Audi A4 Allroad: 2018 Motor Trend Car of the Year Contender

We Like: Responsive turbo-four powertrain, full-paint finish option

We Don’t Like: Cozy rear seat, costs more than a Q5

Avant-badged wagons have disappeared from Audi’s U.S. lineup, but the Allroad name still survives. The A4 Allroad combines standard all-wheel drive with crossoverlike body cladding and more ground clearance than the A4 sedan.

The Allroad’s 252-hp turbo-four is paired to a seven-speed twin-clutch automatic that’s responsive and makes the most of the engine’s abilities. From behind the wheel, the picture is basically the same as in the A4 sedan—a car that placed a strong second in an eight-car Big Test comparison in 2017. The available virtual cockpit digital instrument cluster display looks cool, and the interior is sprinkled with smart touches.

More than one judge, however, saw room for improvement with the suspension tuning over harsh or otherwise imperfect road surfaces. “It has lots of bounce and rebound,” Christian Seabaugh said after driving it over a choppy road. On a winding road, Frank Markus described the car as behaving “like a tall, heavy A5 on crap tires: ample body roll and lots of scrubbing noise from the tires—it seems not to enjoy this type of work.”

What you won’t get in the A4 Allroad that the cheaper Subaru Outback provides—besides ground clearance to officially classify it as an SUV—is an everyday-usable back seat. The Allroad is a bit cozy back there, and the hard backs of the front seats don’t help. Unless you really prefer wagon styling, the Q5 crossover has more rear-seat legroom, a bit more cargo space, and a base price that’s thousands below the Allroad.

2017 Audi A4 Allroad 2.0T
BASE PRICE	$44,950
PRICE AS TESTED	$53,480
VEHICLE LAYOUT	Front-engine, AWD 5-pass, 4-door wagon
ENGINE	2.0L/252-hp/273-lb-ft turbo DOHC 16-valve I-4
TRANSMISSION	7-speed twin-clutch auto
CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST)	3,801 lb (54/46%)
WHEELBASE	110.9 in
LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT	187.0 x 72.5 x 58.8 in
0-60 MPH	5.5 sec
QUARTER MILE	14.1 sec @ 97.6 mph
BRAKING, 60-0 MPH	119 ft
LATERAL ACCELERATION	0.81 g (avg)
MT FIGURE EIGHT	26.3 sec @ 0.69 g (avg)
EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON	23/28/25 mpg
ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY	147/120 kW-hrs/100 miles
CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB	0.78 lb/mile

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