Portlan Tribune reviews the new A4 Avant 2.0T quattro

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From the Portland Trubune:

Audi-licious: Total redesign of Audi A4 Avant earns it the title of soulful sport wagon

BY SAM MOSES

The 2006 Audi A4 has been around for nearly a year. It was called a 2005 1/2, and the 2006 is unchanged.

How that happened is kind of complicated. Let's say it's a government thing, and leave it at that.

The important thing is that it's a total redesign, of the 2004 A4 -- and it's an excellent one.

My test model was the A4 Avant Quattro. That's the all-wheel drive wagon, which happens to be the version I would choose, if I were buying an Audi.

It had the new 2.0-liter, inline four-cylinder turbocharged engine, which is the engine I would choose, as well.

It had the new six-speed manual transmission, to go with the new engine and new chassis. It also had the Sport package, with striking 17-inch alloy wheels and a tweaked suspension.

I took the A4 Avant out on my favorite eastern Oregon loop and drove it like a sports car. It loved being treated this way.

A few weeks ago I reviewed the Infiniti FX35, and noted that it deserved its billing as the sport-utility vehicle with the soul of a sports car.

Well, the A4 Avant is a small wagon with that same soul. Maybe more of it, actually, given the six-speed transmission, as well as the company's racing heritage.

The speed and tractability of the 2.0-liter engine are much improved over the old 1.8-liter, and the six-speed gearbox replaces a five-speed, bringing shorter and slicker throws.

According to Car and Driver magazine, the 0-to-60 acceleration has been cut from 8.1 seconds to 7.2 seconds.

I've long thought that the 1.8-liter turbo was widely underrated, being capable of pushing a small Audi or Volkswagen along at 90 mph so smoothly that the sensation felt more like 70 mph. But it had some turbo lag, meaning the acceleration hesitated.

The new 2.0-liter engine cures that, delivering an enormously wide powerband. It makes 200 horsepower and uses all the tricks, such as a multistage intake manifold, variable valve timing and turbocharger intercoolers.

But the best new technology is direct injection, which is the most efficient method of mixing fuel and air.

It gets 22 miles per gallon to 31 mpg, quite a lot better than the V-6 in the old A4, and the 2.0T engine is faster.

The A4 Avant starts at $30,400, although the sticker on my test model finished at $39,745. But you don't need nearly 10 grand worth of options.

Standard equipment includes the legendary quattro full-time all-wheel drive, ABS with brake assist, a directional stability program called ESP (version 8.0, making it sound definitely computerlike), front side airbags, front and rear side curtain airbags, and other things.

In fact, the closer I look at the list of standard equipment, the better that $30,400 price looks.

Much as I like the spiritual things about the A4 Avant, it's still a German car with undecipherable radio controls -- I just didn't feel like studying the manual.

Seems to me, you shouldn't have to look all through a manual to figure out what radio station you're listening to or how to get cold air to come out of all four vents with the air conditioning turned on.

An owner will learn these things once, and remember them; but why shouldn't it be intuitive, like virtually every other car on the planet?

Oh well, it could be worse. In the BMW 525 I'm now driving, I can't figure out how to turn the radio off.

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