Car X6 Concept

Did you know that it basically took Audi 126.5 million years to finally agree with everyone alive that having a tall 4,6 or 8 cylinder engine set up high and way in front of the front axle does not do wonders to the handling of their front wheel drive sedans? Having driven the current A6, the previous generation A4 (B7 series) as well as the earlier ones too, I have to say that massive understeer is the preferred way for these front wheel drive Audis to corner.

On the B7 A4 I remember driving it hard and it felt so nose heavy that even with a pointy nose it felt as if the steering was the one end of the stick and the other end was the large elephant hanging off of it. That A4 was a pretty good car and in 2.0TFSI form was a fast ride but the high speed handling on a twisty road was really bad. I would assume this trait would be lessened in the Quattro or All wheel drive version of the cars, but in the front wheel drive A4, it basically was awful.

Now this brings us to the current B8 Audi A4 1.8 TFSI launched around two years ago. The car I tried is owned by a friend of mine and it is a car that is very familiar to me. His ride pictured above is the 1.8TFSI 160bhp spec that comes with the larger 18inch tires and rims. It looks so much better than the stock 17inch rims that the standard car is specced with.

I suppose it was because of nearly universal criticism of mega understeer that Audi had finally decided to re-engineer the engine and gearbox placement of the A4. The wheels are now at least 8cm forward compared to the earlier setup and this equates to better handling as well steering feel. The car does not drive like you were sitting just slightly behind an arrow's head in flight. You actually have a car in which does not fight the laws of physics all the time unlike the earlier versions.

This time it feels like you're driving a front wheel drive car with a normal transverse engine instead of a longitudinally placed one (even though it is still longitudinally placed). Imagine driving a slightly larger Honda Civic (in terms of nippiness). This is the first 4 door front wheel drive Audi ever that behaves decently well.

There is very little sign of it being nose heavy like its predecessors. It is a car which you can fling into corners, of course there's none of the tail out antics being a front wheel drive and it will only show mild understeer at speeds in excess of 150km/h on high speed sweeping corners. On tighter corners, it is poised and predictable, with the A4 managing to turn accurately and without much of the artificial steering sensation of the previous variable assist steering wheel. It still lacks feel, but it is better than the previous A4.

Audi's convention of internal numbering go behind a logical series from the 80 to the A4 with the first release selected as the B5-series, followed by the B6, B7, and the present B8. In an auto show in Frankfurt, B8 series of the Audi A4 was launched in 2007 and the Geneva auto show in 2008. At present, B8 engines include both petrol and diesel engines. The petrol engines offer 1.8 liter, 2.0 liter and 3.2 liter as well as 2.0 liter, 2.7 liter and 3.0 liter diesel engines. If you buy second hand Audi A4, check out different classified websites online.

First entering production in 1994, the A4 was warmly received by critics and customers alike. Since then it has had two major re-developments over the last 16 years, first in 2005 with that generation running through to 2008 and then, secondly, the latest generation of the car which is the Audi A4's best incarnation so far.

Critics have always been impressed with Top Gear explaining that "Audi has produced a 3 Series rival that...offers truly fantastic ride quality" and is part of the "new generation of Audis...that have learned how to ride".

Seen as a competitor to the BMW 3 Series, the question then becomes, what is the entry price for the vehicle. Depending on your requirements, its on the road list price ranges from £22,190 to £37,290. However, if you utilise car finance you can pick up a brand new version of the Audi A4 for just £309 a month on contract hire leasing deal if you are a business (and use it solely for business) or £376 per month for a retail shopper if they take it on a car leasing contract known as personal contract hire.

At Leipzig or Ingolstadt, Audi A4, was chosen as the most popular car. For the ninth time, more than 100 weekly newspapers in the former East Germany had invited readers to vote for "Our car". For a choice, at voting, have been registered 56 car models, launched during the last couples of years. There were received over 100,000 opinions, pointing at the Audi A4 as being the first choice at the poll.

Audi A4 enjoys numerous awards - including the "Golden Steering Wheel" awarded by the newspaper "Bild am Sonntag", the trophy "Auto 1" from "AutoBild" being named the best new car in Europe. Audi A4 follows a story of success by receiving the name of "Our Car". It is the fourth time when the brand with four rings wins at the readers' poll. In 2001, the old generation Audi A4 took first place position, in the 2005 Audi A6, and last year, the Audi TT. The award was given during the AMI in Leipzig. At the event of "Our Car" awarding in 2008, two other Audi models were ranked in the top ten as most popular car in German.