By EWAN KENNEDY
AUDI station wagons, which they call Avants, are huge in Europe and particularly in their home market of Germany.
Avants are easy to spot, just drive on an autobahn at high speed, but keep out of the fast lane, pretty soon one will pass you at 200+ kmh.
It will probably be black and a sales rep of some sort will be at the steering wheel in a hurry to their next appointment.
Sounds like heaven? It is, but sadly not in Australia. The driving, that is.
The latest A4 Avant joined the sedan a couple of months ago.
It’s slightly longer and wider than the old Avant and sits on a longer wheelbase.
Most of the extra size has gone into significantly increasing legroom in the rear, although there’s also more elbowroom and headroom.
Audi Avant 2WD model starts with a recommended list price of $63,900, the quattro all-wheel-drive $72,900. That’s $3000 over the cost of the equivalent sedans.
Styling follows the latest successful Audi theme of sharp lines and neat geometric angles.
The wagon’s rear has been neatly integrated into the front shape and profile. Overall, this certainly doesn’t scream out that it’s a station wagon.
The interior features Audi’s usual immaculate style and quality of finish. This is an upmarket stylish place in which to travel.
Audi’s new ‘virtual cockpit’ instrument layout is easy to use and can be tailored by the driver to show the most important displays according to different driving situations.
Two drivetrains are offered, both based around a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine and a seven-speed Audi dual-clutch automatic, tagged S-tronic.
The A4 front-driver develops 140 kW of power, and 320 Nm of torque from 1450 to 4200 rpm.
In the Avant quattro all-wheel-drive the engine has a sportier state of tune to bring it up to 185 kW, with 370 Nm between 1600 and 4500. Our test vehicle was a quattro.
Audi’s MMI infotainment system is one of the most advanced currently on the market.
It is controlled through an easy to see 8.3-inch screen.
It has a DVD player, which can also operate through optional rear-seat tablet screen.
There’s up to10Gb of music storage. It receives live traffic reports and five free map updates are in included in the A4’s price.
Australasian NCAP has rated the Audi A4 Avant as a five-star vehicle.
In the cargo area there are safety rails on the floor and several straps to let you secure items in various ways.
The adjustable cargo cover looks to be able to take a fair bit of punishment in crashes.
The front seats are comfortable, though some may find them a little narrower than they like.
The rears are noticeably more spacious than before, with legroom for full-sized adults.
Two will be more comfortable than three in the back seat.
The luggage area has a volume of 505 litres with the rear seat backs in place, and 1510 litres with the 40/20/40 split-fold backrests down.
They don’t fold completely flat but stop an irritating few degrees above where we would like them to be.
The sleek slope of the rear robs the wagon of some carrying ability as large boxy items won’t fit.
The turbo-petrol TFSI engine seems to have endless amounts of torque. There’s some minor lag before you get the full benefit of this grunt, but we have felt worse.
Driving modes are Normal and Sport. Changes to the engine and transmission characteristics are quite obvious.
Sport has the A4 down a gear or two most of the time, which chew up fuel. However, the gear selector is extremely easy to use so you can juggle performance needs in a moment.
Smoothness and quietness are very good, all the more so when you consider the added difficulty of designing a station wagon body. These Audis make excellent long distance cruisers.
Handling is neutral until the cars are pushed really hard, when the front-driver exhibits some safe understeer.
The quattro, with its added grip and lower profile tyres, can produce the sort of driving that keen punters love.
The new high-tech Audi headlight system darkens the LED lights only in the area where it would dazzle other drivers, either in front or ahead.
The rest of the lights remain on high beam giving a much broader view.
It works extremely well in country areas, providing almost the feeling of having daylight in front.
However, these Audi lights are whiter and brighter than conventional ones and may give the impression they are on high beam.
We found it best to use conventional low beam around town and only switch to the intelligent LED system on the open road.
Audi’s new A4 Avant quattro wagon gives sporting performance allied with added carrying ability and it looks good too, definitely one to add to your list of possibilities if you don’t want the bulk of an SUV.
Note that the next cab off the Audi A4 rank is the Allroad version due early September. It’s a neat cross between the standard wagon tested here and an SUV.
Model range
A4 Avant 2.0 TFSI 140kW petrol five-door wagon: $63,900 (automatic).
A4 Avant 2.0 TFSI quattro 185kW petrol five-door wagon: $72,900 (automatic).
