Audi unveils the new A4 in Germany. Audi A4 was a path-breaking design for the company but the new one falls in line with the design language first set by the new A6, and now the A8.
The first thing you’ll notice is that the new headlamps have lost their curviness for a more edgy design, and the LED strip now looks like a continous band. The tail-lamps have also been subtly reworked. Almost all the exterior panels have some change or the other, but they’re evolutionary rather than revolutionary. There are also new LED elements in the cabin, along with a simplified MMI system.
Six diesel and petrol engines are on offer, all with forced induction and Audi’s patented FSI direct injection. We’ll get the 2.0-litre turbocharged four-bangers and the 3.0-litre diesel for sure; we expect the diesel 2.0 to generate 160PS, with the petrol 2.0 upping the game to around 200PS. There is a new 1.8-litre TFSI launched in Europe that generates 170PS, but we’re not expecting it here. Instead, expect a tweaked version of the 1.8-litre unit doing duty in the latest-generation Skodas and VWs with slightly more power, at 170PS. The 3.0-litre diesel should generate around 245PS, and the headlining powerplant will be under the S4’s hood (when it gets here), a supercharged 3.0-litre V6 petrol that churns out 328PS.
Quattro all-wheel drive will be available on all but the base 1.8-litre petrol model, though we might just get a FWD variant of the 2.0-litre diesel as well to up the fuel efficiency figures. The V6-powered variants get a sports differential with torque vectoring, that helps handling. Among the gearbox options will be the six-speed manual, the Multitronic CVT ‘box, and the seven-speed DSG unit called the S-Tronic. An eight-speed automatic will be available in some markets across the world, but might not make it to Indian shores.
The steering system is now electromechanical as seen most recently on the new Jetta, to cut down on fuel consumption. The new A4 also gets automatic start/stop, brake energy recuperation and other features that make it consumer power only on demand. This makes it 11 per cent more fuel efficient than the outgoing A4.
The new A4 will launch worldwide at the end of next year, so it should debut in India in early 2013.
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