After giving the Audi A6 and A7 a refresh last year, the Ingolstadt-based automaker has rolled out the red carpet for their latest A4 in sedan and Avant flavors.
The newest compact model promises to be lighter, more efficient, and chock full of technology as Audi tries to claim the premium segment crown.
If you expected the new A4 to look like anything other than what’s shown in these shots, you may want to crawl out from under that rock. Just like other refreshed models in the Audi range, front and rear lighting gets a sharper look with a more furrowed brow. The Singleframe grille also ditches the rounded corners for a more angular look as Audi attempts to communicate their technology through design.
Thanks to slightly larger proportions, the all-new interior of the A4 features more space for occupants and technology, yet still manages to weigh over 250 lbs less than the outgoing car thanks to a combination of lighter chassis, body and driveline parts.
Though no North American specific engine details were released, the A4 will be available with a laundry list of seven engines for Europe, all of the four- and six-cylinder variety. Three TFSI gasoline engines – a 1.4L I4, all-new 2.0L “ultra” I4 and 2.0L g-tron TFSI that can burn compressed natural gas or Audi e-gas – and four TDI engines – 2.0L TDI, 2.0L “ultra” TDI and 3.0L TDI V6 in two different tunes – will be available at launch. The tiptronic automatic eight-speed will continue along with a manual box, while a new dual-clutch S tronic replaces the outgoing CVT.
Expect the new Audi A4 to arrive in the United States in April of next year.
Luckily much better looking interior than the A3 class with its funky large round vents front and center. Still feel like that could finde something else to put by the charger in front of the cupholders, like USB ports. Does this car even have USB ports? It is a VAG product so you never know.
Is it just me or does that interior strongly look like that of a mazda6 design wise? I’m sure materials will be different but still I think it strongly looks like it.
Mazda’s new interior design is basically ripped straight from the Germans. Floating screen, then vents, then strip with the climate control/misc settings then between the seats by the shifter a knob to control functions on the screen.
Yeah they kinda ripped from bmw and now Audi from both I guess. I still think the current A4 interior is a great design.
The current design is great- the problem is VW is now using it for the new Golf/GTI (and I bet the new Jetta whenever that comes out) so Audi needs to differentiate themselves.
We are basically looking at the 202X VW interior right now.
Meh. The new sound is as same as the old sound. The Guilia is going to be a breath of fresh air.
Going to check one out when it becomes available?
I sure will. I will wait either for massive depreciation on the used side, or massive rebates on the new side to buy, but I will be at the nearest dealer when they first come out.
Why, oh why, are the Germans all migrating to these infotainment screens that look like tacked on afterthoughts?
It cheapens all the work that goes into their interiors.
I’ve wondered about that–do they sell stripper/fleet models in other markets (like German A4 or C-class taxis, perhaps) that have have no need for a screen at all, so they can omit it fairly easily?
At least this one doesn’t have the awful thick bezel like M-B.
Those screens aren’t actually omitted in the taxi models either. Every new MB taxi I’ve been in still has the “tablet” screen sitting behind a whole bunch of other taxi-related electronics – basically displaying the current radio station.
The designers say that it’s to reduce the overall dash height and increase visibility but the pessimist in me thinks that it’s a way to increase part sharing between nav and non-nav interiors.
The problem is non-nav interiors still have that thing, just with a small screen with very large bezel around it.
http://static4.consumerreportscdn.org/content/dam/cro/news_articles/cars/2015-Mercedes-C300-ATD-just-in-int.jpg
It was our #1 complaint when it came out. The word from Mercedes brass is that it’s purely a marketing gimmick. It’s supposed to appeal to millennials because it looks like a tablet. Apparently millennials want everything to look like a tablet according to interior designers.
I kind of get the Nav screen mounted that way. Aesthetically, I understand it looks awkward, but functionally, I like it being up higher in the (or close to) the driver’s line of sight. I owned a previous gen BMW 335 and it had the bump in the center of the dash that some hated, but I always loved the Nav screen being right along the hood/windshield line.
The interior is a strange mishmash of bits pulled from other cars. Definitely the worst are the cup holders and that mostly empty slab of black plastic on the lower console around the 12V socket, which are pulled straight out of the A3 seemingly unchanged. Could they really think of NOTHING better to do there?
I’m also not sure about the position of the MMI controls ahead of the shifter, and the switchgear pulled out of the TT seem thoughtlessly grafted on. There are some nice styling elements though, and the alcantara on the doors is a nice touch for this class. I could definitely do without the big fake vent though across the passenger side, which VWAG seems to want to put in all of its cars now.
Better than the ATS, the Japanese, and the 3 series, but still worse than the C-class. It’s at least nice to see the A4 have a genuinely luxurious interior again though, instead of the Jetta++ of the current car.
Yeah, I’m not into the wood plank running up from the right of the gearshift. Nor am I liking the huge map in front of the driver. This means passengers cannot assist with navigation or plan routes.
You realize that you can display navigation on the center screen in addition or instead, right? The center screen isn’t just there to control the radio.
Clearly I do realize, and I was just playing ignorant for funsies.
/s
The newest Audi I’ve been in is from 2000.
Who is the rocket surgeon that put the infotainment controls in front of the gear selector? Audis have gotten better looking relative to their hideous German competition, but I’m not sure the illusion of style leadership can be sustained when your new model looks just like the one it replaced, which was hard to tell apart from the one that came before that.
I think the infotainment controls are in front of the shifter so you can rest your wrist on the gear selector while using the infotainment controls. It is probably more comfortable than it actually looks.
You may very well be right but the height difference between the shifter and MMI controls looks to be significant and prone to inducing carpal tunnel syndrome. Not to mention that the shifter looks like a$$.
I like Audis, but enough already. This new version is much too much like the old one. I can’t imagine anyone getting excited about it.
If I were into Audis I could get excited about the weight loss, but I would want to know its percentage of the original total weight.
The weight loss is roughly 5-6% compared to the B8 generation based on the vague numbers that Audi has released.
Weight loss is always good, but I’m more intersted to hear if they’ve been able to engineer some better front-rear weight distribution. Quattro only masks the bad weight distribution in Audis.
lighter? great, bigger? really, again, when will it stop growing.
This is a redesign? The interior is different, but the exterior looks the same.
This is the least objectionable version of the built-in iPad yet, but I really wish they had gone with an A3-like retractable screen instead. Other than that I love this interior.
My question is pricing. It’s been rumored for a long time that this new A4 will go upmarket because the new A3 is taking over the lower end of its territory. I wonder what that will do to the price of the S4. The current S4 in sparsely-optioned form is right at the top of a price range where I would ever consider buying. If they go more than a couple thousand dollars further up, I’ll have to cross the S4 off my “maybe, someday, might do” list.
I don’t understand why anyone would want retractable screen. The only “benefit” I can think of is that you get to enjoy the clean dash design while you sit in the car with the engine off. Two big downsides are: something else to break, and when it does break, better hope it breaks in the open position; and something else to make creaking noises that will drive you crazy.
Or enjoy the clean lines of the dash, along with less distracting glare and obstruction, while driving. I don’t need the screen unless I’m using the radio or nav.
I’d never get an Audi except on a lease no longer than the warranty anyway, so I don’t care that it’s one more thing for the third owner to fix.
Perfect for those on a perpetual lease cycle of Audi vehicles. Fresher than their ancient three year old car but restrained enough to keep them in the family.
Good news is that you can buy the outgoing model cheap and only folks on VWvortex will know that you don’t have the latest.
VWvortex is full of a special breed of people.
Being bored I decided to check it(VWvortex) out, clicked on a post about someone trading in a car, supposeably the longest they’d ever owned a vehicle. I’m thinking, oh ok, it must be at newest early 2k, probably 199x. He started naming the things wrong with it, most of them parts I’ve never seen outright fail on anything less than 15 years old, so I felt pretty good about my guess. Then I read it was an 07 with a little over 100k miles. WTF? It may have looked fairly new, but by the description it could have been a 1995 Taurus.
Remember: “Special breed”
These people will say that I am a VW hater and that it’s the owner’s fault that failures happen in VWs.
Every carmaker has rabid DEFENSE FORCE fans.
Something break? Its your fault, the dealers fault, the previous owners fault, NEVER bad design or quality.
Something wrong with your Honda? Well obviously you’re SABOTAGING it! Trying to make Honda look bad!
This threads worth a read
http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/what-is-it-about-vwvortex-that-brings-out-the-wors/40171/page1/
Dude tries trading for a vintage VW, gets a very snooty response.
fantastic.
At least when BMW or MB release a new design there is something to love or hate – this just leaves me devoid of any emotions whatsoever.
Why would a car you’ve seen for the last 8 years elicit a new response from you?
Audi really dropped the ball here. VW is on the same staid restrained BS
It’s very difficult for me to generate any excitement for any Audi these days. I honestly don’t understand the brand’s success in the U.S. But cheers to any Audi fans out there who like the new A4.
I guess we’ll have to see some more real-life pictures but I think the current headlight style is preferable to these new ones. Otherwise they are pretty nice, very close to the older models but that’s how Germans iterate and I don’t mind that at all (I mean the 911 has only slightly changed every iteration and it has always been a nice looking car, I feel the same about the A4).
The interior of the current A6 looks nicer than the renders shown here, but maybe in reality they will look better.
Seriously way too conservative restyle… nobody will know you bought the new one…
That’s what the dogleg LEDs in the headlamps are for.
Dont worry, conversion kits will soon be on EBay
Only real advance is the weight loss and the virtual cockpit
Wonder if that 190 hp Atkinson-cycle motor shown will be standard in North America, rather than the normal 220 hp version you get in the A3 AWD. From what I read, it probably will be.
So that means to get any hustle, you’ll have to opt for a higher-priced engine. Styling seems fine, no Asian nightmares here.
But if life means having an IPad stuck on the dash for ever, count me out. The whole instrument panel is a screen that can be multiple-configured including nav, so what does the center excresence do?
As for that weird front suspension that they’ve used for a while, I still don’t see how it pivots for steering with two separated ball-joints on top, without squishing rubber that’ll split at an early date after living a tortured life attempting to accomodate the geometric wackiness.
So the weight might move back down to 3500 lbs, yet the engine is maxed out at 4K rpm. Fun doesn’t seem a high priotity. Meh.
It’s much more likely that the 252 hp 2.0T available in the 2016 A6 will be the standard engine the US. Audi has been emphasizing the new Atkinson-cycle 2.0T, as it will be the better selling engine throughout most of the world, but it’s unlikely to be standard in the US unless Audi introduces a lower-priced model to compete with the 320.
Ya know… I want to hate. I mean every Audi I’ve driven hasnt been an inspiring event but they sure exude the right image and it neatly ties into another article here.
This is the inspirational car of millenials if they could afford it. That and the C and 3 class but the Audi seems the most understated along with the A3 sedan (I think they have an A3 sedan for reasons).
The above looks conservative to a fault but it does look tightly styled and the wagon I do like indeed. If only they jack it up and sell it as a CUV. I kid. Or maybe not.
There will be a new Q5 next year. That is this car, jacked up and sold as a CUV.
Are these only 4WD? Since I don’t live in Scandinavia I only want RWD, so right now looking at an E90 wagon to eventually replace my E39 528.
Do like the looks of this new A3 though.
When has there ever been an RWD Audi other than an R8? These are available in FWD and AWD, although they are really engineered for AWD (longitudinal engine placement) and the vast majority of production will be AWD.
Was the V8 Quattro on a RWD platform? That’s the only one I can think of.
No. The Audi V8 was a stretched 5000/100/200 with some tweaks.
Interesting, that must have been a lot of work as it was a bit larger, IIRC from seeing one in person.
Talk about a rare thing though to exist today.
The SWB V8 was about the same size as a 5000. It was actually shorter than the US version. The LWB version was about a foot longer though.
Nope, it was a beefed-up 100/200. Same longitudinal/FWD/AWD deal as all the other old-school Audis.
My dad had one, a ’92 which he bought new in ’94 after it had languished in a dealer’s showroom. Really fun and capable car, if a bit rough around the edges compared to a contemporary Mercedes or Lexus.
Come to think of it, the V8 Q was at the exact wrong time.
Coming out in 88, it was competing with essentially old BL Jags, the early 80’s hold over S-Class, and the BMW which was alright and semi-new.
1990 changed – everything. The LS is new, the S-Class is new and massive, and BMW, MB and Jag will give you a 12-cylinder if you like. And here’s Audi with an 80’s carryover V8, with an interior that can’t hold up to the S or the LS, no LWB, and a car which is FWD based and only in one trim level.
Yeah, it wasn’t well suited to compete in the luxury arena, and was overpriced as a result.
It was a much better driver’s car than the competing luxobarges, though. Smart AWD system, great suspension and surprisingly good steering for an Audi, and the 4.2 made an intoxicating noise when not smothered by sound insulation. The car sounded like a NASCAR car heard half a mile away. I had some good times in that car on rainy Swiss mountain roads.
These are the people who brought you PHAETON, seeking logic in their decisions might cost your sanity.
Well, they did replace the V8 with the A8. So that’s something.
Funny how the US had no flagship product from Audi from 94-97. I believe 98 was the first year for the A8 here in the US.
ah ok thanks, scratch Audi off the list then. The couple I’ve driven (A4 quattro A4 and FWD A3) have had shitty steering so will stick with BMW.
I dont care much for the Hyundai front grille, the rest of the cars refreshingly modest.
I had a 2007 A3 and loved it so I’m partial to Audi. While I’m sure this is a very nice car, it is more car than I need, want or could afford. It only reminds me that if I held out a little longer I’d probably be shopping for a 2015 Premium Quatro 2.0 manual while I still could find one.