Audi has become well known for building some of the best turbocharged engines that offer power and fuel efficiency to entice and excite a large crowd of luxury car owners. The Audi A4 is certainly one that falls squarely into this category with a massive amount of luxury features and performance equipment to enjoy. In stiff competition with well-known and often lauded luxury vehicles such as the BMW 3 Series, Cadillac CTS and Inifiniti Q50 the Audi A4 has to be a top performer and it certainly has the goods to make the others quake in their boots as it flies on by.
Providing top performing characteristics the A4 and S4 models offered by Audi create a duo that is hard for any other car to compete with or beat. For 2015 the A4 and S4 add a few minor improvement to make this awesome car even a bit better including adding the S style package as standard equipment on all A4’s, a 60/40 split rear seat, headlight washers and a tri-zone climate control all make the list of standard features for the A4 and S4 to keep all competition at bay.
The drive of an A4 sedan offers a very smooth and supple ride that is also highly performance laden. This is easily achieved with the inclusion of the top of the line suspension that laughs at road abrasions and defects keeping the occupants smoothly riding along and enjoying the cruise. Throw in a steering that is so responsive that any minor input from the driver is delivered and responded to instantly and without any hint of hesitation. Of course this is a luxury sedan so a quiet cabin must be in place the Audi A4 is no exception to the rule here having a cabin that doesn’t allow any outside noises to enter in and cause disturbance of the enjoyment of the ride.
It may seem two cars are being discussed in this article, but it’s actually the same car, just one is the sport version. For the A4 the engine offered is an extremely well-designed 2.0-liter turbocharged inline four-cylinder engine that puts out 220 horsepower and 258 lb.-ft. of torque. This engine can be mated to three different transmissions and for the front-wheel drive models the automatic continuously variable transmission allows the car to achieve a fuel economy of 24 city/32 hwy mpg. Moving to the all-wheel drive models brings in the six-speed manual transmission that achieves 22 city/32 hwy mpg and the eight-speed automatic that reaches up to 22 city/31 hwy mpg making this not only a powerful powertrain, but one that offers a nice amount of fuel efficiency as well.
The S4 is powered by a 3.0-liter supercharged V6 engine that is just awesome with power and hungry to be unleashed on the open road. This engine comes in with 333 horsepower and 325 lb.-ft. of torque to take this luxury car quickly around any highway curves or shoot it across the straightaways. This engine is mated to either the automatic transmission bringing in a fuel mileage of 18 city/28 hwy mpg or the manual transmission that offers 17 city/26 hwy mpg of fuel economy to enjoy. Both engines are directly injected adding to the fantastic engineering that is at play here.
From inside the cabin the A4 is simple but amazing. Every inch of this great sedan has been well-designed and thought out in detail and then done again. The materials throughout are very upscale and the interior room is amazing allowing anyone riding along to get comfortable in their seats. Trimmed out in metal and wood the interior shows interest at every angle allowing drivers to be amazed by the feel, comfort, design and pleasure of the ride inside the cabin.
From the outside the A4 looks all Audi. The quattro circle insignia adorns the front grill with pride and elegance with the entire car shows of with looks of understated beauty and grace. The A4 is trimmed out in just the right amount of chrome to make it look even more luxurious without being too gaudy and the wheels are extremely well designed and sharp spoke inspired form. One item of note on the wheels, the treatments are individualized to each package allowing a bit of a personal touch and personality to filter into the car from the owner.
For this Audi the standard equipment is shared across three different trim levels: Premium, Premium Plus and Prestige. The Premium trim level offers 17-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, power front sets, leather upholstery, Sirius satellite radio and the Convenience Package that adds Bluetooth connectivity, Homelink, Audi Music Interface connectivity and driver information system. The Premium Plus model adds 18-inch ten-spoke wheels, keyless entry, keyless starting and the Audi drive select for the S4 models in the Premium Plus trim. The Prestige trim add a navigation system and a Bang & Olufsen sound system. Regardless of the trim level chosen owners will be assured they have chosen a very high-class of luxury car with all the features offered.
The optional equipment for the A4 adds a sport suspension, 19-inche wheels, different front and rear fascias, side skirts, unique doorsill and badging for the Prestige trim of the S4 model. The Prestige package can add a Driver Assist Package as well that consists of adaptive cruise control. Both A4 and S4 offer a Sport Plus package as well that adds high-gloss exterior trim and 19-inch titanium Rotor designed wheels. All these added features can allow any owner to create an Audi A4 or S4 that shows off their own unique stylings.
Starting out with a price point just below $36,500 the A4 in the Premium trim makes for a very affordable luxury car. Heading all the way to the Prestige trim and the prices start around $44,000 which is still a great deal for the added luxury that can be enjoyed. A fully loaded A4 can reach up over $50,000 when loaded with all the options available and the S4 will start around $49,500 and reach over $60,000 once everything that can be has been added to the car.