New Audi A4 review, test drive

Mid-life facelift brings with it a whole lot of subtle improvements.

Published on Jun 04, 2012 03:08:00 PM

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The facelift is subtle and you have to really stare to spot the differences.

The performance is satisfyingly brisk but not blindingly quick.

The ride is pliant and beautifully absorbent, but some pitching at high speeds.

The cabin gets a lot of small upgrades that make it feel a lot plusher.

This base A4 doesn’t get Audi’s Drive Select system, which means it has regular, non-adjustable dampers. This, for most purposes, is a good thing as this car rides really well. At low and medium speeds, it isolates you from the road brilliantly, the suspension absorbing imperfections and sharp bumps with equal aplomb. Up the speed and there is some float and some pitching over long undulations, but never to the point of being uncomfortable. We did wish the brakes, though strong enough, had a bit more pedal feel.

Around town, the new A4’s electrically-assisted steering feels extremely light making it easy to park and manoeuvre. But like most in most Audis the steering has inert feel to it and isn’t particularly entertaining. It weighs up the faster you go and at highway speeds, there’s enough communication from the road filtering through to be keep you reassured. There’s tremendous grip from the 225/50 R17 tyres and the electronic differential lock that unobtrusively applies the brakes on the wheel that’s slipping, tightens your line and quells the understeer to give you a fair amount of entertainment through corners.

You don’t really notice at first, but the door mirrors are smaller than before. They don’t really compromise visibility but their smaller size reduces wind noise and more importantly, drag. In fact, this, along with the flat underbody help the A4 return 12.5kpl on the highway and a not too bad 8.5kpl in the city.

Watch video review here