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Hey guys,
I managed to get a car for overnight so that I could try out the Matrix LED headlights and thought that it might be good to write a quick review of my thoughts since I had a B8.5 A4 as well. I had a 190PS 2.0TFSI S-Tronic in SE trim, much like the one that bluemoona3246 posted in #13 of this thread http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/new-a4.256909/.
I drove about 130 miles on the dual carriageway and got to try out a bunch of the tech as well as get an idea of efficiency and the general feel of the car.
Exterior
I think that this is something that has been covered by a plenty people already and the general view is that it's an evolution rather than revolution. I think I agree with that, it's very similar to the B8.5 but has a little more edginess to it I'd say. I like the look of the front and rear LED headlights and actually don't mind the wing mirrors being mounted to the doors like the A3 and TT, I don't think that it takes anything away from the overall look of the car to be honest.
Interior
As I had the SE version there wasn't any leather seats but the leather on the steering wheel was soft as well as all the other surfaces that were covered in cow hide. The overall build quality was up with what you'd expect of a new Audi, no squeaks or rattles and all the fit and finish was perfect. The car had the lighting pack and I really liked the lighting in the doors and around your knees at the central console, I think that it adds a really nice high quality feel to the cabin at night. I added LEDs to all of my interior lights on my B8.5 but the B9 I had came standard fitted throughout and they also add to the interior I think.
Driving
At the time of writing I hadn't really thrown it around a whole bunch but it still felt really solid and didn't tramline like the B8.5 did. That said, it could be a result of the thinner rubber (225 versus 255)... The little bit that I did down some back roads felt really good and I didn't really notice a whole bunch of front end push at a fairly representative 'fun' driving speed so that's better than my B8.5 was for sure.
The ride quality was better than the B8.5 but that could easily be down to the SE springs versus the S-Line springs that I had on mine. I think to compare like for like I'd have to try out an S-Line with the same size wheel and such I think. I think that I'd also like to try out the S-Line adaptive suspension too, adaptive shocks aren't something I've had the chance to try apart from in a Porsche Cayman which just made your teeth rattle out when in 'stiff' mode.
One thing that was immediately noticeable over the B8.5 once I was cruising was the lack of road or wind noise. It was really impressive. I think that it would be even better with the privacy glass that includes the acoustic glass in the front as well (I believe).
I'm wasn't too bothered about the engine or transmission because I'm looking at getting the S4 but it was smooth and had a decent amount of torque for the real world. Unless you like to specifically have a decent amount of power, as I do, then I think that something like this would be more than enough for day to day driving.
Technology
This was the real reason that I wanted the test drive.
I wanted to try out the Matrix LED headlights which I think are really impressive. I don't think that they're probably quite as good as the A8 versions that I've seen but I'd say that they are on par with the A6. I thought that they were really good when driving B roads in the dark and really lit up the road as far as was possible at any given point. They also have turning lights that activate during the tighter turns which are really useful. I tried to capture it on the GoPro, hopefully it's a halfway decent video for you guys.
It was my first time using the adaptive cruise and it also had the lane assist. On the dual carriageway it literally drove itself, I just kept one finger on the wheel in case of an issue but it was really good for a 60 mile trip. With the packs that were on the car it had traffic sign recognition and I found that you could set it to change the adaptive cruise speed automatically so you don't even have to alter the setting yourself. Might just be the lazy in me but I thought that was great.
It can get a bit confused on the odd occasion so I think that to see if you want it you should really take a drive with it before ticking the box.
I really liked the virtual cockpit but I would say that it's probably not one of those things that would be a 'must have' for me. I definitely like it and as it's included in one of the packs that I want to add I think it's a good deal in that regard.
I tried the automatic parallel parking and it was impressive but I know that it's a system that's been used in a number of VWs for a while. I don't know if the system does parking in car parks like the Q7 version but I'll try to find a place to give it a shot and update if I find that it does it because that'll be something new for me for sure.
The controversial centre screen really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was expecting it to look very out of place but once I was in the car and driving I didn't even notice it in terms of being an eyesore. I actually found that I really liked it to be honest. I can't imagine that I would ever have folded it away even if I was able.
The only other thing that I can think of that would be worth mentioning was the Carplay on the centre screen. It took me a while to get it working but once I did it was pretty cool and was nice to be able to see messages coming in and get the car to read them out and to see missed calls, etc. I thought that it was a cool interface and if it was my car and it automatically connected when I got in I think it would be really cool rather than having to take ages setting it up. Haha.
One thing that I was surprised by was the fact that all A4s now have push button start regardless of whether you select the advanced key option. There's no longer even a place to physically put the key in the dash board! So really if you pay for the advanced key (which I probably would because I like leaving it in my pocket) then it's really only for the ability to not have to unlock the car before you get to it and just pull the handle instead. I like that but I think that a lot of people will weigh it up and find they don't find it worth the money now you get a start button regardless.
So... I think that the overall feelings are that I really liked the car and am happy enough with the decisions and options that I'd thought about getting. I think that I'd like to try the S4 with the 8 speed auto to make sure that I like the overall powertrain.
In the meantime if anyone has any questions then pop them in here and I'll try to answer. If there are any picture requests I have the car until tomorrow morning so can try to help out.
Dan
I managed to get a car for overnight so that I could try out the Matrix LED headlights and thought that it might be good to write a quick review of my thoughts since I had a B8.5 A4 as well. I had a 190PS 2.0TFSI S-Tronic in SE trim, much like the one that bluemoona3246 posted in #13 of this thread http://www.audi-sport.net/xf/threads/new-a4.256909/.
I drove about 130 miles on the dual carriageway and got to try out a bunch of the tech as well as get an idea of efficiency and the general feel of the car.
Exterior
I think that this is something that has been covered by a plenty people already and the general view is that it's an evolution rather than revolution. I think I agree with that, it's very similar to the B8.5 but has a little more edginess to it I'd say. I like the look of the front and rear LED headlights and actually don't mind the wing mirrors being mounted to the doors like the A3 and TT, I don't think that it takes anything away from the overall look of the car to be honest.
Interior
As I had the SE version there wasn't any leather seats but the leather on the steering wheel was soft as well as all the other surfaces that were covered in cow hide. The overall build quality was up with what you'd expect of a new Audi, no squeaks or rattles and all the fit and finish was perfect. The car had the lighting pack and I really liked the lighting in the doors and around your knees at the central console, I think that it adds a really nice high quality feel to the cabin at night. I added LEDs to all of my interior lights on my B8.5 but the B9 I had came standard fitted throughout and they also add to the interior I think.
Driving
At the time of writing I hadn't really thrown it around a whole bunch but it still felt really solid and didn't tramline like the B8.5 did. That said, it could be a result of the thinner rubber (225 versus 255)... The little bit that I did down some back roads felt really good and I didn't really notice a whole bunch of front end push at a fairly representative 'fun' driving speed so that's better than my B8.5 was for sure.
The ride quality was better than the B8.5 but that could easily be down to the SE springs versus the S-Line springs that I had on mine. I think to compare like for like I'd have to try out an S-Line with the same size wheel and such I think. I think that I'd also like to try out the S-Line adaptive suspension too, adaptive shocks aren't something I've had the chance to try apart from in a Porsche Cayman which just made your teeth rattle out when in 'stiff' mode.
One thing that was immediately noticeable over the B8.5 once I was cruising was the lack of road or wind noise. It was really impressive. I think that it would be even better with the privacy glass that includes the acoustic glass in the front as well (I believe).
I'm wasn't too bothered about the engine or transmission because I'm looking at getting the S4 but it was smooth and had a decent amount of torque for the real world. Unless you like to specifically have a decent amount of power, as I do, then I think that something like this would be more than enough for day to day driving.
Technology
This was the real reason that I wanted the test drive.
I wanted to try out the Matrix LED headlights which I think are really impressive. I don't think that they're probably quite as good as the A8 versions that I've seen but I'd say that they are on par with the A6. I thought that they were really good when driving B roads in the dark and really lit up the road as far as was possible at any given point. They also have turning lights that activate during the tighter turns which are really useful. I tried to capture it on the GoPro, hopefully it's a halfway decent video for you guys.
It was my first time using the adaptive cruise and it also had the lane assist. On the dual carriageway it literally drove itself, I just kept one finger on the wheel in case of an issue but it was really good for a 60 mile trip. With the packs that were on the car it had traffic sign recognition and I found that you could set it to change the adaptive cruise speed automatically so you don't even have to alter the setting yourself. Might just be the lazy in me but I thought that was great.
It can get a bit confused on the odd occasion so I think that to see if you want it you should really take a drive with it before ticking the box.I really liked the virtual cockpit but I would say that it's probably not one of those things that would be a 'must have' for me. I definitely like it and as it's included in one of the packs that I want to add I think it's a good deal in that regard.
I tried the automatic parallel parking and it was impressive but I know that it's a system that's been used in a number of VWs for a while. I don't know if the system does parking in car parks like the Q7 version but I'll try to find a place to give it a shot and update if I find that it does it because that'll be something new for me for sure.
The controversial centre screen really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I was expecting it to look very out of place but once I was in the car and driving I didn't even notice it in terms of being an eyesore. I actually found that I really liked it to be honest. I can't imagine that I would ever have folded it away even if I was able.
The only other thing that I can think of that would be worth mentioning was the Carplay on the centre screen. It took me a while to get it working but once I did it was pretty cool and was nice to be able to see messages coming in and get the car to read them out and to see missed calls, etc. I thought that it was a cool interface and if it was my car and it automatically connected when I got in I think it would be really cool rather than having to take ages setting it up. Haha.
One thing that I was surprised by was the fact that all A4s now have push button start regardless of whether you select the advanced key option. There's no longer even a place to physically put the key in the dash board! So really if you pay for the advanced key (which I probably would because I like leaving it in my pocket) then it's really only for the ability to not have to unlock the car before you get to it and just pull the handle instead. I like that but I think that a lot of people will weigh it up and find they don't find it worth the money now you get a start button regardless.
So... I think that the overall feelings are that I really liked the car and am happy enough with the decisions and options that I'd thought about getting. I think that I'd like to try the S4 with the 8 speed auto to make sure that I like the overall powertrain.
In the meantime if anyone has any questions then pop them in here and I'll try to answer. If there are any picture requests I have the car until tomorrow morning so can try to help out.
Dan
