Why you should buy this car: Audi makes the world s best car interiors. The A4 Avant is an Audi. Ingolstadt s mini-hauler offers fit and finish fetishists an unparalleled opportunity to satisfy the strange demands of their incurable affliction. Even drivers who couldn t care less that all the car s switches respond with the exact same click will be swept-up by the Avant s aesthetic consonance and haptic happenings. Beware: the car s ergonomics will preclude full enjoyment of any other brand s interior, save Brother Bentley.
Why you shouldn t buy this car: Because you re an American who [quite rightly] believes that station wagons should be larger than a breadbasket. Also, like the rest of the Audi lineup, the A4 Avant is shadowed by serious questions about its R&R: resale and reliability. For the same money, you can buy yourself a dynamically superior, more financially prudent BMW.
Suitability Parameters:
· Speed Merchants: No
· Fashion Victims: Yes
· Treehuggers: No
· Mack Daddies: No
· Tuner Crowd: Yes
· Hairdressers: Yes
· Penny Pinchers: No
· Euro Snobs: Yes
· Working Stiffs: No
· Technogeeks: No
· Poseurs: Yes
· Soccer Moms: No
· Nascar Dads: No
· Golfing Grandparents: Yes
Vitals:
· Manufacturer: Audi Avant A4 2.0T Quattro
· Model tested: A4 Avant 2.0T Quattro
· Model year: 2006
· Price as Tested:
· Engine type: Turbocharged DOHC inline 2.0 liter 4-cylinder with FSI Direct Injection, variable valve timing and intake manifold
· Horsepower: 200 hp @ 5100 - 6000 rpm
· Torque: 207 lb-ft @ 1800 - 5000 rpm
· Redline: 6850 rpm
· Wheels and Tires: 16-inch 5-spoke grooved design cast alloy wheels with 215/55 all-season tires
· Drive type: Turbocharged DOHC inline 2.0 liter 4-cylinder with FSI Direct Injection, variable valve timing and intake manifold
· 0 - 60: 7.4 seconds
· 1/4 mile: 15.5 sec @ 92 mph
· Top speed: 130 mph (limited)
· Fuel economy city/highway: 22/31
· NHTSA crash test rating front/side/rollover: 4/NA/NA
[by Robert Farago]
Related:
Jalopnik Reviews: 2006 A4 Avant 2.0T Quattro, Part 1, Part 2