Back to the Future with Audi

In the late 1980s and early 90s white cars were all the rage and I admit to owning two such cars.  The first was a 1987 MG Metro with grey seats, complete with MG logo, and red  piping, with matching red carpets and seat belts, and the second was a 1993 Renault Clio 1.4 RT. I loved these cars but both suffered the indignity of being written off in accidents, though I hasten to add that I wasn’t to blame for either incident.  Perhaps the colour was unlucky for me?

Fast forward to 2012 and the car sat outside the house ready for the trip to the FIA World Endurance Championship race at Spa-Francorchamps is an Audi A4 Saloon 2.0 TDI 143PS S Line in Ibis White.  Since the Renault was sent to the big scrapyard in the sky in 1999 I have never considered white as an option, preferring to stick to more traditional silvers and blues, but there was something quite striking about the Audi in the S line body kit and large 18” 5-twin-spoke alloy wheels.

Behind the wheel everything is typically Audi.  Comfortable S Line seats in Black Sprint cloth/ leather, dials and switch gear laid out with typical Germanic efficiency and plenty of storage spaces for the inevitable food and drink for the long journey to Belgium via the Euro Tunnel.

Fire up the 143bhp oil burner and you immediately know this is a class act.  The 2.0 litre unit comes in various guises in the Audi range and this 143bhp unit sits in the middle.  It certainly pulls well with plenty of torque and feels a lot quicker than the 9.2 second 0-60mph time quoted. On the open road you are hard pushed to hear any diesel noise it is so refined and the engine allows you to push on but at the same time is very economical.  Sat on European motorways on cruise control, the car returned a very impressive 48mpg at speeds between 70 and 85mph (110-130kph).

Around town the car is equally at home but I did find the auto stop-start system fitted to the car quite annoying at first.  I did stall the car on the first day and suffered the embarrassment of holding up the traffic in my haste to restart the car.  The system doesn’t like to be hurried and once I had discovered this fact the auto stop-start was found to be OK.  However I did switch the system off when travelling around Spa town centre as I was afraid of stalling the car and looking an idiot in front of the race teams.

The other system that was difficult to get around at first was the electronic hand brake.  The system is supposed to release when you move forward and as long as you are on the flat it works perfectly.  However on a hill things got tricky as the system refused to disengage on a few occasions.  It probably had more to do with operator error than a system error and if I had longer with the car I would be able to get used to the operation of these two systems.

On twisty A roads the car is sure footed and poised.  The suspension is a little ‘sporty’ but nothing compared to the harsh ride produced by the 8^th generation Honda Civic that is my current daily mode of transportation.  Direct comparisons are inevitably made to the BMW 3 Series and as a former BMW owner I can say the handling of the Audi A4 is perfect and in the real world away from the test track the differences are negligible.  If you are race driver or a motoring hack then, yes, the 3 Series is a better handling car, just, but for us mere mortals the A4 is a comfortable compact executive that you can throw around on the twisty stuff with ease, if you like that sort of thing.  

The trip to and from Spa-Francorchamps passed without incident, in fact the journey home just wafted by in a typical Audi manner and I arrived back in Grantham feeling tired from the long hours working in the circuit media centre but not from the long drive back to the UK.  The Audi Concert System is a perfect companion on long journeys and it also comes with Bluetooth connection for your mobile phone so calls can be made and received on the move. The only downside was the lack of a built in Sat Nav system on the car, which is a £1,620 option, so my trusty Garmin was brought into service for the trip.

With the optional extras of the Audi storage package, interior light package and Audi Music Interface, the total on the road price for the Audi A4 2.0 TDI S Line came to £29,635, which is cheaper than the equivalent 3 Series. 

Would I buy one with my own money?  'Yes' would be my definite answer because it is the consummate all round performer in this class.  In the opinion of motoring magazines it might not handle as well as a BMW or Mercedes C Class but it is still very competent and it oozes the Audi brand values of beautiful and comfortable cars without making a huge ‘song and dance’ about it.  

Would I have it in Ibis White? That would be a definite ‘no’ because I would prefer a more understated silver, grey or black as, in my opinion, white cars are best left in the last millennium where they belong – or on a BMW.  At least this car was returned to Audi without a scratch.

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