The A4 quattro is Audi’s smallest and least costly all wheel drive sedan, but that doesn't mean that it’s boring to drive, or sparsely featured. Starting with the 2.0 liter turbocharged direct fuel injected (TFSI) engine, and quattro permanent all wheel drive system, up through the beautifully finished interior with power windows, automatic climate control, leather seats, excellent audio system with standard satellite radio and aux input jack, you begin to realize, this car has a lot to offer for the base $32,350.

Our test car was equipped with some optional equipment to further enhance the motoring experience, but they don’t cause the car to break the bank. Adding the Premiere package to the A4 gets you HID Xenon headlights, 3 zone climate control, heated front seats, trip computer, and more goodies, for less than $4000 extra. We feel it is well worth the extra cost in this case, since it’s not all that much more money relatively speaking, and this package really contributes to the high end feel of the car.

The HID lighting package also includes the LED running lights which we happen to really like (the A4's LEDs have a curving flow of the LEDs which is rather reminiscent of the R8, which can't be a bad thing), and feel that they define the face of the modern Audi. The standard auxiliary audio input is replaced by an Ipod interface in the glovebox as part of the Audi Music Interface, which allows you full control of your iPod via the audio controls. Also included on our car was the sport package, which consists of the 3 spoke perforated leather wrapped sport steering wheel, sport seats, lower and stiffer suspension, and 18 inch wheels. These are mostly aesthetic and comfort related, though the lower suspension and larger wheels help to improve the handling.

The aforementioned upgrades defininately combine to make the A4 look fantastically sporty. The Brilliant Red paint on our car certainly helped, but the stance the car takes with the sport suspension transforms the car into a genuine sports sedan. The lower center of gravity and increased spring rates and shock damping work well in spirited driving, while retaining a civilized ride, even with the ultra low profile tires. The B8 A4 is incredibly fun to drive. We found it equally at home on tight twisty mountain roads, as well as on the highway for long drives. It seems the harder you lean the car into corners, the happier it becomes. Even while applying full power in a corner, the car does not understeer at all, the rear just digs in, and the car hurls itself through the corner. As the limit of adhesion is reached, the A4 will tend towards understeer, and the rear end always feels planted. Overall though, the A4 feels incredibly well balanced while driving, exhibiting mostly neutral handling tendencies. With the ESP turned off, aggressive drivers can get more rotation from the rear, and the car is still very controlable and confidence inspiring.

Steering feel is excellent, and feedback is good. The rack is nicely weighted, not falsely heavy, but not overly boosted either. With Servotronic variable assist, parking is a non issue. As speed increases, the transitions from high assist to low assist are seamless, and feedback remains constant. The steering wheel does feel somewhat isolated from the road, but not as much as it could. There is enough feedback to know when the tires are reaching their limit of adhesion, yet you don’t feel every single imperfection on the road.

Audi has utilized their excellent turbocharged 4 cylinder engines in the A4 since the beginning, and the 2.0TFSI engine in the current generation is outstanding. Generating 211hp from 4300 to 6000rpm and a whopping 258lb/ft from 1500 to 4200rpm, it certainly has the grunt to move the car very swiftly. Looking at the power curve relative to the torque curve, it’s clear that this is not an engine that you need (or even want) to rev out. It’s perfectly happy cranking away under 5000rpm, and going beyond that is not beneficial. The engine doesn’t get noisy or thrashy in any way (as 4 cylinders go, the 2.0TFSI is very smooth and quiet), but it just feels like it runs out of breath over 5500rpm. Short shifting is the way to drive quickly with this engine. This is not to say that the car is slow however. Audi say that the manual transmission A4 2.0T will run from 0-60 in 6.4 seconds, and in real world driving such as merging on the highway or passing multiple cars on a 2 lane, acceleration is brisk, thanks to the massive torque.

Our tester was equipped with the 6 speed manual transmission, which we liked. Initially we felt the feel of the lever to be slightly rubbery, though we quickly acclimated to its action. The gate is very positive, we never missed a gearchange. While the lever appears to be long, the throws are not, and it’s a very pleasant overall experience. The clutch takes up immediately off the floor, and while it does lack a certain amount of feedback, it makes up for that by being incredibly flexible. Heal/toe downshifts are possible thanks to good pedal spacing and a properly firm brake pedal.

On the road, the A4 is quite comfortable. The ride is firm, but not jarring, even with the sport suspension and 18” high performance tires. We found the seats to be nicely comfortable on long drives, yet supportive in spirited driving. There is enough range in adjustment that anyone should be able to find a perfect driving position. This car is very nice to drive. It’s very responsive, and amenable to doing double duty as a commuter car and a canyon carving sports sedan. One very minor gripe we came up with is a very noticeable surging from the engine while cruising at lower revs (specifically in the 1800 to 2200 range). We suspect that the always eager turbocharger is the culprit here; the engine management appears to constantly fiddle with the turbocharger bypass system in order to maintain the speed that’s requested by the driver. This is the tradeoff with a turbocharger that will generate boost at such low revs, and in all honesty, it’s not that big of a problem, but it is something we noticed.

Another benefit of this engine is excellent fuel economy. We were amazed at the mileage we were seeing, and it’s not that we were necessarily gentle with the accelerator pedal. Because of the abundance of low end torque, the car reaches cruising speeds very rapidly, and once attained, the engine’s load becomes light, and therefore fuel economy increases. According to the trip computer we averaged around 30mpg (which did include a couple of long highway drives) while we had the car which was a very nice surprise.

The interior of the A4 shows off Audi’s traditional attention to detail. Even though our car did not have the MMI system, we found the control panel for the audio system mounted above the climate control system to be completely intuitive, and in fact it mirrors the MMI controls, minus the buttons for the navigation. The base level sound system is excellent, and with the iPod integration, satellite radio, am/fm/cd plus an SD card slot, all controlled from the same place, it seems like it would be impossible to not find something to listen to. All control surfaces are softly textured plastic, and nice to the touch. The window switches were a little on the “plasticy” side, but that was the only sub-par detail we noticed. Beneath the extendable and height adjustable center armrest is a nice storage cubby, with a 12v outlet for charging phones or other electronics. In front of that, there are 2 cup holders, which are nice and deep, and work well.

Cruising in the A4 is calm and quiet. The interior is very hushed with the windows closed, wind noise is minimal, although road noise is somewhat present. In 6th gear, the revs are so low that the engine note is reduced to a very low hum. As revs increase, the engine takes on a nice mid tone growl. At no point do you get to hear the turbo though, which is a bit of a bummer honestly.

We consider the A4 to be a great car for a blend of sporty driving and family duties, it’s fun to drive, has enough techno-gadgets to keep people interested for longer drives, room for 5, and excellent luggage capacity, and all weather sure footed traction. We really enjoyed our test of the A4, and we’re certain we’d enjoy spending even more time with this excellent car!

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