Audi A4 Avant (2016) review

The Avant version of Audi’s latest generation A4 entered showrooms at the beginning of the year to further strengthen the brand’s expanding line-up.

The Avant treatment builds on the success of the saloon, winner of the What Car? 2016 Car of the Year honours, and with the added space, functionality and sleek looks presents an even more compelling proposition.

There’s a lot to like about this car from its powerful but super frugal 150PS 2.0-litre diesel engine, the high quality of the interior treatment to its head turning good looks and abundance of user-friendly connected technology.

As this car was designed with the authobahn in mind we subjected it to a 300 mile round trip to Birmingham to see how it shapes up on UK motorways. It passed the test with flying colours delivering a real world average of 52.9mpg and transporting its complement in comfort with minimal outside interference from road and wind noise.

The ride is supremely comfortable with the chassis set-up neatly balanced for motorway cruising, winding B-roads and across town. With four settings to choose from – Comfort Dynamic, Sport, Adaptive Comfort and Adaptive Sport – we ended up leaving it in Adaptive Comfort as the best all round setting. We also liked the slick and engaging six-speed manual transmission.

Our test car also featured Audi’s wonderful panoramic satellite navigation system which can be set to pop up in the main instrument binnacle. It not only looks great but proved its worth on one journey by allowing us to plan an alternative route on the move to avoid bad traffic.

Audi’s approach to connectivity is impressive. As an iPhone user it took just a few minutes to hook-up for mobile phone usage and streaming. Our car was fitted with the Technology Pack which included a tablet style screen in the centre of the dashboard, supporting both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto platforms. However, whether its extra functionality is worth an additional £1,450 is debatable.

Anyone choosing this model over the saloon will probably do so because of its load-lugging capacity with its class-leading 505 litres of luggage space which extends to 1,510 litres with the seats folded down. However, there’s also an argument for this being the better looking of the two models with its striking profile and low stance.

With its new generation A4 wagon, Audi makes a compelling case for best in class in terms of styling, functionality and desirability.