New Audi sport sedan has more tech than the AV club, more power than the competition
Power and style traditionally trickle down from a manufacturer’s top models to their more cost-effective ones. Since technology is the new power (and safety is the new style), Audi upgraded the 2017 A4 with all of the near-autonomous protection introduced on the Q7 SUV and added enough technology to run a home office, all without taking your hands off the wheel or your eyes off the road. Of course, the traditional power and style are there too; they just take a back seat to what most buyers really care about.
Let’s be clear:We’re’re not saying the new, ninth-generation A4 is uncrashable. But with 21 driver-assistance systems including lane assist, adaptive cruise control with stop and go traffic assist, rear cross traffic alert, turn assist that’ll stop you from accidentally turning into traffic and exit assist, which alerts you if you’re about to open your door into traffic, it’s everything but.
On the technology side, the A4 gets the company’s new Virtual Cockpit with a 12.3-inch gauge screen, which uses Google Earth to provide the maps, terrain and upcoming traffic and navigation info. The A4 also comes with Audi connect, which packages together all the applications that connect the A4 to the Internet like weather info, Siri Eyes Free, and automatic crash notification, as well as Android Auto and Apple Car Play.
We’re not going to call it nerd heaven, but if intelligence is the new cool, the A4 is Steve McQueen.
2017 Audi A4
Power is up significantly from 2016. The old A4 made do with 220 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque from its turbocharged 2.0-liter four. The new model lands with 252 hp at 5,600 rpm and 273 lb-ft at 1,600-4,500 rpm from an upgraded version of the same powerplant. Those specs eclipse the base power in both the new C-Class and BMW 3-Series, though the Audi doesn’t offer an uplevel six-cylinder engine. A seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission sends power to the front or all four wheels in quattro versions, which comprise the lion’s share of A4s sold.
A new five-link front suspension allows for greater steering precision, Audi says, as does moving the steering rack placement to the wheel centers. Audi also reduced unsprung weight by making more suspension parts out of aluminum. Overall the company saved 66 pounds on quattro models and 99 pounds on FWD models. There are three options for suspension including the standard setup, the adaptive continuously damping option that lowers the car about half an inch, and fixed sport suspension that drops the car almost an inch.
How does it drive?
Stomping the mid-weighted gas pedal from a stop blasts the A4 away from a green light for about 3 seconds before the first near-seamless shift — either from the paddles or the computer — followed by a whoosh from the turbo. We’re glad Audi didn’t tune that out or cover it up. Same with the growl — when you’re really in the throttle, the higher revs sound good. Maybe not as good as a straight-six, but this isn’t a little sewing machine engine either. The company says the A4 can hit 60 mph in 5.7 seconds from a stop, and we have no reason to doubt it. The torque split usually runs at 40/60 front to rear, throwing up to 85 percent of the power to the back if necessary. We never see the traction control light, even when we overpush it into corners in the California grades. It runs out of breath at 130 mph, Audi says, which seems easily reachable even in the thin mountain air.
2017 Audi A4
The seven-speed DCT works well most of the time, but it has the usual lurches when parking and sometimes when getting back on the gas after a significant slowdown. Still, we’ll take this and its advantages over a standard torque converter automatic.
Braking comes easy with 13.3-inch vented discs with four-piston calipers in front and 13-inch discs with single-piston calipers in back. Only a few inches of pedal travel bring the car to halt, with minimal dive from the standard suspension. We get in both the standard and Continuously Damping Control cars and find even the basic setup stiff enough for spirited driving. On the CDC cars, the comfort setting really smooths things out, absorbing all but the biggest potholes. It almost borders on floaty. Dynamic firms things up well past the standard suspension, but it never becomes punishing.
Audi uses torque vectoring to tune out almost all understeer and, as far as legal speeds on publics roads tell us, it succeeded. Steering, like we said, is adaptable but even in the heaviest settings, there isn’t a ton of “feel” except when really throwing it into corners. But, if you’re going to get it somewhere, at the limit is where the feel needs to be. It would be fun to get this car out in a full blizzard to really see what the quattro system can do.
From the driver’s seat, the A4 offers a nice, low driving position and good visibility all around if you bump it up an inch. The heated leather perch is just soft enough to keep us planted all day without complaint. Most of the central MMI functions have redundant controls on the steering wheel, including all navigation, radio and hands-free speaking options. Like the Q7, the A4 has a chunky gearshift for resting your wrist, which puts the shortcut button’s rotary dial within your finger’s reach. The cupholders are conveniently out of the way ahead of the buttons and dial, as opposed to sitting aft of the gear selector, blocking the space usually reserved for an elbow.
2017 Audi A4
Do I want it?
The 2017 A4 quattro starts at $ 40,350, including $ 950 in destination charges. The front-wheel-drive model cuts $ 2,100 off that. Stepping up to the Premium Plus trim will cost $ 3,800. For that you get bigger wheels, the Bang and Olufsen sound system, heated seats, LED lights and the S line package, which adds cool visual cues like the bigger front intakes and honeycomb rear accents. The Prestige trim, another $ 4,800, adds the full-color head-up display, the interior lighting package, top view camera and the Tech package including the Virtual Cockpit, navigation and extra safety features.
For comparison, you can’t get past the Audi’s 252 hp without stepping up to the new BMW 340i, which starts at $ 46,795. Over in Mercedes-land the C450 AMG takes you to 362 hp, but that’ll set you back more than 50K. The base C-Class now has 241 hp, by the way. The A4 doesn’t have quite the luxurious feel inside the C-Class does, and you can’t have quite as much tail-out fun as with the 3-Series. What the A4 does instead is perfectly straddle the line for an enthusiast/luxury customer. And if horsepower numbers and curb weights don’t turn you on (what are you doing here?), the nerdy technology should. AND since nerdy is the new cool, you’ll be Steve McQueen, or maybe Steve Jobs, or whoever the kids think is cool these days.
