So why are the figures useful?
While the figures are for guidance only, they do enable you to compare the results not only with other Audi models but also with models from other manufacturers as all EU car manufacturers use the same method for obtaining the C02 and mpg figures.[/I]
This last bit from Audi is precisely what I firmly believe you can no longer do.
As someone pointed out, the accelerations used in the test are so gentle that manufacturers are able to get larger engined (and heavier) cars to perform, if not as frugally, then almost as frugally as smaller engined cars.
It is only when you apply the throttle in a way more closely resembling real driving that the difference grows dramatically.
Ok, no big deal when comparing a luxury barge with a city car - no one is stupid enough to believe the figures.
But how do you know how a 320d will perform compared with an A4 2.0 TDI in real life, even if on paper they are very similar? Well, if my experience is anything to go by, then you don't, as the A4 is dire compared with the BMW.
Only with the help of What Car? and others do consumers get an idea of how well (or badly) a car might perform real life.
But why should we have to when we have already paid and continue pay millions of pounds for some eurocrats to devise a test and then others to administer it. It's a farce.
It's the equivalent of testing the battery life of a laptop by simply starting up and letting it idle. No sane person would accept that as a proper test.
The EU should analyse the driving habits of the average driver, and use that as a basis of the test. Watch those official figures drop like a stone!
