The Best of Both Phone, and Tablet
Entered CNET Catalog: 08/21/2006
SKU: 100761277
Manufacturer: Audi
Product summary
The good: Superior handling makes the 2007 Audi A4 2.0 T Quattro a fun and safe car to drive. Bluetooth cell phone integration is well implemented, and it even comes with a voice command system.
The bad: The car's CD changer doesn't read MP3 CDs, something Audi could have fixed with a minor upgrade, and the navigation interface is a little clunky.
The bottom line: The 2007 Audi A4 handles great and is a joy to drive. Audi offers a full range of optional cabin technology, such as navigation and Bluetooth, although some of it falls a little short.
Editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 10/06/2006
Audi got on the tech bandwagon early, which earned models from previous years high points from our tech-centric perspective. With navigation, premium stereo sound, and Bluetooth cell phone integration, we couldn't help but like these cars. But car companies have long product cycles, and the car systems that looked so good in the 2005 model haven't changed any for the 2007 model. The navigation interface in the A4 looks clunky, and the glove box-mounted CD changer doesn't support MP3 CDs.
Navigation or MP3?
The cabin of the A4 feels well built, with aesthetically pleasing materials and colors all around, fitting for Volkswagen's upscale brand. While not cramped, the interior is on the small side, so the car's electronics are packed into the center stack. As opposed to the Audi Q7's console-mounted MultiMedia Interface (MMI) controller, a smaller MMI controller sits just to the right of the car's LCD. The MMI is a very usable system and doesn't take long to learn. Its push-button knob works for selecting and scrolling through choices presented on the screen, while four buttons let the driver choose functions displayed at the corresponding four corners of the screen.
The MMI controls navigation, the stereo, paired cell phones, and other car systems. Although we like how the MMI works, the navigation interface needs improvement, as not all of its menu labels are very intuitive. Users need to press the Route button to enter a destination, and the Route menu offers a submenu titled Destin. Given the size of the screen, there's no need to abbreviate destination. The navigation system also shows its age by lacking retail stores in its points-of-interest database, although it does have restaurants, gas stations, and other useful places.
The navigation works quite well. The map is bright and relatively easy to read, while route guidance is precise and displays upcoming turns. The system doesn't have text-to-speech, a feature that reads out street names and is present on more high-end navigation systems. When we intentionally got off course, it recalculated quickly and quietly, advising us on the next turn that would get us to our destination. The route guidance voice prompts also weren't as insistent as on the Audi Q7 we tested recently. One major drawback of the A4's navigation system is that destinations can't be chosen from the map.
Our A4 came with the Bose premium audio option, the 10 speakers of which include a subwoofer and a center channel. The sound quality of this system is very good, with well-balanced speakers filling the small cabin of the A4 and making it difficult to pinpoint individual sound sources. Bass isn't particularly heavy, and some types of music, such as classic rock, get muddy at higher volumes. But acoustic music sounds particularly clear and crisp.
The CD changer in this system is downright primitive. It's mounted in the glove box, the first sign of trouble, and it doesn't play MP3 or WMA CDs. At least that's its configuration when the car comes with the navigation system. Without navigation, the car gets an in-dash changer that plays MP3 CDs. Making up for the changer, two SD card slots hidden behind the navigation LCD read MP3 tracks. A couple of gigs of music should meet most people's entertainment needs. Our car also came equipped with Sirius satellite radio, which the MMI made easy to navigate.
Bluetooth cell phone integration on the A4 works very well and includes very useful features for accessing a phone's address book and recent calls from the car interface. Strangely, we couldn't pair up a Motorola V551 phone to the system, which works in most cars, but a Sony Ericsson K790a did work. The car also features a voice command system, but it controls only the telephone.
Quattro grips the road
The real high point of this A4 is the handling. The Quattro all-wheel-drive system inspires an almost dangerous feeling of confidence while negotiating tight corners or making high-speed lane changes. We heard no tire squeal around fast corners and were left with the feeling that all the tires were doing their part to get the car quickly around corners. The Quattro system uses Audi's Torsen center differential, which pushes engine torque to the rear or front axle depending on which one needs it the most. The effect is stupendous.
The 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo engine is a good size for this car. It uses direct injection and an intercooler, and it puts out 200 horsepower at 5,100rpm. That's enough power to propel the car forward fast and get up to freeway speeds quickly. But the turbo in this car causes some very uneven acceleration. While trying to hold a steady speed, we would occasionally feel the turbo boost kicking in and out. Or the turbo boost would kick in late, giving a rush of acceleration after we had already got the car up to our desired speed, which can be disconcerting in traffic.
Although the A4 doesn't have as much acceleration hesitation as the Audi Q7 we reviewed previously, it's still there. Stomping the accelerator from a stop does not deliver wheel-spinning power. While fast starts are kept to a refined pace that the car can handle, we found the acceleration more disappointing when trying to power out of a corner. The only way to get a satisfying boost out of a corner was to hit the gas pedal early. We attribute this hesitation to some overzealous programming of the traction control, which is designed to keep the tires in contact with the pavement.
The A4's six-speed automatic transmission helps the car achieve good fuel economy, and it works seamlessly. We did feel that in normal Drive mode, upshifts are set a little low, occurring at about 2,300rpm. But Audi makes up for that by including a Sport mode, where upshifts happen at about 3,000rpm. And we can't complain: Drive mode has the car in sixth gear at 80mph on the freeway, with the engine turning at only 2,500rpm. There is also a Tiptronic, manual selection mode, but we found that Sport mode worked well for city and windy-road driving.
Those low RPMs during freeway driving contribute to very decent gas mileage. The EPA rates the car at 22mpg city and 30mpg on the highway. When we noticed the car's computer giving us an average of about 14mpg after lots of city driving, we spent some time on the freeway and watched the average climb all the way up to 28mpg at speeds of about 75mph to 85mph. The car's computer uses a pretty short polling time for the average mpg, which is bad for drivers who want to rate mileage over a longer period of time but quite interesting as a tool to help drive in a more economical manner. The A4 also gets a very good emissions rating, with ULEV II/BIN 5.
Practical and fun
Quattro all-wheel-drive helps the handling of the A4 and is also a significant contributor to the safety of this vehicle. An electronic stability program adds to the accident avoidance technology. Our car also came with adaptive headlights, which swivel a bit as you turn to illuminate the road.
Airbag coverage in the A4 is complete. It has dual-stage front airbags along with side airbags for the driver and passenger. Side curtain airbags protect front and rear occupants. The A4 gets safety ratings of four stars for driver and passenger front impact, rear seat side impact, and rollover, and five stars for front seat side impact.
Audi covers the A4 with a four-year or 50,000-mile warranty. Buyers also get their first maintenance free within 12 months or 5,000 miles and four years of roadside assistance.
Our test car was the 2007 Audi A4 Sedan 2.0 T Quattro, with six-speed automatic transmission, which came in at a base price of $31,540. Our significant options were navigation ($2,100); a Convenience package ($1,900) made up of the adaptive headlights, a trip computer, and a few other niceties; the Premium package ($1,900) with a sunroof and 17-inch wheels; the Bose stereo system ($1,000); and Bluetooth ($500). With these and a few other options, the total price of our car was $40,660.
The A4 proved to be a practical and fun car to drive over our test period. With our expectations adjusted appropriately, we could get used to the pause in acceleration. The phone system is excellent, although some of our staff would have to upgrade their phones. Navigation and aspects of the stereo are a little below par--we've experienced better navigation and a drive almost as fun in the 2006 Honda Accord. For those willing to spend a bit more, the 2006 Lexus IS 350 is more powerful and offers a better stereo.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3out of 3 user reviews
This is a drivers car
Pros: Fun to drive, Fun to drive
Cons: Turbo Lag is my only complaint
out of 3 user reviews
Fantastically fun for the entry-level engine option
Pros: Spectacular handling, ultra-classy interior, large trunk
Cons: Backseat on the small side (but it is a small car, after all)
Given what I am accustomed to driving, I knew that the small engine A4 would be a bit slower and would lack some of the extravagant luxury features on my S8, but I was extremely impressed with how upscale the roughly $34,000 A4 looked, felt and drove. Nothing about this car makes you feel like the smallest engine forces you to be stuck with economy car features, looks, or performance.
The 4-cylinder engine sounds less substantial and idles less smoothly than a V6 or my V8, but it is surprisingly potent. I have owned a turbocharged Audi inline 5-cylinder years ago, and I am familiar with turbo lag and the low-end torque tradeoff that usually accompanies a small engine with power output boosted by a turbocharger. The new A4 has nearly eliminated turbo lag. This trick seems to be accomplished through a combination of a low 1st gear (which is easier to do with six speeds available) and an uncommonly broad torque curve, which allows this engine to crank out its full 207 pound feet of torque at a scant 1,800 rpms. From a stop, the engine produces a satisfying rush of power within a small fraction of a second of punching the accelerator. Beware of substantial "tip-in" that takes a little getting used to. The car practically leaps off the line until the driver adjusts to the throttle. When revved high, it sounded like a motorcycle compared to the baritone of a V8, but it doesn't sound anemic. It's an engine and a car that really beg to be driven in a spirited manner. Since it was a loaner, that is exatly what I did for about 500 miles over the course of five days.
The CNET review indicated that “[s]tomping the accelerator from a stop does not deliver wheel-spinning power.” The CNET review seems to attribute this to a lack of raw power. CNET’s observation leads the reviewer to an erroneous conclusion. I know that my 360 horsepower hot-rod S8 does not have “wheel-spinning power” either. And for that matter, I believe that could be said for the newest crop of Audi S-models. This is not due to anemic power plants in the cars; rather, this is a side-effect of the Quattro all-wheel drive system. With power optimally distributed among all four wheels, it is virtually impossible to get wheel spin on dry pavement. I usually cannot generate wheel spin even on wet pavement. The only way I can deliberately create wheel spin is on gravel or snow with the electronic stability control system disabled. Audis will not produce satisfying launches for those who are die-hard drag racing fans due to the consistently civilized take-offs from a stop, regardless of the potency of the engine under the hood.
In addition to a low 1st gear, the six-speed automatic has a high 6th gear, which should produce extremely economical highway cruising. My S8 has a 5-speed transmission, and it is deliberately geared low in 5th to keep lots of available power. The low revs on the A4 actually made me less sensitive to high speeds in the A4 than in the higher revving S8. On the sparsely populated interstate between my home and the city where I was having my car serviced, I cruised at 85 to 90 mph, and I hit 105 mph briefly a couple of times when there was no traffic anywhere. On a different drive in a remote rural area, I briefly hit 120, at which speed the car was still remarkably composed--and did not strain to get to that speed. While I am definitely a person who can appreciate knock-your-socks-off power that this engine cannot produce, it does not disappoint. If I drove my S8 the way I drove the A4, I would get fuel economy of 13 or 14 mpg. Driving the A4 consistently like a bat out of hell still got me just over 20 mpg in mixed driving.
I was jealous that Audi discovered how to design and install real cup holders in its cars **after** mine was produced. This has long been a weak point for German carmakers. The A4 has a well designed and large capacity cup holder between the front seats. There is a second identical holder, but it requires raising the armrest to access it. The design grips cups of various sizes very securely--better than any of the German or Japanese cars that I have owned in the past.
Handling was crisp and responsive. The 235/45/17 all-season performance tires gripped impressively. Steering is nearly perfect. My S8 has uncommonly light steering at all speeds. This new A4 required a more appropriate amount of driver effort on the wheel at highway speeds, which I like better than the S8. Braking was grippy--almost too much so with light pressure. Overall handling--like the engine--begs for spirited driving.
The audio system interface is virtually identical to my S8, sans the Bose speakers. Bass is actually more responsive in the new A4 than in the much more expensive Bose system that is optional is lesser models but standard in the S8, but mids and highs were less crisp in the A4. The audio system "remembers" tone settings separately for CD, AM, and FM, which is very handy, since you can turn bass down on the AM dial to keep voices from sounding unnaturally boomy, while preserving music settings for FM and CD.
Backseat seems predictably cramped, but perfect for kids and usable for adults on short trips, so long as the front seats are not all the way back. (The front seats, by the way, can adjust back almost to the point of touching the back seat, so if you are not carrying passengers, even a giant could get plenty of room in front.) The backseat folds down with a 60/40 split--something I wish my S8 had. The trunk is a very usable size and shape.
Once again, Audi has done an impressive job of packaging this car, managing to get the added hardware necessary for all-wheel drive while maintaining proportions equal or superior to the competition. Unless you are an absolute performance junkie, in which case you should be dropping $50K on an S4, you should seriously consider the 2.0T before dropping extra money on the thirstier V6.
out of 3 user reviews
I loved the A4 (although I have A6 4.2 now). Excellent car--Bluetooth,but still no MP3 CD support???
Pros: Handling, style, tech
Cons: Must I say again, no MP3 cd support.
