Audi A4 Allroad Quattro

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 crossover like body cladding and more ground clearance than the A4 sedan.

The Allroad’s 252-hp turbo-four is paired with 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.

But it’s the Allroad’s Quattro with Ultra system that’s the star of this wagon’s show. As an on-demand drivetrain, its fuel-saving capability exceeds that of many previous Quattros. Evaluated without the knowledge of its newfound complexity, its capabilities are as easy to trust as an autonomic heartbeat. Not once were we made aware of all that’s going on behind the scenes, despite relying consistently on all-wheel drive to pull us confidently through inches of fresh snow, treacherous ice, or sloppy mud. We measured 24 mpg, one less than the EPA’s combined rating, but two better than we saw in the A4 sedan, which uses the older, full-time all-wheel-drive hardware. Selecting the off-road mode locks the Quattro system into all-wheel drive, de-creases steering effort, and softens the dampers beyond their comfort-mode settings while disabling Audi’s pre-sense collision mitigation and preparation system. It’s a virtually imperceptible tweak that’s no more dramatic than switching into other drive modes.

Built on Audi’s B9 platform, the Allroad wagon shares most of its suspension—its links, bushings, and anti-roll bars—with the A4 sedan. Its wheelbase is virtually identical as well (110.9 inches versus 111.0). It is, however, 2.6 inches taller thanks in part to fixed roof rails. Taller springs that raise the Allroad by 0.9 inch and taller 45-series rubber (another 0.4 inch) are responsible for 1.3 inches more ground clearance. But the Allroad, at heart, still feels like an A4—one with sleepy handling, sure, but with all the sedan’s straight-line speed, character, and quality. Adjustable dampers are included with the standard Audi Drive Select, which tailors the Allroad’s responses automatically or across its four modes: comfort, dynamic, off-road, and individual.

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.”

The new A4 Allroad is still a proper Audi in every sense—capability, presentation, and quality. More important, it’s still a Quattro, even if Quattro has evolved.