RE: Audi A4 revealed

[LasseV]

HFEVO2 said:

I drive an A5 Sportback 3 litre Quattro which is a great car and faster than it looks.

Trouble with all Audis is they are so boring to look at ! You can barely tell one from another either.
Worst of the lot is the A3 ( Yawn ).

Why can't they go to Pininfarina and ask them to design a really exciting looking range of cars - maybe something like the new Alfa Giulia ?
It would add hardly anything to the already premium pricing.

Jaguar should follow suit after the snoozefest that is the XE

Dude! You drive an a5 and you call XE as a snoozefest? Huh?

[pSynrg]

So did a team of designers and engineers really sit down for several months (12, 18, 24?), probably all got paid really decent salaries, and they came up with this?

I'm guessing in order to justify the xx millions that went into this they were denied internet access, any car design books, magazines, movies, TV shows or ads with any cars in them. Then asked to independently come up with their idea of what an Audi A4 should look like in 2015.

Maybe I'll ask the same team for some new clothes...

[EC2]

Agree about the screen especially as it retracts on the A3.

The key thing for RHD is whether the pedals on manual cars are offset again. No go for me if they are.

[Ares]

smithyithy said:

Ares said:

All part of EU legislation. Some manufacturers are a little better at it than others, but having a more visible, less distracting screen is now EU legislation. Having driven a 5 yr old XKR with a low down screen recently, I'm reminded how much more dangerous that position is that the high up, non-enclosed screen like in my 640.

Just Google'd the 640 - that looks fine IMO.

It's not so much the height of the screen, it's that in the 640 for example, it looks like part of the dash, like it was designed all together.

This A4 and other cars on the market look like someone has stuck their iPad onto the dash with an eBay-special universal cradle, just looks so out of place..

Still stuck on. BMW are just better at it than Merc & Audi.

[leedsutd1]

The dash is a copy of the 3 series but the seats look a lot better quality than the 3. Leather seats in the 3 sometimes look like vinyl seat covers ,the new 5 series are better though

[EC2]

Ares said:

Still stuck on. BMW are just better at it than Merc & Audi.

Looks just as bad on a three series.

[Elroy Blue]

Agree about the screen. Those stuck on IPad clones are cheap and tacky looking.

[markwm]

Don't know what's happened to Audi design of late. This has to be one of the most uninspired designs they've ever done. The exterior of the car doesn't look like 8 years of design progression or evolution.

The Q7, R8, and now this, all very dull by audi's standards.

[mikEsprit]

Slinky1989 said:

smithyithy said:

On the subject of Jag.. Am I going crazy, or have they also restyled the XF to look more like the XE??

Yes, looking for family resemblance, just like the Audi/BMW/Merc - Jaguars problem was that all it's cars looked completely different, so nobody (i.e. normal people who don't care for cars normally) could easily recognise what a jag was. Just look at the old X-type vs the S-type. Completely different styling, and it just confused most people.

The whole idea now is to get back to a brand identity. A brand look.

Having seen it in the flesh though, whilst it does look similar, it is definitely not the same. Looks more like the XE's classier big brother.

Edited by Slinky1989 on Monday 29th June 14:22

Nobody was confused about which was the Jaguar between an X-Type, S-Type, or XJ. They were all instantly Jaguars to anyone with any sense of caring at all. The X-Type and S-Type just weren't very good looking cars. Russian doll design is easy and doesn't turn off enough people to make it objectionable, apparently. Personally, I hate it.

[rtz62]

I think the average rating of 3.75 says it all really, doesn't it?
I've found myself unable to distinguish an Audi A4 from a 6 or 8 from the front or back for ages now.
This hones 'invisibility amongst peers ' to a fine art.
With regards to an early comment about the new A4 having a tablet-like device high up on the dashboard like BMW, I would like to add that my brand new Vauxhall Zafira Tourer also has one.
Oh, hang on, it IS a tablet; my wife bought a gizmo that securely mounts my iPad high up on the dash, and saves me dishing out £900 for Vauxhall's nav, as this has 4 free sat Nav apps, AND a speed camera detector.
I feel assured that this will be a capable and reliable car, but does it have any soul? On this brief report, I'd say it's doubtful...

[ambuletz]

as usual with all audis.. it looks the same as the last one and the same as the rest of their line. doesnt look much different to many other german saloons.

[monthefish]

Mike Duff said:

Coming soon to a fast lane near you...

Tedious, obvious, stupid sub header.

I hope PH aren't paying you much.

[Ian974]

article said:

the bonnet is a single clamshell, one of the biggest and most complicated metal stampings ever fitted to a production car

Things like this I usually appreciate, and its not that the Audi is a bad car, but they've gone to the bother of making even the bonnet more complicated and presumably expensive to repair/ replace if it gets dented, yet it looks exactly the same... It's almost reverse cost engineering

[Rawwr]

markwm said:

Don't know what's happened to Audi design of late. This has to be one of the most uninspired designs they've ever done.

And that's up against some pretty stiff competition.

[patch5674]

I would be massively surprised if that screen doesn't retract, the current A8, A7, A6 and A3 all have retractable screens, and as this interior represents a trickle down blend of A8 and A7/6 interior - The black line running across the entire dash is A8 and the door cards are A6, if that screen isn't retractable, I shall eat my hat.

[burningdinos]

monthefish said:

Tedious, obvious, stupid sub header.

It's about a "new" Audi A4. A tedious, obvious sub header fits perfectly.

[swimd]

I guess Piech knew why he left.
Audi can't ride their "aspirational brand" image forever and car designs like this are embarrassing when even the cheaper in-house competition looks much sharper and modern. (Skoda Superb looks miles better than this IMO)

[gizlaroc]

confused_buyer said:

Surely this is the 4th generation, not the 5th? Or have I completely missed one all together (very easy to do).

No.

B5 was the first A4, then the B6 in around 2001 followed by the B7 in 2005? Which was the same car but with different head and tail lights. Then we had the B8 which is the one on the roads now, so this will be the new A4 and the 5th one.

Yeah, you missed one model change, which was really a facelift rather than a new model, and I am sure many will think this is a facelift too.

[Leggy]

I'm on my 5th new A4, and due for replacement next Spring. I will getting something different. Competent and well made, but I was hoping for more.
I have a Quattro Avant, so hoping Jaguar will have something comparable by then.
When I first had Audis they were a cool brand and different to the BMW's everyone else was driving. Now they are so successful they are everywhere.
Time to move on.

[celicawrc]

If there is a car that shouts 'i have no interest in cars whatsoever'....it's this one.