Audi A4 3.0 TDI

Audi started with a clean slate, pouring innovation, surprise and delight into the process of creating the new A4. Look at the distinctive ‘string-of-pearls’ LED headlight that Audi has plucked from its R8 sports car and you get some sense of how hard it has tried. The new A4 is also larger and has a more grown-up look. And its 2.8-metre wheelbase is easily the longest.

However, apart from the head and tail-lights, there’s nothing radical about the A4’s styling; most of the design clues an evolution of tried-and-tested Audi standards. Still, as on every modern Audi, the design language is very clear and works well. The bonnet and shoulder line swoop down to the ‘Bulgarian beard’ grille, there is a quarter-glass in the ‘C’ pillar at the rear and the broadset shoulder line give the flanks the look of an A6.

The A4 is built on Audi’s new Modular Longitudinal Platform (MLP) and uses a lot of aluminium in the front suspension. The steering rack is placed low and forward, in close proximity to the front wheels. The rear suspension design allows for sporty and short springs and the dampers are tall for luxury car-like travel. All the dampers are adjustable for either a pliant ride or harder dynamic setting. And Audi has specified massive discs at both the front and the rear. The latest quattro or four- wheel-drive system has rear-biased split for more neutral handling and less understeer.