Audi Allroad 2013

What's become of the A4 Avant.

“Hey,” you ask between bites of sympathetically foraged nettle burger, “isn’t this Audi thing just, like, a more-expensive version of my Subaru Outback?” Well, yeah, sorta.

Like the Subaru, this Audi is based on a no-longer-sold-in-the-U.S. station wagon (the Legacy five-door and the dead-for-2013 A4 Avant, respectively.) Like the Subaru, the Allroad is jacked up and plastic-plated. And like the Subaru, it’s mainly an advertisement for how green and holistic your lifestyle is.

Audi freely admits the Allroad is not intended for off-road use. It has no available low-range gearing or height-adjustable suspension, as did the first Allroad, which was based on the A6. It doesn’t have hill-descent control or a freaking winch or a tranquilizer gun or anything. What it does have are stainless-steel skid plates that would look pretty shitty if they got scratched up.

But in contrast to Subaru’s Montpelier shuttle bus, this Audi is a far more luxurious and better-fettled machine, like its A4 Avant forebear. The cabin is as well turned out as you’d expect, a veritable festival of high-buck materials screwed together with the precision of, well, an Audi. Leather upholstery is standard, as is trim supposedly woven from individual strips of stainless steel. Upgrade linings include open-pore matte walnut and layered oak.

The Allroad plies paved roads and gravel driveways at the behest of Audi’s 2.0-liter turbocharged four. With the engine frothing up 211 hp and spinning all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic, acceleration doesn’t exhilarate. Instead, the going is peaceful and easy, like the feeling target buyers get from their favorite band. That said, with all 258 lb-ft of torque available from 1500 rpm, off-the-line grunt is decent, and we predict a fairly quick 0-to-60 run of 6.3 seconds. That’s the same as for the last A4 Avant we tested, which had a six-speed auto. Weight should hold at about 3900 pounds. (It wouldn’t help top-end acceleration, but we’re thinking the 170-hp version of the VW Group’s 2.0-liter diesel would suit the car; look for compression ignition in a next-gen Allroad, if we get a next-gen Allroad.)

Handling is very competent, albeit a few notches below sporty. Compared with the A4 Avant, the Allroad—0.7 inch longer, 1.5 inches taller, slightly wider tracks, and 7.1 inches of ground clearance—leans more heavily on its outside front wheel during cornering, and there’s more body roll. The steering is light and fairly tactile, but it’s now electrically boosted and a bit more distant than before. The ride is firm but not punishing over mostly smooth roads like those we drove in Colorado, but the 18-inch rolling stock feels heavy, and we wonder if it might clomp over the craggier surfaces near our Michigan base. There are optional 19-inch wheels with available summer rubber.
The Allroad carries the revisions made to the A4 lineup for 2013, including reworked MMI functions and center-stack buttons, optional LED daytime running lights that swap individual bulbs for Blade Runner tubes, and the availability of Audi Connect, which provides in-car internet connectivity and Google Earth functions. Beyond the previously discussed stainless and plastic pieces, special Allroad exterior bits include aluminum roof rails and a sweet-looking egg-slicer grille.

Pricing starts at $40,495 for the base Premium trim, some $3200 more than a 2012 A4 Avant Premium (and $7600 more than the most-expensive 2013 Outback, in case you were wondering). Stand-alone options for the starter-kit Allroad are limited to wood interior trim, heated front seats, and rear side airbags that really ought to be included in a family car, plus Convenience (iPod interface, Bluetooth, trip computer, etc.) and LED lighting packages. It also costs extra if you want a car in anything other than basic white or black, and body-color fender flares and side sills are available, but only on white, black, or silver Allroads.

For navigation, you’ll have to get the $43,795 Premium Plus model and pay an additional $3000 for a package that includes Audi Connect, a color screen for the IP, a rearview camera, and HD Radio. Even skipping that, Premium Plus buyers add the LED lights, heated front seats, a power liftgate, Convenience kit, slightly more aggressive tires, three-zone climate control, auto xenon headlamps, aluminum window trim, and a few other bits as standard. Other notable options at this level: sport seats and a sportier steering wheel with paddles, the 19-inch wheels, Bang & Olufsen audio, and proximity access and start.

Next up is the $49,695 Prestige. It packs most of the foregoing equipment, plus active headlamps and blind-spot monitoring. The Prestige unlocks the ability to spec the Driver Assistance pack (adaptive cruise that functions in stop-and-go traffic, Audi “drive select” to customize throttle and steering response, active steering). For full zoot, tick the boxes for paint, 19-inch rollers, layered oak trim, sport seats and wheel, rear-door sunshades, and rear side airbags. You’ll own a whole-hog Allroad and a bank account that’s been drained of an eye-watering $57,170.

The expansive pricing makes the decision to replace the A4 Avant in the U.S. seem even more condescending—You Americans just don’t get it, so have this fake SUV! And it costs more!—or would if the decision didn’t spring from hard truth, and if we hadn’t seen it happen before (Legacy wagon scrapped for Outback, 5-series wagon killed for 5-series GT, and so on). Regular wagons, ones with sleek profiles and athletic handling, don’t sell here, but cars that advertise lifestyles do. That’s a damn shame. Because although the Allroad is good—and better than no wagon at all—there wasn’t much wrong with the A4 Avant.