t have the automatic name recognition of the other German brands. For those of us in the snowy climates, it was the obvious choice all along, because even though rivals offered all-wheel drive systems, none were as good as quattro.
When the all new A4 first hit the streets, that all changed. The interior and exterior designs were so perfect that the entire automotive world started paying attention. The silky smooth 2.8 liter V6 engine available in the USA was decently powerful in its day, and of course, quattro. It didn’t hurt that Audi was mopping up the world in various touring car racing series, most notably Australia’s ATCC , England’s BTCC, and in Super Touring racing everywhere else. quattro was soon to be banned from yet another racing series thanks to the A4.
The popularity of the new A4 was so immense that it even spawned a few fan websites, including our very own AudiWorld. We have owned a few A4s through the years, and still currently do, so we were tremendously excited to see what this all new A4 had to offer.
We weren’t disappointed in the least. Even though the exterior styling isn’t completely revolutionary, without question it is a great looking sedan. Overall the exterior design is very familiar but modernized to the latest Audi look. Compared to the outgoing B8 A4, the B9 A4 has much sharper lines, as well as sporting the newly shaped Audi grille, which is wider and less tall than before. The biggest new design element on the B9 is the hood which now wraps over the top of the fenders, much like the TT. It also has sprouted a new pair of character lines, which help break up the otherwise relatively flat surface. An all-new wheel design also graces the B9, and on the dark Manhattan Gray car we sampled, they looked great with a similar color.
Other exterior differences – The nose to tail line is more pronounced, and deeper than before. It also more elegantly loops over the taillights, and meets in the middle of the trunk. New door handles are a loop design yet lift up. The door mirrors attach to the sheet metal now, instead of the window frame. The chrome trim around the doors has been moved from the body to the window frames. There are new headlights as well, with the now ubiquitous LED DRLs.
If the exterior of the B9 A4 isn’t completely revolutionary, the interior certainly is. Adopting all of the latest Audi tech, this new A4 possesses some seriously cool features. There are some interesting changes too. Because it seems to be a hot button topic of late, we’ll start with the control for the transmission. We’re not sure why a regular PRNDS with tiptronic wouldn’t suffice, but having to effectively relearn how to operate a car at our age is interesting. There were a few times we were foiled by our muscle memory and found D instead of R, for example. It’s not that we’re opposed to new ideas and new ways of doing things, far from it, but there are a few improvements we would consider. Namely – with the engine running and in D, if the driver door opens, the car should automatically engage park. It does not. We found this out, because the P button requires quite a deliberate push, and since there’s no tactile feedback, you have to look to know you hit it successfully. While jockeying the car around for photos, this almost became an issue. We did become mostly accustomed to the new selector by the time our testing was done, but there was absolutely a learning curve.
Secondly is the new MMI screen. This was a source of much consternation amongst our staffers, who generally prefer the folding screens from the larger models, and truth be told, we always felt the large non-folding screens perched on the dash of other cars seemed like afterthoughts. Turns out, Audi came to the conclusion that the vast majority of owners of cars with foldaway screens never intentionally hide the screen, so eliminating the complexity of the folding screen was a good thing. The new screen is great looking, even if it doesn’t fold down, and even though it seems a tad redundant with the insanely cool virtual dash in the instrument cluster, it is nice to be able to run nav and infotainment simultaneously on different screens. We would love to have the option to detach the screen though, especially when you have the Virtual Cockpit.
Moving on from the fixed screen, the entire dash has been dramatically altered from the previous generation cars. Instead of the tall dash of the B8, the B9 A4 has a low and wide feeling setup, with most controls either combined in the latest style MMI controls, or on a lower row of buttons beneath the completely new and incredibly well thought out HVAC panel.
Our car had the heads up display, which has its projector unit nearly seamlessly integrated into the dash. No longer does it look like an afterthought, which is very refreshing. Information provided by the HUD is pretty standard fare for Audi, with speed, Nav instructions, speed limit signs, etc. Speaking of speed limit signs, our car was very good at detecting signs, but there were a few instances where it got it wrong, and was showing us a speed sign that was higher than the actual posted speed.
Once we got past all of the interior changes, and figured out how to get the car to move (which in all honestly, was not difficult at all), we were happy to discover that the B9 drives very well. It actually drives very much like the B8 does, which is to say, it’s very surefooted, stable and predictable at all times. Handling is crisp and typically Audi, which is to say neutral towards understeer, though very easy to rotate with the throttle.
It was also quite entertaining to drive. Sure, it’s not massively powerful or overly stiffly sprung, but on regular roads at “spirited” speeds, the B9 A4 is a joy. The new 2.0TFSI engine belts out 252 hp, up from 211hp. It’s smooth and torquey throughout the RPM range, and is never harsh sounding. The turbo hangs on a little higher in the revs than previous 2.0TFSI engines, but it’s still mostly a mid-range power curve. The 7 speed dual clutch S-tronic transmission clicks off shifts instantly, making the most out of the engine’s power delivery. On the highway the A4 is very sedate thanks to the long 7th gear.
We truly liked the B9 A4 tremendously. It is a techno whiz-kid that is also really fun to drive. This is also the beginning of the new B9 era, with a new S4 coming soon, as well as the A5 and S5 coupes and sportback. All of these things are exciting to us, and we can wait to spend more time in the B9!
