SA Roadtests
South Africa
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This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left. Hover your cursor over the manufacturer's name, then choose from the drop-down menu.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.
Pics by Audi@Motorpress
Published in Weekend Witness Motoring on Saturday July 13, 2013
What is it about station wagons? No manufacturer will admit to having one in its stable, preferring to hide behind names like crossover, shooting brake or estate car. Even Audi prefers the word Avant rather than be associated with a suburban saloon sporting a longer roof line and used for ferrying kids, going on holiday or doing the shopping.
The company does admit to “estate car” though and that’s a good thing, because the A4 Allroad Quattro is potentially an excellent rural domain rambler. The fact that it was recently voted Womens Car of the Year in the family car category is pretty cool too.
Consider this; full time all-wheel drive on demand, 180 mm ground clearance (some SUVs don’t have that much), stainless steel skidplates to protect the underbits, a program that detects the kind of terrain you are covering and adjusts the car’s driving behaviour accordingly, roof rails and enough load space to carry pretty much anything you like. To keep things simple, there are only two engine choices; 2.0-litre petrol or diesel, and just one seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.
Our test car had the 130-kW turbodiesel that puts out 380 Nm of torque from a nice low 1750 rpm; to keep on lugging when the turf gets tough. Its performance on asphalt is comparatively leisurely, taking 8,1 seconds to amble through the traps. If you are the impatient type however, you could opt for the FSI version that sprints faster and gets you into trouble with Sergeant Law a bit more quickly.
Despite being fitted with 45-profile street Pirellis, the Allroad handled the forest trail and provincial dirt roads very competently. The ride was firm - it is an Audi after all, but reasonably comfortable and very stable. Driving options include selectable normal and sport modes or manual override. This is where the A4 shines. Using the gearbox and keeping revs up, lured its Mr Hyde out of hiding. It not only made the car a blast to drive, but seemed to transform its handling as well. Advice: Just buy the thing and keep quiet; nobody needs to know you’ve chosen a country-mummy bus with attitude, do they?
Naturally, all the usual safety kit and comforts are present, including six airbags, anti-lock brakes with EBD and EBA, ESP, tandem brake booster, central locking with keyless entry, Bluetooth, three-zone automatic air conditioning, electric parking brake, rain and light sensors, an automatically dimming rear view mirror, headlamp washers and cruise control. For the environmentally conscious, stop-start and battery regeneration are included. Upholstery is in black or titanium grey Tundra cloth, although various Alcantara and leather options are available.
The luggage space is a metre wide and 1027 mm long, loading at a height of 668 mm, or about upper thigh level. There is a small netted stash space on the right, four lashing rings, a pair of bag hooks and two lights. The spare is one of those marie biscuit affairs that you need to inflate with the electric pump provided. Seatbacks fold down in the usual 1/3:2/3 split, expanding stowage volume from 490 to 1430 litres VDA – that’s the more practical measurement system, using square blocks.
Rear compartment headroom and knee space is generous, but the seat cushion is shaped only for two. The central tunnel makes it impractical for anyone bigger than a small child in the centre position, although three belts and head restraints are provided.
Finally, should anyone ever accuse you of driving a boring old station wagon, stare them down and say: “No. It’s an Audi Avant. Allroad.” There’s a helluva difference, but only you need to know its secrets.
Test car from Audi SA press fleet
The numbers
Price: R452 000
Engine: 1968 cc, four-cylinder, turbodiesel
Power: 130 kW at 4200 rpm
Torque: 380 Nm between 1750 and 2500 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 8,1 seconds
Maximum speed: 210 km/h
Real life fuel consumption: About 7,8 l/100 km
Tank: 61 litres
Warranty: 1 year; unlimited km
Maintenance plan: 5 years/100 000 km
This is a one-man show, which means that every car reviewed is given my personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every test car goes through real world driving; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.
I do my best to include relevant information like real life fuel economy or a close mathematical calculation, boot size or luggage space, whether the space is both usable and accessible, whether life-sized people can use the back seat (where that applies), basic specs of the vehicle and performance figures if they are published. In the case of clearly identified launch reports, fuel figures are of necessity the laboratory numbers provided with the release material. If I ever place an article that doesn't cover most things, it's probably because I have dealt with that vehicle at least once already, so you will be able to find what you want in another report under the same manufacturer's heading in the menu on the left.
My reviews and launch reports appear on Thursdays in the Wheels supplement to The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles each month, most months of the year (except over the festive season) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police.
Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so they can see I do actually exist.
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SA Roadtests
South Africa
ctjag8