Audacious A4

They say the only thing better than a German sedan is another German sedan and that has become an endless battle between these stalwarts.

- Joshua David Luther

They say the only thing better than a German sedan is another German sedan and that has become an endless battle between these stalwarts. But no battle is won without bold moves and Audi has done just that with their new A4 sedan which is expected to launch in India by September this year. Well, I say bold simply because the new A4 now comes with a smaller engine and better fuel efficiency. But does that mean a drop in performance? We find out...

In the pre drive briefing session I learned that the new A4 comes with a 1.4 litre TFSI petrol engine unlike the previous one which came with a 1.8 litre petrol motor. Well this was rather shocking for me since the entire point of bringing an updated model is to outperform the previous one. But little did I know at the time that the new 1.4 L TFSI was devilishly quick and ferocious. The new engine is in an in-line 4 cylinder format and puts out 150 horses from 5000- 6000 rpm and 250 Newton meters of torque from 1500-3500 rpm. To put things into perspective the new Audi A4 can go from 0 to 100kmph in just 8.5 seconds and accelerates all the way upto 210kmph.

The meat of the power lies high up in the rpm band and one does need to put the A4 through its paces to achieve top performance. However, the motor also delivers a decent torque of 250Nm at a low range thus rendering a very thrilling drive experience which I can best describe as extremely energetic. The new A4 is also faster than the outgoing model and is more economical with a fuel average of 17kms per litre. The engine comes mated to a 7-speed S-Tronic transmission which essentially is a dual clutch setup and is as smooth as Barney Stinson with women. The gear shifts are not that evident unless you throw the car in Dynamic mode which makes all the mechanicals more sporty and enjoyable.