Audi A4 long term review, 7000km report

We didn’t mention this last month as we bid farewell to our long-term A6, but its replacement was already waiting in the wings – none other than its smaller sibling, the A4. And immediately, I did something I rarely do anymore, and that was take it out of Mumbai on a highway run. Admittedly, it wasn’t anywhere particularly far – just to our old stomping ground of Lonavala, to attend the press drive of the MG Majestor you’ll have seen earlier on in this issue. But the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, plus some incredible (and familiar) mountain roads are a great way to acquaint oneself with a car. 

MG had asked us to be at Aamby Valley at 7am, which meant a pre-dawn departure from home. Empty roads led out of the city, the bright headlamps flooding the path ahead, and let’s just say broken roads are a lot better taken at higher speeds. 

Not that the A4’s suspension ever faltered; ride quality is one of this car’s highlights and it just eats up bad patches without complaint. It’s smooth and refined too, with the 204hp EA888 engine (quietly bumped up from 190hp sometime after 2021) allowed to wallow in its ample mid-range by the 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox.

I saw the onboard fuel economy reading climbing – 10, 12, 15kpl! – knowing I would probably never see these numbers again once I went back to my trafficky trudge. But while on the topic, one thing I’ve noticed about this A4 is that, in my purely gridlock driving conditions at least, it returns better fuel economy in Normal mode than in Efficiency, where the engine feels more strained. Curiously, the fuel efficiency hasn’t been quite as good as the larger, more powerful A6, and I’d put that down to that car’s more sophisticated 48V mild-hybrid system, versus this one’s simpler 12V system.

Back to the drive, I stopped for a cold coffee, and the early morning light revealed a few details I hadn’t noticed earlier. Black spokes on the 17-inch wheels (I wish they were a size larger; the suspension certainly allows for it), an Audi logo on the rear-right door (I love a bit of asymmetry) and a surprisingly business-like deck-lid spoiler on the boot. Turns out this car is from a limited run called the Signature Edition, which is no longer available. As such, it also gets an open-pore wood trim inside, Audi logos projected as puddle lamps and a 360deg camera. Sadly, the feed for said camera is rather grainy and distorted, and only gets worse at night.

Past Lonavala town and climbing up the mountain, I shifted into Dynamic mode; economy be damned. This is what I love about a well-balanced sedan. Good steering – nothing overly sharp, but well weighted and predictable – and a nice, robust-feeling chassis. Front-drive sedans have a charm of their own, and flicking up and down with the paddles let me keep it on the boil through the corners. We’ve come a long way since the overtly under-steery Audis of old. I parked up outside the venue and went in for a long day of shooting with the big MG.

When it was time to leave at around 4pm, the cabin was roasting, but I couldn’t help but think how much worse it would have been if the upholstery was all black. Audi has smartly chosen tan as the darker alternative to cream, which is a happy compromise between lightness and ease of maintenance. 

A bit of ventilation through the windows, and the AC was able to bring the temperature back down in no time. Exhaustion and being in the heat all day made for a far less enthusiastic drive home, so it’s a good thing the A4 can settle into a soothing cruise when you need it to. 

To address the elephant in the room – yes, it’s old. Fast approaching its tenth birthday in India, that it can still deliver a solid luxury car experience is testament to its strong fundamentals. In fact, like the A6, some of its most endearing features – tactile rotary AC knobs, simple but crisp digital dials, wood trim – are from an outgoing era of luxury cars. Are its direct rivals in India more accomplished? Yes, but they’re also roughly Rs 10 lakh more expensive these days. If its age is the only thing keeping you from an A4, maybe reconsider. Because it’s still a damn good luxury car.