Audi’s Stylish New A4 Breaks Cover

By volume and market share, one of the most important products in Audi’s range is the A4. This member of the lower premium segment competes with the likes of the freshly redesigned C-Class and BMW 3-Series, not to mention serious international contenders from around the globe such as the Infiniti G35, Lexus IS and the Cadillac CTS. With the launch of the A5 this past year, Audi is now ready to let the world see what its done to the A4.

Essentially the A4 is a four-door A5, though it’s longer and slightly narrower. Importantly, Audi managed to stretch the wheelbase of the A4 to increase rear legroom, something the current model was highly criticized for. The gains to the interior haven’t increased the car’s overall footprint, however, thanks to shorter front and rear overhangs. The new sedan and coupe share a very similar look with aggressive new LED headlamps and a wider but shorter trapezoidal grille. It’s a fairly aggressive face, yet it still maintains the handsome look that A4s are known for. The new exterior shell offers greater rigidity and improved aerodynamics over the outgoing model too.

Inside, you’ll be faced with the same dashboard as the A5, which eschewed its traditional console and dash layout for a new integrated unit similar to the A6 and Q7. Cabin room has improved for all passengers; trunk space has also been increased despite the shorter rear overhang.

Under its new exterior, what you’ll find is a chassis that abides by some new traits that seek to improve the car’s dynamics. For instance, the engine is mounted completely behind the front axle to reduce the previously heavy nose, while small but still important changes have been made, such as the battery has been shifted to the trunk to even out weight distribution and minimize corrosive damage to the engine electronics during a collision.

While the suspension layout remains the same as before, the A4 adapts several new high end technologies which we haven’t seen on this sort of Audi before, including a Dynamic Steering system that can change its planetary gear ratio depending on speed (much like BMW’s Active Steering) and electronically controlled damping. Also, the transmission will feature a grand total of 24 individual drive combinations divided between three modes, controlled by Audi’s Drive Select system.

So far, the international engine lineup consists of a wide variety of gasoline and diesel motors, the highlights of which include 2.7- and 3.0-liter TDI V6 diesels that make 190 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque, and 240 hp and 369 lb-ft of torque respectively, and a revised version of the 3.2-liter gasoline-powered V6 featuring Valvelift that makes 265 hp and 243 lb-ft of torque. This is better than before, but the top-line gasoline engine still trails the 335i and its twin-turbo’d straight-six, not to mention Cadillac’s CTS, Infiniti’s G35 and Lexus’ IS 350. What’s interesting is that the 2.0T engine is absent from the list. We’ll know more about some of these details once the A4 hits the stage at the Frankfurt auto show, during its international debut next month.