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2012 Audi A4 (2.0 TFSI, Avant) reviewed


The Audi A4 – in sedan and Avant form – is a winner in the mid-size category. Its available engines offer strong performance coupled with high efficiency. They are every bit an expression of the brand’s technical expertise as are the sporty handling and the numerous convenience and infotainment features taken directly from the full-size category.
2012 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI photo -2012 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI photo -
The A4 is a customer favorite. This past spring, the five millionth model built since the A4 designation for the model series was introduced in 1994 rolled off the assembly line at Audi’s Ingolstadt plant. The readers of auto, motor und sport named the A4/A5 model series best in its category in the voting for the “Best Cars of 2011.”
2012 Audi A4 Avant photo2012 Audi A4 Avant photo
Body and interior
The Audi A4 is a spacious automobile. Its body, comprising mostly high-strength and ultra high-strength steels, is rigid, lightweight and safe. The sedan offers a trunk capacity of 480 liters (16.95 cu ft). Capacity with the rear seat backs folded down (a standard feature in the quattro versions) is 962 liters (33.97 cu ft). The A4 Avant offers 490 and 1,430 liters (17.30 and 50.50 cubic ft), respectively.
2012 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI photo2012 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI photo
The interior offers all of the classic strengths of the brand, with uncompromising fit and finish and logical, intuitive controls. When equipped with a navigation system, the A4 features a color monitor and the MMI operating system. Audi offers the luxurious climate-controlled comfort seats as an option for the driver and front-seat passenger. Small fans provide six-speed ventilation to the seat cushion and back.
2012 Audi A4 Avant photo -2012 Audi A4 Avant photo -
Drive
The A4 model series has a particularly broad engine lineup with 13 powerplants. All of them feature direct-fuel injection and, with the exception of the most powerful 3.2 FSI engine, are also turbocharged.
The V6 and the 2.0 TFSI feature different versions of the Audi valvelift system, which uses two-stage variable valve lift to increase torque. A start-stop system is standard with many of the engines; all come standard with a recuperation system.
2012 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI photo2012 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI photo
The most efficient model in the A4 lineup is the 2.0 TDI with 100 kW (136 hp). In the sedan, the four-cylinder diesel producing 320 Nm (236.02 lb-ft) of torque consumes just 4.4 liters of diesel per 100 km (53.46 US mpg) on average, a CO2 equivalent of just 115 grams per km (185.07 g/mile). The model features the know-how from Audi’s modular efficiency platform.
Two other particularly environmentally compatible engines join the 2.0 TDI in the A4 lineup. A sophisticated purification system in the A4 3.0 TDI clean diesel quattro largely eliminates nitrides of oxygen so that the V6 diesel satisfies all U.S. emission standards and also the future Euro 6 standard. The A4 2.0 TFSI flexible fuel is also designed for operation on bioethanol E 85.
2012 Audi A4 Avant photo2012 Audi A4 Avant photo
Engine lineup:
1.8 TFSI with 88 kW (120 hp)
1.8 TFSI and 1.8 TFSI quattro with 118 kW (160 hp)
2.0 TFSI with 132 kW (180 hp)
2.0 TFSI flexible fuel and 2.0 TFSI flexible fuel quattro with 132 kW (180 hp)
2.0 TFSI and 2.0 TFSI quattro with 155 kW (211 hp)
3.2 FSI and 3.2 FSI quattro with 195 kW (265 hp)
2.0 TDI with 88 kW (120 hp)
2.0 TDI with 100 kW (136 hp)
2.0 TDI and 2.0 TDI quattro with 105 kW (143 hp)
2.0 TDI and 2.0 TDI quattro with 125 kW (170 hp)
2.7 TDI with 140 kW (190 hp)
3.0 TDI quattro with 176 kW (240 hp)
3.0 TDI clean diesel quattro with 176 kW (240 hp)
Not less than four different power transmission technologies are available for the A4 model series. These are the classic six-speed manual transmission including gear-change indicator, the user-friendly tiptronic six-speed automatic, the continuously variable multitronic and the sporty seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission.
The quattro permanent all-wheel drive is slightly rear-biased in the A4. Audi already offers it as an option for the 2.0 TDI with 105 kW (143 hp) and above. It is standard with the 3.0 TDI. The electronically controlled sport differential is available as an option for the 3.2 FSI quattro and the 3.0 TDI quattro. This distributes the torque between the rear wheels as needed, making fast cornering even more dynamic.
2012 Audi A4 Avant photo2012 Audi A4 Avant photo
Chassis
The chassis of the A4 is largely made of aluminum. The front suspension is a five-link construction; with a trapezoidal-link suspension at the rear. Audi also offers the optional Audi drive select control system in a number of versions. In the basic version, it influences the engine’s throttle response, the automatic transmission’s shift points and the steering’s mode of operation. Three different characteristics can be selected for these systems. When equipped with a navigation system, an additional mode enabling the driver to create a custom profile is available.
Audi drive select is generally only available in combination with one or more additional technologies. These are the sport differential, adaptive damper control and dynamic steering. The latter’s superposition gear can vary the steering ratio by nearly 100 percent. ESP with electronic limited slip differential is standard in all front-wheel drive versions of the A4 series. By briefly pulsing the brakes at the front inside wheel, it makes handling more neutral and ensures solid grip when exiting the curve.
2012 Audi A4 Avant photo2012 Audi A4 Avant photo
Assistance and communications systems
A wide range of assistance systems are offered for the A4 model series. The radar-supported adaptive cruise control (ACC) adjusts the car’s speed and the interval to the vehicle ahead by automatically accelerating and braking as appropriate. In critical situations, the integrated braking guard prompts the driver to brake, with the system’s warning signals varying in intensity with the danger of the situation. Audi lane assist alerts the driver before he or she moves out of the lane. Audi side assist makes lane changes safer by means of an LED indicator in the exterior mirror that warns of critical situations.
A wide selection of modules is also available in the field of communication and infotainment, with MMI navigation, the top-of-the-line version MMI navigation plus with a large hard drive, and the concert and symphony radio systems being particularly attractive. The sound system from Bang & Olufsen, the Danish hi-fi specialists, provides luxury-category hi-fi enjoyment.
2012 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI photo2012 Audi A4 2.0 TFSI photo
The Audi A4 allroad quattro
With its permanent all-wheel drive, the A4 allroad quattro is equally at home on road and off. It is somewhat larger, particularly in height, than the A4 Avant on which it is based. It offers 180 millimeters (7.09 in) of ground clearance, and distinctive design details underscore its powerful character. Here, too, the trunk holds from 490 to 1,430 liters (17.30 to 50.50 cu ft) of luggage. Optional features include a load-securing set and an electromechanical rear hatch.
The Audi A4 allroad quattro is available with a choice of one gasoline and three diesel engines. The 2.0 TDI with 105 kW (143 hp) combines the recuperation system with the start-stop system. Like the 2.0 TDI with 125 kW (170 hp), it is available only with a six-speed manual transmission. The seven-speed S tronic is available as an option for the 2.0 TFSI and the 3.0 TDI.
2012 Audi A4 Avant photo2012 Audi A4 Avant photo
Engine lineup:
2.0 TFSI quattro with 155 kW (211 hp)
2.0 TDI quattro with 105 kW (143 hp)
2.0 TDI quattro with 125 kW (170 hp)
3.0 TDI quattro with 176 kW (240 hp)

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