Audi A4 2.7 TDI Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Audi A4 2.7 TDI
Prices: £27,755 - £30,835 – on the road
Insurance Group: 15
Emissions: 176g/km
Performance: 0-60mph 7.3s / Max Speed 140 mph
Fuel Consumption: (urban) 34.9mpg / (extra urban) 49.6mpg / (combined) 42.8mpg
Safety: Twin front, window & side airbags, ESP, ABS, traction control,
Dimensions: Length/Width/Height, 4703/1826/1427mm

THE SMART MONEY?

Our Rating: 7.4 / 10

There are some cars that appeal to the heart and some that appeal to the head. Audi thinks it has both in the shape of the latest A4 2.7 TDI. Andy Enright reports

Within the ranges of any serious car maker you have the niche models that can be a bit adventurous, the image building halo products and then you have the cars that represent the seed corn. The A4 is that car to Audi – a model that it cannot afford to get wrong. With this latest third generation car, Audi has played a resolutely straight bat, applying simple procedures. Make it slightly bigger, slightly more powerful and better built than ever. Throw a few innovations trialled elsewhere at it. Above all, do not make it radical.

The A4 formula is one that works and has been steadily chipping away at the market dominance built by BMW’s 3 Series. Do the maths with the latest A4 and it would seem to trounce the BMW but, as we all know, there’s more to cars than facts and figures.

The 2.7-litre TDI engine pulls well and is offered with a Multitronic CVT gearbox that makes a decent fist of keeping you in the meat of the power band while set to fully automatic mode. Switch it to manual and you’ll need to be flipping the gear change paddles like a pinball wizard as it has eight ‘gears’ and it doesn’t hang around. It’ll nip to 60mph in 7.3 seconds and run onto a top speed of 140mph. The engine isn’t the most melodic but it’s usefully quicker than the big diesel seller in the A4 range, the 2.0 TDI.

Audi finds itself in a tough position with many of its cars. Magazine journalists cry out for the cars to be more involving and dynamically pure and when they do start heading that way, the usual rejoinder is that the Ingolstadt company is trying to be BMW and failing. Perhaps the R8 sports car has silenced that line of reason but the A4, while better than its predecessor to drive, is still not quite the class leader. Moving the engine lower and backwards in the chassis has helped weight distribution but this subtle difference in chassis dynamics is overwhelmed by suspension tuning and tyre choices.

The other headline feature of this latest A4 is the fact that it sits on the longest wheelbase in its class. Audi took action to try and solve the problem of the appallingly small boot space suffered by the MK1 A4 when it came to launching the second generation car at the turn of the century and here, they’ve turned their attention (at last) to the poor old rear seat passengers. The lengthened wheelbase enables a 36mm increase in rear leg room, with the added bonus of a 20-litre boost in boot capacity, making this car easily the most spacious in its sector. This, in turn, means that buyers now no longer hav

Audi would contend that the wheelbase change was about promoting the A4 as a driver’s car as well as improving its cabin space. It entailed the repositioning of the front axle 154mm further forwards than in the MK2 model. Complemented by a new state-of-the-art suspension and steering configuration, this more stable foundation allows improved handling balance and agility.

The 2.7-litre TDI version of the A4 starts at around £28,000 which is closer to the 3.0-litre diesel than the 2.0-litre oil burner in price, if not in power output which, on the face of it, would appear to make the 3.0-litre car the better buy. It’s worth remembering that this price includes the not inconsequential cost of the Multitronic CVT gearbox and when prices are adjusted accordingly, the 2.7 TDI looks good value. Options are quite steeply priced, although it’s hard to see many buyers being able to resist the A8-style LED daytime running lights. These have the effect of scattering fast lane traffic as effectively as a juggernaut with burnt out brakes. There’s also a 505-watt Bang and Olufsen stereo offered, so they’ll hear you approaching too.

Equipment levels are strong with an electromechanical parking brake and the intelligent key system built into the design. You can also expect refinements like 17-inch alloy wheels, sophisticated three-zone climate control, a 180-watt CD audio system with Audi’s intuitive MMI control logic and 6.5-inch colour display, rear acoustic parking sensors, automatic headlight and wiper operation and aluminium interior trim. Audi lane assist and Audi Drive Select are two options that respectively alert the driver when straying from a lane and sharpen up the car’s steering, dampers, accelerator response and transmission shift points.

So let’s get down to the nuts and bolts of why the Audi A4 2.7 TDI is such an interesting purchase. For a start, the upfront purchase price is less than rivals form Mercedes and BMW. Couple that with residual values and fuel econo