Driving Impressions

As we're sometimes moved to do with cars of exceptional sporting character, we drove our A4 Avant to Hell and back. Literally. Hell is a wide place on one of southeast Michigan's more entertaining back roads, and, as you'd expect, a favorite photo stop for folks who love to explore the oddities they glean from their road maps. We didn't spend much time in Hell, though. We were too busy enjoying the A4's superb grip and it's lively responses. The Quattro system made the most of the patchy traction available on wintry roads strewn with sand and occasional icy patches, lending a level of confidence that's rare in any vehicle, whatever the road conditions. We were also impressed by the little wagon's balance and response in quick maneuvers. The Sport package makes a readily discernible difference in controlling weight transfer, which lends a significantly higher level of precision to quick changes in direction. The flip side of this is slightly firmer ride quality. Our A4 tester was a little more sensitive to tar strips and small bumps than the models we've driven with the standard suspension setup, but it was a long way from harsh, and think the tradeoff is worth it for the heightened sense of control. Braking is an exceptionally strong suit. Augmented by ABS, our Avant's all-disc system hauled the car to safe, straight-line stops without drama or the slightest hint of fade in repeated use. While the V6 isn't a high-revver, it does hustle the Avant down the road in a quicker-than-ordinary hurry, zipping from 0 to 60 mph in less than 7.5 seconds, and 100 mph in 21 seconds. Try that in your Ford Explorer. The engine emits a bit more intake noise than we'd like when it's pressed hard, but in most normal operating conditions we found the interior to be reasonably quiet.

Final Word

You probably don't need us to tell you that station wagons aren't the first choice of Americans who want a little extra cargo capacity. From Connecticut to California, soccer and hockey moms are packing their teams into sport-utility vehicles. Nevertheless, style is something that will never go out of style, and the A4 Avant has it double in spades. It's not the right choice if big cargo chores are on your agenda, but with the rear seats folded flat it can swallow that occasional extra something, or vacation luggage for two. And you can always lash odds and ends to the roof rack. We think the A4 Avant is something special. It will outperform most sedans in this size class, and its sleek styling makes sport-utilities seem clunky, boring, and clumsy. Audi's A4 Avant is definitely not cheap. But the quality is high, the furnishings posh, standard features comprehensive, and it comes loaded with character. The station wagon is not dead. It was just waiting for someone to reinvent it. Thank you, Audi.