Audi's all-new fifth-generation A4, which will have its global debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2015 in September, is likely to reach Indian showrooms thereafter.
29 Jun 2015 | 3581 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Audi AG has revealed the latest iteration of its A4 sedan. The all-new fifth-generation A4, which will have its global debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2015 in September, is likely to reach Indian showrooms thereafter.
The new A4 gets a restyled exterior and contemporary interior along with a ...
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Audi AG has revealed the latest iteration of its A4 sedan. The all-new fifth-generation A4, which will have its global debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2015 in September, is likely to reach Indian showrooms thereafter.
The new A4 gets a restyled exterior and contemporary interior along with a heavily updated petrol and diesel engine range. It also comes with a newly developed chassis. The exterior styling makes it look more formal than its rivals, the BMW 3-series and the Mercedes C-Class sedan. The new A4’s look has been styled taking into consideration the feedback received from existing customers from its largest markets – Germany, China and USA.
The new Audi A4’s key styling elements include a wider single-frame grille, newly shaped headlights with restyled LED DRLs, clamshell-style bonnet along with larger wheelhouses, a flatter roof and more prominent shoulder with a deep swage line running the length of the flanks. It also gets new sharp tail-lights which are a take on Audi’s traditional LED graphics.
Audi says that every single body panel on the A4 is new, although the car does appear a lot like the updated version of its predecessor when viewed from certain angles. The car is 4,726mm long, 1,842mm wide and 1,427mm high, making it 25mm longer, 16mm wider and as the same height as its predecessor. It is based on Audi’s latest MLB platform and sees an increase of 12mm on the wheelbase, to 2,820mm. Despite the increase in size, the new A4’s weight is reduced by 120kg as it is uses hot-formed high-strength steel in the body structure and aluminium for various body panels, including the roof.
The new Audi A4’s interior gets a contemporary new design that opens up more space in the car, than earlier. According to the manufacturer, the new A4 gets additional 24mm of headroom, 11mm more shoulder room up front and a 23mm increase in rear legroom. The new Audi A4’s seats are also newly designed and weigh 9kg less than those of the earlier car.
It gets a wide range of high-end options for the international markets such as a 12.3-inch digital instrument panel, an 8.3-inch monitor, inductive mobile phone charging pad, sensor control opening for the boot, a Bang & Olufsen sound system, tablet-based rear-seat entertainment and Audi's latest MMI system with LTE network.
On the list of standard safety items is Audi’s Pre Sense city system, which has been developed to prevent accidents at typical urban driving speeds. Using a windscreen stereo camera to monitor the road, it provides an acoustic warning and full preventative braking at speeds up to 40kph.
More powerful but also more efficient engines
Three turbocharged four-cylinder petrol and two four-cylinder diesel motors will be on offer along with two V6 diesel units for the new Audi A4. They are claimed to provide power increases of up to 25 percent and economy gains of up to 21 percent over the engines they succeed. The Audi A4’s 1.8-litre petrol motor will be replaced by a new 1.4-litre four-cylinder unit that is good for 148bhp. Further up the range is a reworked version of Audi’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine. It comes in two differing states of tune, providing the new A4 2.0 TFSI with either 187bhp or 248bhp. The latter boasts a 0-100kph time of 5.8sec and a limited 250kph top speed.
Among the quartet of diesels available at launch internationally will be Audi’s 2.0-litre four-cylinder unit. Updated with a new AdBlue exhaust injection system as mandated by EU6 emission regulations, it initially comes in two states of tune, with either 148bhp or 187bhp in what has traditionally been the strongest selling model in the line-up, the A4 2.0 TDI. Rounding out the launch line-up internationally is a 3.0-litre V6 diesel. As with the outgoing A4, it comes in two states of tune, developing either 218bhp or 272bhp in the A4 3.0 TDI. Front-wheel drive is standard on all models save for the initial range-topping A4 3.0 TDI, which receives a four-wheel drive system that divides power in a nominal 40/60 front/rear split.
Gearbox choices include a newly developed six-speed manual on all four-cylinder engines. It gets a new magnesium housing, which, in combination with a new differential, hollows shafts and a smaller clutch plate, bring a 16kg reduction in weight. The old continuously variable MultiTronic automatic gearbox is replaced by a revised version of the existing seven-speed dual-clutch S-tronic unit, available for the first time on front-wheel drive A4 models and is standard on the least powerful of the two 3.0-litre V6 diesels. The more powerful 3.0-litre V6 diesel engine receives a standard eight-speed automatic.