New Audi A4 review, test drive

Mid-life facelift brings with it a whole lot of subtle improvements.

Published on Jun 04, 2012 03:08:00 PM

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The facelift is subtle and you have to really stare to spot the differences.

The performance is satisfyingly brisk but not blindingly quick.

The ride is pliant and beautifully absorbent, but some pitching at high speeds.

The cabin gets a lot of small upgrades that make it feel a lot plusher.

Make : Audi

Model : A4

It’s hard to tell the new A4 apart from the old one and so we took the help of the 38-page Audi press kit to spot the changes. The most obvious difference is the headlamps, which now sport a continuous band of LED daytime running lights, which look pretty good. But, the tail-lamps and the new rear bumper are so lightly tweaked that they could slip under your radar.

The car’s lines are cleaner and more elegant, and points out that the grille is now hexagonal and the fog lamps rectangular. There is some truth in all this because after staring at it for a few days, admittedly, the new A4 does look fresher and from some angles and there’s a bit of A6 in it too.

Being a mid-life update, Audi has understandably not splurged on completely changing the A4’s interiors. Instead, the cabin quality and design have been subtly improved. The gear lever is new, as is the steering wheel, which is similar to the one in the Q3, and the MMI system gets an interface like the one in the A6. It’s easy to overlook some of the minor upgrades, but as a whole they lift the feel of the cabin substantially. In fact, the A4’s cabin quality is now simply the best in its class.

Watch video review here