Is the Audi A4 better than a BMW 3-Series?

Despite management scepticism at the idea of using a foreign slogan to sell German cars to suspicious Brits, Hegarty knew immediately that the phrase, with its distinctly Teutonic pronunciation, was the perfect slogan to take Audi UK upmarket.

He was right, of course, and the strapline was soon applied to Audis all over the world (except in the US where they stuck with the distinctly prosaic ‘Truth in Engineering’).

It’s now ingrained in the brand. So much so, that Audi fought a seven year legal battle that went all the way to the European Court to register Vorsprung durch Technik as a trademark.

And while some Audis (the A8 limo, the R8 supercar and the all-aluminium A2 city car spring to mind) have demonstrated plenty of cutting-edge Technik, others have been treading water.

The A4 has, arguably, the toughest job of any Audi. It has to take on the might of the BMW 3-Series, the car which has become the embodiment of another killer car slogan: The Ultimate Driving Machine.

With every new generation Audi has dragged the A4 a bit closer to the 3-Series and now it says the latest is ready to assume the lead. To mark the moment it has even come up with a new slogan: Fortschritt spuren - German for ‘feel the progress’.

Of course, the A4’s driving deficit didn’t prevent it being a huge success. Audi has sold more than five million and the A4 has become the backbone of the whole range.

Rather like that other hugely successful mainstay of parent company Volkswagen - the Golf - Audi has pursued a cautious policy of refinement over radical reinvention.

Parked side-by-side with the last one, the new A4 looks almost identical - but there’s more going on beneath the slippery silhouette than meets the eye.

A switch to aluminium for key parts of the chassis has slashed weight - the new model is 15kg lighter than its predecessor despite being bigger - and sharpened up the handling. That super slippery shape enhances speed and refinement and all the engines on offer have been tweaked for lower emissions and higher power.

The smart money will head for one of the 2.0 diesels. Cheap-skates will love the 148bhp 2.0 TDI Ultra which manages to dip below the 100g/km CO2 barrier whereas drivers who want it all - pace and parsimony - will slap down a deposit for the 187bhp high-power Ultra model. Thus equipped, the A4 2.0 TDI can hit 62mph in 7.7 seconds and reach 147mph on an unrestricted autobahn.

The test car was fitted with a smooth-changing seven speed dual clutch automatic, which is standard equipment on the S-Line trim level.

All A4’s are fitted with a clever noise filtering windscreen and soundproofed side glazing is also available. But if you buy an S-Line riding on 19-inch wheels and ultra-low profile tyres you can’t escape a bit of road noise.

Nevertheless, the A4 is nothing if not an exemplary cruiser - it will sit all day at 70mph, at which speed the engine is virtually inaudible, with plenty in reserve.

The automatic gearbox needs a bit of a shove to make it change down - unless it’s in sport mode - but the A4’s predilection for reaching a high gear as soon as possible is a winner at the fuel pumps.

The all-LCD instruments first seen on the new TT have been carried over to the A4 and, in kicking traditional clocks to the curb, Audi has sprinkled the A4 instrument pack with techno stardust. Digital clocks are nothing new, but Audi has taken the art to a new level here: the 12.3-inch high res panel can be configured dozens of different ways and the satellite navigation overlay - which turns the panel into an enormous map - is a stroke of genius.

Audi calls this the virtual cockpit and claims it is the most driver-centric instrument cluster on the planet. It certainly places all the important info in your sightline, although you sometimes have to stab away at the buttons on the multi-function steering wheel to reach it.

The cabin quality is outstanding. It may be deliberately conservative to look at but there are no weak spots - you won’t find cheap plastics or flimsy switchgear in the A4. S-Line models feature 4-way electric lumbar support as standard and I liked the way the headrest can be adjusted forwards and backwards as well as up and down.

There’s more room inside the new A4. Shoulder width and head room in the front have grown by 11 and 24mm respectively while rear seat passengers have an extra 23mm of legroom.

Heating and cooling is excellent. The central air vent is designed to defuse fresh air into the cabin rather than blast it into your face - Audi hilariously calls this an ‘air shower’ - and the climate control maintains a constant temperature no matter what the weather.

As an example of the old vorsprung durch technik the new A4 comes loaded with semi-autonomous driving tech. Most impressive is the adaptive cruise control which follows the car in front at a pre-set distance, slowing down and speeding up as needed. No surprises there (lots of premium models have something similar) but the A4 can brake to a complete halt and resume driving when traffic starts moving. Another function, the traffic-jam assistant, can even take over steering duties at speeds below 37mph. It’s not a true driverless car, but the A4 can take the strain out of carving through heavy traffic.

The 480 litre boot is the same size (exactly) as a 3-Series or a Mercedes C-Class. The A4 doesn’t have the versatility of a hatchback but the rear seats split and fold three ways to accommodate long items and rear seat passengers at the same time. If you need more luggage-carrying versatility Audi will happily upsell you into the A4 Avant estate.

The optional storage pack adds a rear seat armrest, nets on the front seat backs and a luggage hook in the boot.

Every prestige saloon these days claims an impressive set of CO2 and mpg figures and the A4 is no exception. The 190PS TDI’s 67mpg and 113g/km tailpipe emissions would have been world-beating a few years back - now they are par for this class.

VERDICT:

Cool, classy and controlled - the Audi A4 is a big step up over its well-loved and much-admired predecessor. It remains the subtle and sophisticated alternative to a brash Beemer but that doesn’t seem to have done Audi’s sales figures any harm over the past 20 years. Fortschritt spuren, indeed.

SPEC:

Engine: 2.0-litre, inline four cylinder turbodiesel

Max power: 190PS.

Max torque: 400Nm

Top speed:147mph

0-62mph: 7.7-seconds

Fuel consumption: 67.3mpg (official combined)