New A4 Pics

spuddy

Passed an Audi dealership in Germany today and as I had my camera in the boot, I stopped and took a few snaps of the new A4.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Mean, aggressive eye's!..

Zonda999

Great to see what a car looks like in normal guise rather than ones with HUGE alloys in advertisments.They look like the normal alloys and they arent too bad.Good value car, i think, the new A4, You get a hell of a lot more power than in an similiarly priced BMW(318) in the 1.8t version-162 b.h.p.Better built also. and in a car like the A4 people wont hate you!!!

TheNog

looks beautiful all round

Seperate

Love the new front lights!! Agree with Zonda...i'd have it over a 318 anytime!

TheBazman

I guess Daytime Running Lights are about to become a lot more common on Irish roads

Holsten

Lovely car, nice seeing it next to the older model, new one is much nicer.

conor_mc

rear clusters are a bit like the new mondeo, and is it just me or does the back remind anyone else of the Volvo C70?

Lovely car though.

ninty9er

looks great. I like the inserts in the headlight unit.

+1 on this over a 3 Series

niceirishfella

nice looking car.............but the BMeeeer is a nice car too.

But what is it about Audi's that people like? To me and correct me if I'm wrong, but Aren't they just expensive Volkswagons??

My dad had 2 Audis and I never thought much of them.

_Kaiser_

Guess I'm in the minority so as I actually prefer the styling of the "old" one... especially at the back. This new one is too angular.

JoeA3

Perhaps its the wheels / colour, but that looks very bland to me!

su_dios

The front looks great.. and I mean really great! But the rest is a bit... mneh! Although this could be a standard model so maybe with a sports pack or something it will look a bit nicer. I always thought of the a4 as a sporty saloon but this doesn't look too sporty to me(apart from the front).

Jimbo

Looks good alright. Any ideas when we'll see it in this country?
Similar price to the previous model?

ninty9er

AFAIK we already have it.

copacetic

Zonda999 wrote: »

Great to see what a car looks like in normal guise rather than ones with HUGE alloys in advertisments.They look like the normal alloys and they arent too bad.Good value car, i think, the new A4, You get a hell of a lot more power than in an similiarly priced BMW(318) in the 1.8t version-162 b.h.p.Better built also. and in a car like the A4 people wont hate you!!!

I think you may be surprised if you actually price one up. The 1.8T is dearer that the 320i, never mind the 318! Both the 318i and 320i are coming down 10% in July wheras the 1.8T is coming down 1%.

I'm a big audi fan but was shocked at the price of a reasonably spec'd one. They have made as major mistake with the pricing imo. I spec'd a 2.0TDI to a similar reasonable level (metallic, leather etc) as a 318d and it came out 3k dearer. The 318d is coming down 4% more in July, it will then be 6k cheaper!

If someone like myself who already has an audi and is much more likely to buy a new one than the average person is put off by the overpricing then they are unlikely to sell very many imo.

spuddy

AFAIK it's due in March. I think the looks are a definite improvement. The car has a more aggressive and sporty stance than the last model.

However, last September at the Frankfurt show I had the opportunity to sit in one. From my perspective, the interior quality has taken a step backwards.
On the bog standard model, the plastics felt cheap and nasty, esp. the heating and ventilation controls.
It was less obvious with Audi's iDrive equivalent specified, as some of the buttons are replaced, but I'm a little surprised at Audi, given that interior fit and finish are one of the selling points of their range. I hope this was down to the car in question being a pre-production model. Time will tell.

smcgiff

Not bad, the behind is reminiscent of the older A4 rear. The headlights are nice. But, for me there's not too big a difference between this (at least cosmetically) to the previous model, not so surprising I guess since the last A4 was so successful for Audi.

Evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

copacetic

also just a note that those lights and alloys aren't std, they are both 1k+ options here. The model pictured appears to be the sport model which includes the xenons with drl pictured, those 17" alloys and 3 spoke leather sterring wheel and front sport seats. It adds 3200 to the base price. The model pictured would be 43,500 here, assuming no other options, if you want the metallic paint and an alarm it's another 2k.

as spuddy notes, the whole interior in all the nice pics is basically optional, even the air con with display is a 1k option, as is the concert radio with mp3 capability (550) a decent sound system to go with it (400) and the colour displays for the DIS(200). Assuming you go with the sport, rear parking sensors are another 600.

Biro

I'm struggling to remember any "all new" model from any manufacturer that looked less new than this does. It's so unchanged it looks like a mid-life face lift. I always considered the A4 over priced anyway. For some reason though the Irish love them, so I expect this to litter the countryside within the year.

ninty9er

Biro wrote: »

I'm struggling to remember any "all new" model from any manufacturer that looked less new than this does. It's so unchanged it looks like a mid-life face lift.

Have you seen the "new" E-Class

copacetic

spuddy wrote: »

AFAIK it's due in March. I think the looks are a definite improvement. The car has a more aggressive and sporty stance than the last model.

However, last September at the Frankfurt show I had the opportunity to sit in one. From my perspective, the interior quality has taken a step backwards.
On the bog standard model, the plastics felt cheap and nasty, esp. the heating and ventilation controls.
It was less obvious with Audi's iDrive equivalent specified, as some of the buttons are replaced, but I'm a little surprised at Audi, given that interior fit and finish are one of the selling points of their range. I hope this was down to the car in question being a pre-production model. Time will tell.

sounds like you were in a std model. the interior is identical to the A5, which i've been in a few times, the std is a long way short of the ones wth all the options, see below, this isn't even the base level radio, it is the concert €550 upgrade, but it shows how the controls are sited when you don't pay €4350 for the satnav. This is also the std single zone aircon, the upgrade to the triple zone plus with displays is also nearly 1k extra.




Some difference from that pic, to this one, which would cost you €5500 more!

groupb

I'm not a fan of audis(yawn) , but according to the road tests I've read , while its no mondeo to drive , its supposed to be miles better than the old one.

Zonda999

Yep the MMI should be in all models if it has sat nav or not.Thats the case in the A6 which i believe is worth the extra 10K.They should'nt have made i as obvious just below the gearbox.Put some cigerette lighter or central locking button there????.The seat upholstery in the first picture is horrible also.At least all A4's will have the dash top screen or will they???

siralfalot

more utter blandness in the styling department from Audi, don't like it at all

BlackWizard

Is the blandness not what makes the Audi look like an Audi?

I do agree with you. It's quite boring and plain looking. But it seems to appeal to me...

E92

Zonda999 wrote: »

Great to see what a car looks like in normal guise rather than ones with HUGE alloys in advertisments.They look like the normal alloys and they arent too bad.Good value car, i think, the new A4, You get a hell of a lot more power than in an similiarly priced BMW(318) in the 1.8t version-162 b.h.p.Better built also. and in a car like the A4 people wont hate you!!!

As copacetic said, the Audi will attract 24% VRT in July, while the Beemer will enjoy 20% VRT, and that brings with it the advantage of €290 road tax compared to €430 road tax with the Audi. Hell, a petrol 3 series is in the same VRT and tax band as a diesel A4, and the petrol BMW will also pollutes 2 g/km less CO2 than the TDI A4 will pollute.

After July, a 1.8T A4 will cost €39,770 compared to €35,569 for a BMW 318i ES and €38,106 for a 320i ES, so even the 320i will be cheaper, and also has 10 more bhp over the Audi as well as €290 road tax instead of €430 road tax. For virtually the same price as the Audi, you could have a 320d ES which will cost €39,833, or €63 more, and as that will only cost €150 to tax, you'd have the premium for the BMW back in no time at all, as well as getting a car that averages 58.9 mpg and has 17 bhp more than the A4.

Zonda999

Actually after a good look at the basic interiors of the BMW/ Merc/ Audi. It has to be said that the new Merc has the nicest interior.Is not bad value either because the C180 has 155bhp and the C200-CDI has 135bhp.Apparently Merc have finally got the quality right in this one also.Shame that the CO2 emissions are higher than the others.160g for the diesel and 187g for the petrol.It will be a bit uncompetitive after July

ninty9er

E92 wrote: »

As copacetic said, the Audi will attract 24% VRT in July, while the Beemer will enjoy 20% VRT, and that brings with it the advantage of €290 road tax compared to €430 road tax with the Audi. Hell, a petrol 3 series is in the same VRT and tax band as a diesel A4, and the petrol BMW will also pollutes 2 g/km less CO2 than the TDI A4 will pollute.

After July, a 1.8T A4 will cost €39,770 compared to €35,569 for a BMW 318i ES and €38,106 for a 320i ES, so even the 320i will be cheaper, and also has 10 more bhp over the Audi as well as €290 road tax instead of €430 road tax. For virtually the same price as the Audi, you could have a 320d ES which will cost €39,833, or €63 more, and as that will only cost €150 to tax, you'd have the premium for the BMW back in no time at all, as well as getting a car that averages 58.9 mpg and has 17 bhp more than the A4.

In the grand scheme of things, 24% and 20% don't make any difference to the person who's going to buy the Audi. I'd still have the Audi; I don't like how the BMW looks. It's not bad looking, but there's just a crassness about it.

mickdw

Is that the standard front bumper? Every pic i have seen has this bumper but it looks like sportline to me. hope it is the standard one.

E92

ninty9er wrote: »

In the grand scheme of things, 24% and 20% don't make any difference to the person who's going to buy the Audi. I'd still have the Audi; I don't like how the BMW looks. It's not bad looking, but there's just a crassness about it.

Well I'm not going to get into an argument about which is better, I've no idea what the Audi is like, so I won't make a judgement on whats best till I've been in one. But I disagree about it making no difference, at the moment the BMWs(especially the 320s) are not that good for value compared to the Audi, but come July they will indeed be better value, so things are definately more favourable for the BMW then. And come July, the A4 TDI will be cheaper than the 1.8T, so for someone dead set on an A4, that is important for them surely?

I actually like the look of the 3 series, compared to the 5, 6 and 7 series it is a very good looking car. The 7 series in particular is horrible IMO.

copacetic

Zonda999 wrote: »

Yep the MMI should be in all models if it has sat nav or not.Thats the case in the A6 which i believe is worth the extra 10K.They should'nt have made i as obvious just below the gearbox.Put some cigerette lighter or central locking button there????.The seat upholstery in the first picture is horrible also.At least all A4's will have the dash top screen or will they???

they will but it will be a monochrome display if you don't at least get the concert player in my pic above. The concert plays mp3 cds and has a slot for SD cards so it is a vital minimum upgrade imo.

copacetic

mickdw wrote: »

Is that the standard front bumper? Every pic i have seen has this bumper but it looks like sportline to me. hope it is the standard one.

as i mentioned above that is a basic A4 sport, not an sline. Apparently the sline package will add 9k to the price of a sport :eek:. Although no confirmation yet what will be included.

The sline has the insert between the wings in silver, more pronounce vertical lines and different fog light treatment, but it is subtle enough, not sure anyone who wasn't an audi fan would notice the differene. It has side skirts similar to current sline ones and the different diffuser at the back, which doesn't look great without the dual seperated exhausts imo.

This is the sline (left)compared to the standard (right):

copacetic

Zonda999 wrote: »

Actually after a good look at the basic interiors of the BMW/ Merc/ Audi. It has to be said that the new Merc has the nicest interior.Is not bad value either because the C180 has 155bhp and the C200-CDI has 135bhp.Apparently Merc have finally got the quality right in this one also.Shame that the CO2 emissions are higher than the others.160g for the diesel and 187g for the petrol.It will be a bit uncompetitive after July

Have to disagree on this zonda, merc have done the same as audi and if you don't add a pile of options the interior is pretty shameful imo. you even have to slide the screen cover up by hand in the standard models! Similarly imo you need the avantgarde and the amg kit to make it look well which adds 10k or so to the price.

E92

S-Line pack in Germany costs €1,980. At 25% VRT and 21% VAT, that is around €2,865.

A new variant of the A4 is on it's way, another 1.8 TFSI(copacetic mentioned this one a while back). Only 120 bhp this time(how they got 120 bhp from a turbo engine with direct injection amazes me, 10 years ago they had a non turbo 1.8 with no FSI technology and 125 bhp). Identical CO2 to the 160 version, and costs €25,900 in Germany(just gone on sale there). Having changed VAT from 19% to 21% and adding on 25% VRT, we're looking at €35,113 here, plus a little more cause we're RHD, so I would say somewhere around the €35,500 mark when it comes in. Now that is certainly cheaper than a 316i at the moment, however come July the car will cost(based on a price of 35.5 k) €35,032 cheaper than a VRT adjusted 318i, however the 318i will boast 143 bhp and €290 road tax compared to the €430 the A4 will attract, and the A4 also has 120 bhp too.

And looking at the figures for the Merc above, the new C-class is going to be very expensive compared to the Audi let alone the BMW, in fact a 330i will cost the same to tax as a C180(and believe it or not the 3320i actually pollutes 14 g/km less CO2 as well), now you would rather pay €600 to tax a 1.8 4 cylinder with 156 bhp or a 3.0 straight 6 with 272 bhp?

copacetic

E92 wrote: »

S-Line pack in Germany costs €1,980. At 25% VRT and 21% VAT, that is around €2,865.

I think that is just the exterior pack without upgraded wheels E92? Apparently you will have to buy exterior, interior and wheels together here and it will be 9k or so I was told at the weekend by the stealer. However they haven't got confirmation yet from audi on price or content of package. It appears the new distributor arrangements are causing issues.

E92

By the way, having looked at the A4's pricing in Germany, the pre tax prices would seem to be standardised, so I would take it to be true that any VRT saving available in the A4 wil be passed on to the consumer in full. It would seem that Audi are not "subsidising" A4 prices here.

Tbh I only had a very quick read of their German site, so I didn't check if the S line package required other options.

I presume that the benefits of Audi doing the importation themselves will become as apparant as the benefits for BMW were in due course(before BMW brought in cars themselves, BMWs came with shag all as standard, the 7 series didn't even have climate control as standard back in the olden days).

copacetic

Also fyi the newest specsheets has standard equipment listed for the
1.8T 120 and the 2.0TDI 120 (which apparently will have lower emissions)

It also lists extra standard equipment for the
2.0T 180bhp and 211bhp and also the 2.0TDI 170bhp

so they are definitely coming. No mention in the spec sheet of the >200bhp 2.0TDI though.

Zonda999

copacetic wrote: »

Have to disagree on this zonda, merc have done the same as audi and if you don't add a pile of options the interior is pretty shameful imo. you even have to slide the screen cover up by hand in the standard models! Similarly imo you need the avantgarde and the amg kit to make it look well which adds 10k or so to the price.

Fair enough but you dont even get a screen in the bmw(unless you get sat nav).I dont think anyone can call the interior in a 318 ES that exciting so it could be said that the standard interiors(In the base models) are boring in all of the germans.I just think that the mercs is the least boring.BTW good plan by audi to have a 2.0 TDI in 3 power ouputs,120,142 and 170.

E92

copacetic wrote: »

so they are definitely coming. No mention in the spec sheet of the >200bhp 2.0TDI though.

I'd say that would be for smaller cars. The TT is due to get a diesel, this twin turbo will almost certainly be the diesel TT. The A3, and I would say the next generation Golf GTI and other Golf sized cars in the VAG stable would also be prime candidates for this engine too.

I think if Audi were going to bother with the twin turbo diesel for the A4, they would not have bothered offering the 2.7 V6 TDI(that has 190 bhp) in the A4.

Look at BMW. The 123d's engine is more powerful than the 325d, and 525d's engine. But BMW don't seem to have any plans to put the twin turbo engine into either car. There is a rumour about a proposed 323d, but that's all it is, a rumour, and if they did put it in, where would that leave the 325d?

Of course, I'm not promising that what I'm saying will or won't happen, but I just don't see where the twin turbo diesel would fit into the A4 range, especially if Audi gave the 2.7 TDI the option of a manual gearbox.

copacetic

E92 wrote: »

Tbh I only had a very quick read of their German site, so I didn't check if the S line package required other options.

I'm positive there is an sline exterior package (basically body kit) and an sline package plus which is a wheel upgrade, and all the interior stuff and presumably the exterior kit too.

The old A4 and current A3 have a similar kind of thing. You can buy the exterior kit seperately from the interior kit. My german is no good anymore so I couldn't make enough sense of the site to track down the price of the interior kit + wheels, however if it has the 18 inch wheels, part leather interior and steering wheel upgrade then 9k would be about right on top of the price of a A4 sport. However assuming you would like an metallic, alarm, parking sensors and the concert cd system with upgraded speakers then your 2.0TDI sport sline is now costing you 60k or so, until the reduction in July at least.

This is equivalent to the 318d msport which is 55k with metallic (it has all the other bits and pieces as standard) so big difference, even before July when a A4 sline will be 54 or so and the 318d sline 46k or so with metallic.

There is no way the A4 is worth that much more although in a straight up same price shoot off I'd jump on the audi.

copacetic

Zonda999 wrote: »

Fair enough but you dont even get a screen in the bmw(unless you get sat nav).I dont think anyone can call the interior in a 318 ES that exciting so it could be said that the standard interiors(In the base models) are boring in all of the germans.I just think that the mercs is the least boring.BTW good plan by audi to have a 2.0 TDI in 3 power ouputs,120,142 and 170.

oh yeah, agree merc interior is much nicer than BMWs but a long way behind the audi imo. I was really disagreeing that the Merc was the nicest of the three, it is very poorly designed imo. That numeric keypad is really weird on cars without phone kits. What the hell is it for????

However I am a big fan of audi interiors so am possibly blinkered. I actually think that audi getting rid of the handbrake has given them so much room that the standard models look weird without the satnav controls. Incidently I think this is a giant leap forward compared to the std handbrake in the bmw and the weird as feck foot operated parking brake in the merc. Then again I'm not much of one for handbrakers.

The big failing of the 3 series after the updates to the C class and the A4 is definitely the interior. It looks very dated now in comparison, but perhaps they will do something in the facelift soon.

bazz26

Don't see a major difference in the design of the new A4 from the old one which has been around since 2001. Looks like Audi played it safe. Just hope the rear leg room and boot space have been improved. They have always been poor in the A4 upto now.

Biro

ninty9er wrote: »

Have you seen the "new" E-Class

Now that you mention it, ya, and I thought the word "new" was a mistake!

CarLover

Never a big A4 fan to be honest. Nice cars but over rated and over priced. Must admit though that I'm very impressed with the pics of the new one. I think they got the styling just right...they've made it more angular and hunkered down looking. Suits it quite a lot. Price of the thing is another point altogether. Needless to say they'll sell like hot cakes. I just hope they get rid of the dreadful 1.6 litre version in Ireland...

Elessar

The body shape looks an awful lot like the new 3 series beemers...

E92

CarLover wrote: »

I just hope they get rid of the dreadful 1.6 litre version in Ireland...

Theres no need for at as Audi will be bring in a 1.8 with 120 bhp, and its hardly worth the hassle of bring in a 1.6 when the days of the engine sized based taxation are going to be a distant memory very soon.