Audi A4 2.5 V6 TDI SE Multitronic review
by Ross Finlay (5 August 2003)
We've driven Audis in various combinations of saloon and estate, petrol and turbo diesel, front-wheel drive and quattro, manual gearbox and Multitronic specifications. But it would take ages to get through even the complete list of A4 variants, so thorough is Audi marketing in trying to target every imaginable customer for any particular range, within the top and bottom prices in the catalogue.
In fact, it's almost as continuously variable as the Multitronic transmission is, within its own upper and lower overall gear ratios. We've come to like the six-hold Multitronic CVT. This is just about the most sophisticated design of its type on the market, and the only one, in a European make anyway, able to cope with the kind of power and especially torque produced by the 2.5-litre TDI engine, at least as fitted to a front-wheel drive Audi. The most powerful version of this engine is available only with the quattro specification.
What makes Multitronic seem so natural is that you can drive an A4 for half an hour or so before remembering just what kind of transmission this is. The six-hold manual selection works very well, but there's a tendency to snick the lever in D and just leave it there, especially on a main road run.
Audi likes to make the point that its CVT box of tricks is lighter than a conventional automatic, as well as being better for performance and fuel economy. What really comes across, though, when you remember to think about it, is the lack of "stepped" changes while the gremlins are doing all the work for you. That does make ordinary automatics seem a bit pointless.
On the other hand, the 2.5-litre TDI engine is rather old-hat compared with the Volkswagen Group's more recent pump injector PD turbo diesels. Yet there's something appealing about its rush of low-down torque and that curious engine note with its soupçon, as one might say, of V6 melded with diesel.
Apart from the Passat installation, of course, no other engine on the market makes exactly that sound, subdued though it is. It's not quite the sound you expect, any more than is the case with the VW Group's three-pot 1.2-litre petrol engine, although that one is anything but subdued.
While the 2.5 TDI is fitted to cars expected to spend a lot of time wafting along motorways, the well-placed torque peak means that the A4 is a hearty hillclimber and can dash around minor roads very smartly. That's when the manual selection side of the Multitronic gate comes into its own.
Like most cars in the Audi catalogue, the A4 looks and feels very solidly put together. Our test car had the five-spoke wheels which add to the impression of chunky build quality.
Of course, many buyers go for the A4 Avant, but if you don't fancy an estate the saloon version has a surprisingly capacious boot. And it's possible we may have lost the plot in earlier reports, by subconsciously comparing the rear seat room to the very generous space in the larger A6 saloon. The A4 actually offers pretty good passenger space there.
The A4 interior is still presented in an unflamboyant way, but it's now a little cheerier than in the earlier versions. In the SE-specification test car, with its four-spoke leather-rimmed steering wheel, there was a comprehensive driver information system which didn't just show the usual trip computer times, fuel consumption, miles to go till a refuelling stop, and so on. It also offered checks on items like brake condition, oil and battery levels.
Neat fascia and console details include the switchgear for the heating and ventilating system, and a pop-out drawer, matching the cupholder, for toll receipts and the like. Fascia and door trim was metallic effect, certainly not bright but a little less sunglasses-preferred than some of the wood effect trim in other Audi models.
Nobody else except Audi offers a V6 turbo diesel linked with a CVT transmission, but the interesting thing about the A4 is that it doesn't seem like any kind of freak. You can't beat solid engineering and a tough quality control regime.
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