Audi‘s new A4 is set to get a host of improvements early in its life.
From this month the A4 (saloon and Avant) will be available from with an all-new 2.0 Turbo FSI petrol engine which develops 211PS and gives the saloon a top speed of 150mph with 0-62 in 6.8 secs. The new engine outperforms the 1.8 TFSI on which it is based for emissions with 154g/km CO2 in the saloon (160g/km in the Avant).
The new engine uses Audi’s variable valvelift technology, the first time this has been available on four cylinder engines. This increases power output under strong acceleration while improving fuel consumption by around 10%.
Also coming from this month is new engine technology that will reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions across most of the range. The introduction has been timed to coincide with 2009 model year and will affect all A4s built after the first week of June.
Most affected is the 3.0 TDI manual which drops from 183g/km to 172g/km but most models will come down by one or two tax bands. The improvements have been achieved by cleaning up the induction, reducing frictional losses in the engines and minor changes to the engine management mapping.
“Our core business model, the 2.0TDI saloon, comes down to 139 g/km which means it is cheaper than the BMW 318d on company car tax,” claimed brand manager Henry Williams. “We are now in the same tax bracket but we have lower P11D values.”
The changes are likely to be seen on cars ordered now for September registration.
Meanwhile, Audi has softened its S-Line suspension settings in response to customer complaints that the ride on the sporty model variant was too uncomfortable. A4 S-Line models are now available with either more compliant Sport (20mm lower) or firmer S-Line (30mm lower) settings as no cost options. Around 65% of all A4s are sold with S-Line body trim which will appear on both.
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