DO YOU shudder at the sight of the packs of SUVs that prowl the roads during the school run hours? Perhaps you’ve caught yourself muttering something about other drivers’ insecurities? Or pondered how on earth anyone affords the fuel bills of a gas-guzzling Chelsea tractor? And let’s not get started on the polluting emissions…
If any of this sounds familiar, Audi would like a moment of your time. Years before the thought of building an SUV had entered its engineers’ heads, the German car maker took a regular A6 estate, raised the ground clearance, fitted chunky tyres and four-wheel drive and finished the bodywork off with a touch of plastic armour: the result was the A6 allroad.
It was, and remains, an estate car with just the right amount of go-anywhere hardware for drivers who didn’t always stick to the road.
View the used Audi A4 allroads for sale on driving.co.uk
So, whether you lived on a farm, spent the weekends towing horseboxes, or were simply fed up with struggling through the worst of the winter weather, the A6 allroad was the family car that drivers could count on.
Ten years later, a smaller sibling joined the family – the A4 allroad, in 2009. This is the second generation model, launched earlier in the year and based on the latest A4, a car that Jeremy Clarkson described as being so hard to fault that it is “as hard, really, as niggling about your Pizza Express American Hot.”
Both little and large allroads are an antidote to big, brash SUVs. For example, the A4 allroad range is priced from £36,010. That bags drivers a 2.0 TDI with 187bhp, a seven-speed automatic gearbox, quattro four-wheel drive and the potential to see 57mpg on the trip computer.
If you like a couple more cylinders under the bonnet, then a 3-litre V6 TDI with 215bhp costs from £37,860, and a 266bhp version is £39,630.
For those who would prefer to give diesel power a wide berth, the 2.0 TFSI petrol version, with 249bhp and tested here, is £37,725. These prices mean the adventure-ready estate is only an option or two cheaper than the latest, 2016 Q5.
The petrol model comes with what Audi calls ‘quattro on-demand’. Effectively, this means it will default to two-wheel drive until the split second wheelspin is detected, diverting power from the front to the back wheels. It’s to help improve fuel consumption, says Audi, and will be introduced to the diesel A4 allroads in due course.
Does it work? Well, the four-wheel drive system is responsive enough to never let the driver detect when it’s been in two-wheel drive mode – such as flooring the throttle out of a junction, or powering out of a hairpin. So when you need the security of having all four wheels delivering the power to the road, it’s there.
As for the fuel consumption, it averaged 40mpg during our time with the car, although that was mostly being driven on main roads. Nonetheless, it’s impressive, given the claimed combined figure is 44mpg.
Compared with a regular A4 Avant with quattro, the allroad version stands a little taller, by 34mm, meaning it should be that bit more accomplished when venturing off the beaten track.
It can also adapt its driving behaviour according to the Audi Drive Select system. A new feature is an ‘Offroad’ setting, which primes the car’s controls and four-wheel drive for more challenging terrain.
Two options likely to catch the attention of many A4 allroad buyers are the ‘allroad suspension with damping control’ and a ‘trailer pack’. The former costs £900 and lets the car, or the driver, vary the dampers between soft and comfortable or firm and sporty. The latter is £1,150, and includes an electrically operated tow bar and automated reversing system that steers for the driver; we’ll know if it works because we won’t see Audi drivers hanging their heads out of the window and cursing under their breath as they strain to get a better look while reversing.
The allroad’s ride comfort is a high point. Broken road surfaces are smoothed out, yet it doesn’t wallow about the place at speed. And the steering and handling are reassuringly secure, if not in the slightest bit exciting.
Perhaps the car’s strongest point, though, is just how quiet it is. The four-cylinder petrol engine is generally unheard, with just a crisp rasp at the top of its rev range, and at main road speeds there’s precious little noise from the wind or the tyres. Add in to the mix a responsive, seven-speed automatic gearbox and this is a seriously comfortable machine for long distance runs.
It’s quick, too. The sprint from 0-62mph takes just 6.1 seconds, but generally you drive the car in a relaxed fashion rather than indulging in such boy racer shenanigans.
The boot isn’t the biggest, but at 505-litres with the back seats in place, there’s enough room for a week’s worth of luggage and the Labrador
The rest of the car is largely the same as a regular A4 Avant. That means the interior appears to be exquisitely made, the front and back seats are comfortable and there’s enough room for a family of five.
The boot isn’t the biggest, but at 505-litres with the back seats in place, and 1,510 with them folded, there’s enough room for a week’s worth of luggage and the Labrador. And it comes with one-touch seat-folding buttons, a powered tailgate and an electrically operated luggage cover with integrated dividing net.
If an SUV isn’t to your liking, but you want a degree of capability for great escapes, the A4 allroad makes a strong case for itself.
It looks as athletic as a pair of Nike cross-country running shoes and, importantly, can deliver on its promises. A regular A4 Avant with quattro is better value for money, but allroad models tend to hold their value better, potentially making them a shrewd purchase.
The post Review: 2016 Audi A4 allroad quattro appeared first on Sunday Times Driving.
source http://www.driving.co.uk/car-reviews/review-2016-audi-a4-allroad-quattro/
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