Audi A4 Avant review

Prices start at £35,020 for the 35 TFSI, £37,900 for the 35 TDI, £39,175 and £42,490 for the 40 TDI (TFSI meaning petrol, TDI meaning diesel). On lease you’re looking at around £450, £480, £520, and £550 on a four-year agreement with a six-month down payment.

To put that into perspective, the BMW 3 Series Touring starts from £41,000, the Merc C-Class Estate from £46,155 and the Volvo V60 from £41,330.

WHAT’S THE KIT LIST LIKE?

Even the lowliest A4 Avants come pretty well equipped, and higher up the range there are hardly any options to add. Base spec is called Technik – it buys you LED headlights, three-zone climate control, heated front seats, a power-operated tailgate, cruise control, parking sensors, a reversing camera, the big 10.1-inch touchscreen and ‘Virtual Cockpit’ instrument cluster among others.

Sport, S Line and Black Edition trims are mostly aesthetic upgrades, though S Line upwards also gets 23mm lower sports suspension that’s a bit too stiff for our liking. Standard safety kit includes autonomous emergency braking, but for the full suite of tech you’ll need to spec the £1,250 Driver Assistance Pack. It adds the likes of traffic sign recognition, lane assist and adaptive cruise control.

WHAT’S THE BEST SPEC?

Our choice would be the upper powered 40 TFSI which has front-wheel drive, the auto gearbox and just over 200bhp. We’d stick with Sport trim, which looks more interesting than Technik (if not as good as S Line) and keeps the softer suspension.

Audi’s standard warranty is three years/60,000 miles, but you can extend it all the way up to five years/90,000 miles for £995.