2021 Audi A4 Allroad long-term review: Vorsprung durch Technik?
0"Vorsprung durch Technik" they say. Progress through technology.
But in the case of our 2021 Audi A4 Allroad Quattro 40 TDI long-termer, they could have said ‘Vorsprung durch Praktikabilität’, or advancement through practicality. It’s not quite as catchy, however, and would have required a much longer sticker across the back window.
It seems like just last week where we were talking about the Allroad’s ability as an all-road tourer (it was), but now let’s break down what it is like inside the stylish grey Audi.
As a medium-sized wagon, the A4 has some pretty practical genes to begin with, but in this penultimate instalment of our long term review series, we’re going to take a look at what makes this a very sensible everyday car, and a mostly lovely thing to love with.
To recap, we took delivery of the Manhattan Grey wagon about three months ago and have looked at what makes it tick inside and out, and have spent some time, as the name suggests, on all roads.
The car lists at $70,600 (before on-road costs) and features the aforementioned metallic paint ($1531– meh), 19-inch Audi Sport alloy wheels ($1350 – nice) and the Assistance Package Plus ($2900 – cheeky).
Under the bonnet is a 150kW/400Nm 2.0-litre turbo diesel and all-four wheels are driven by a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
All these mechanical goodies work, perhaps a little better on the open road, and maybe thirstier than we’d like. Still, the Allroad is a generally solid offering in the engineering department.
Ease of use though is still hugely important for a crossover wagon.
Load space is a very usable 495-litres, which expands to 1495-litres when the 40:20:40 split rear seats are folded. In real terms though, particularly say, when moving house, the Allroad has a stack of room for odds, ends and lots of boxes. I even managed to fit a pair of front and rear Lada Niva bumpers in there, but that's another story.
It was easy to load, and easy to access, but not all that swift to reset with the load cover cassette and cargo net unit needing to be re-plugged into their respective sockets. Each one has just one way of fitting, and with no clear signage or differential position, it would take me at least three goes to get it right.
That said, aside from moving house (which I’m not going to recommend to anyone), I didn’t need to remove these, so take that as you will.
What I will say, is that when used as intended, the cargo blind raises automatically when the boot open then retracts again when the boot closes. It seems simple but plenty of other cars don’t do this, leaving you with a stupid blind blocking your rearward vision when you get back behind the wheel.
There’s a heap of room in the back seats, as well as digital climate control, vents and charging outlets. You’re even treated to window blinds in the doors, which is always a favourite feature of mine in a family car.
The bench, although not plush or supple, is comfortable but could use a little more thigh support for taller passengers. For my pre-teen daughter and the dog though, there were no such gripes and most passengers simply remarked what a ‘nice’ car the Audi was.
Front row occupants get a little more than nice though. Did somebody say light-up cup holders?
Again, it’s kind of silly to find these exciting, but the single strip of muted LED light that not only shows you where these are at night, and keeps the whole car looking more than a little bit ‘Tron’ (the lighting is all around the cabin) do go a long way to making the Audi experience a more premium one.
I suppose going with ‘Vorspring durch Luxus’ might have made the lawyers nervous though.