These Calcuttans are crazy!” is surely what Obelix would have said had he been, like me, trying to get a move on through morning traffic on the Maa flyover on a weekday. I mean seriously, what is the point of driving at 30kmph in a 60kmph zone when half the time people are doing exactly the opposite? I was in a bit of a hurry so decided it’s time for the new Audi A4 to pick out the gaps.
THE ENGINE AND THE GEARBOX
The engine is a punchy two-litre turbopetrol. Picture by Abhijit Mitra
I hadn’t been driving the new Audi A4 for too long. Still, I felt confident enough to try and weave my way through. I knew the stats on paper. This set of wheels was good enough for 190hp from the turbocharged two-litre petrol engine between 4,200rpm and 6,000rpm. (This, incidentally, is a significant jump of about 50hp compared to the previous model.) Audi had said it could do 0-100kmph in 7.3 seconds, which was plenty fast in traffic where the rest of the vehicles would take 10-plus seconds. Peak torque (pulling power) of 320Nm was supposed to come in from 1,450rpm, which was just a shade above idling, and remain that way till 4,200rpm. So, there should be enough grunt available whenever it was required.
Therefore, as the next opening came up, I turned on the lane change indicator, gave it a couple of seconds and squirted through. The next opening came up immediately afterwards and the manoeuvre was repeated. And then there was a series of them. In fact, once one had a measure of the width, there was enough power to sort of slalom through the traffic. Contrary to what the specs would have you believe, it felt very meaty from somewhere in the mid-2000rpm range. A tug or two on the paddle to downshift helps to up the punchiness if you’re in a hurry in slow traffic where the engine speed drops really low. It takes a bit of getting used to, this seven-speed Stronic box, but once that happens and one learns to play with the paddles, it’s actually good fun. Also, one needs to pick out the driving modes and ‘Dynamic’ is most suited to spirited driving.
THE RIDE
To be very honest, though, if we had the time, we wouldn’t have really wanted to rush things at all because this A4 was kind of, well, soothing, if we may call it so. The suspension is calibrated to soak up bumps and undulations and it is very good to be in this car where the roads are rough. Very little of it filters into the passenger compartment. While in most upmarket cars one tends to hear bad roads more than feel them, in this one even the audio input is little. In fact, very little of any kind of noise filters into the cabin and it cocoons its occupants very well indeed.
This car has been set up sensibly — to ferry passengers in comfort. (Sorry, boy racers.) Does that affect the dynamic abilities of the car? Does it introduce body roll? The answer to both those questions is yes. There is a bit of body roll if one is taking turns at higher speeds, but, for all practical purposes, that is not something most people will experience.
That’s because unless you’re going a little crazy, the car will not disappoint. Even during the bit of ‘hooliganism’ we did slaloming through the traffic although not at high speed, it felt completely in control during direction changes and not for a second showed any intent of going anywhere other than where we wanted it to go. So, even though the ride is somewhat pliant, it keeps everything together very neatly even at higher speeds. Speaking of which, it is lovely on highways. It’s poised, comfortable and quiet. Very quiet.
THE EXTERIOR
Apart from a discontinuous crease across the flanks, there’s little to set the new model visually apart from the previous one at first glance. Picture by Abhijit Mitra
Now, the A4 is the first Audi out of the company’s launch stable this year. It’s a little longer and wider than before. The grille is bigger, flatter, and more ‘chromey’ and the bonnet line dips down a fair bit to it. The headlamp clusters are new too. With this comes the ‘eyebrow’ daytime running lights (DRLs) that double as turn indicators too in amber. The flanks are mostly smooth now. The tail lamps mimic the LED design of the headlamps. One interesting visual bit is the twin exhausts. They exit through brushed aluminium finish surrounds at the bottom of the rear bumper, one on either side and look rather smart.
THE INTERIOR
The large sunroof can make the well-appointed cabin feel very airy and spacious Picture by Abhijit Mitra
We quite liked the interiors. Everything is where you’d want them to be. The multifunction steering wheel is nice and chunky to hold and, as mentioned earlier, come with paddles behind them so one doesn’t need to get the hands off the wheel to shift up or down. Then there is the Audi Virtual Cockpit that allows the instrument cluster screen to be configured in different ways depending on the information required by the driver. The centre infotainment screen is new. We have never been fond of these screens that everyone sticks onto the dashboard, but the quality of this multimedia interface (MMI) touchscreen is top.
There’s a wireless phone charger in the centre console Picture by Abhijit Mitra
Steering is nice and chunky. Picture by Abhijit Mitra
What we liked about the interiors of this car is also the fact that not every function has been moved to touchscreens. So there are old-fashioned buttons and knobs — they are good to the touch and feel nicely damped when operated — which we find way easier to use with the left hand than touchscreens, which one needs to look at when operating to see that the touch is happening at the right place.
Overall, all the seats are quite supportive, the front ones more so, and space is good and rear-seat passengers have enough legroom. But it will be a bit of a squeeze for the middle passenger though. Soft-feel plastics and leather and chrome at touch points are nice. Climate control is a three-zone affair with two zones in the front. Boot space is 460 litres and it can even be accessed from the cabin through the rear armrest space.
There’s a decent amount of space, both front and back. Picture by Abhijit Mitra
THE CALL
The level of comfort that this car gives is rather impressive. Despite the Dynamic mode and the fact that the car allows the driver to configure it sportily, we don’t think that’s what this one is about. This is about getting from one place to another without breaking a sweat, and very literally so, or feeling that you’ve actually made a journey. Oh, and it shuts out noise so well that you won’t have to gag Cacofonix and tie him to a tree to keep the sound level down.
THE A4 IN NUMBERS
Category: Luxury sedan
L x B x H (mm): 4,762 x 1,847 x 1,433
Kerb weight (kg): 1,555
Engine: 4-cylinder, 1,984cc turbocharged petrol
Peak power (hp@rpm): 190@ 4,200
Peak torque (Nm@rpm): 320@ 1,450-4,200
Transmission: 7-speed automatic
Brakes: Discs, front and rear
Wheels and tyres: Alloy rims, 225/50 R17
Boot capacity: 460 litres
Price: Rs 42.34 lakh to Rs 46.67 lakh, ex-showroom
