The Road Tripp

Since the olden days of Group B rallying, Audi Quattro has always been a very respectable name. However, the name Audi stands for something quite different than what it used to represent. Back in the 60s and the 70s, Audi dominated the off-road; now it strives to show respectable performance both on and off the paved road.

For most of the lower tier vehicles, Audi prefers its 2.0L, turbocharged I4 engine. Capable of 211 horsepower and max torque of 258 lb/ft at a very surprisingly low 1500 rpm for this particular model, from just the numbers, it really isn’t too impressive especially for an Audi. The thing has tremendous grip under pretty much any circumstance. At one point, I genuinely thought the back end was going to get loose as I was in hard cornering and I was a tad too fast-it held on to the asphalt with no issues. In fact, the A4 could pretty much handle everything I threw at it.

This Audi, however, is far from being “the perfect car”. It’s under-powered for an 4 door Audi sedan, I absolutely hate the electric steering system as the steering wheel feels way too light and don’t provide too much response from the ground. This might be a slightly biased opinion, but it’s also definitely a valid one. Electric steering, though its been proven to be more nimble and precise than hydraulic/power steering, lacks feedback no matter where you are. And to be quite honest, the steering wheel’s design seems a bit outdated since they’ve been using the exact same design for a few years.

The view from the cockpit pleasantly surprised me. For a car that was priced just around $32,000, I would say that Audi blew its competitors out of the water with how neat and easy the instrument cluster feels. Compared to vehicles that are in its class, the A4’s interior definitely feels a lot more refined and classy. The infotainment system is very self-explanatory and most of the functions that a daily driver would need to access are easily accessible as well.

All in all, this Audi A4 is another great demonstration of German engineering. Solid car, with a solid engine, and a solid transmission. Though it has some cool features, I’m afraid to say that the A4 is a bit bleak in styling. You could almost lose your car in the city once you park it, purely because it lacks any distinguishing features. The headlight designs are shared with quite a few other Audi models, and other than that it’s an Audi, not much else is THAT special.  There is no denying that it was a blast to drive-but there are definitely cheaper cars, such as a Subaru WRX that does what the A4 can do. I guess what I’m trying to say is, it almost feel like you aren’t getting enough “car” for the price.