5 Reasons to Buy a 2023 Audi A4 (What's New?)

The Audi A4 takes a refreshingly straightforward approach to the attainable luxury sedan. And today I'm going to do- And today I'm going to show you why it deserves the limelight, why it doesn't, and what's new for 2023. Briefly, if you enjoy fun detailed car content without fluff, consider subscribing and hitting the bell for notifications. For the new model year, we're going to have some notable differences in equipment. So first, remember that there are three trims to the A4. The premium, premium plus, and prestige. For 2023, so long as you get a premium with the convenience package, you will have adaptive cruise. Next, for the premium plus, you will have the Bang & Olufsen 3D sound system as standard. And then all cars will have the signature daytime running lights, which are a crispy accent to the headlights here. And the black optics plus package, which tricks common folk into thinking that you spent S4 money, now has a black spoiler and dark exhaust tips. Black optics plus is now also available for the A4 all-road, which will lead me to my first reason to pick up an A4, and that's the configurations. So a lot of different luxury cars do have a wide variety of different interior accents and materials to choose from, but the A4 takes it up a couple more notches. So things change as you go through trims or whether or not you get the S line interior package, but they also offer two engines with different spring rates. They again offer the all-road variant, just like a more compact, evolved Subaru Outback. And the difference in engine and suspension will be labeled as 40 and 45. So the car next to me is a 45. There's other exterior differences with that as well, but the main thing that you should know is that it does create a dramatic difference in performance. And I'll talk about that more here soon. The next thing, and honestly the most important for me, would be the interior. Pretty much everything in here feels very tactile and analog. I love the HVAC controls. And it also translates into just the door feel and even the backseat cup holders. It all exudes quality. The fit and finish at this price point feels impeccable. And the technology in here is actually really good too. So you can get things like a heads-up display if you go with the Prestige model, but even if you go with just the Premium Plus, you have a full virtual cockpit. And that is among the best driver displays out there. So it's going to be very configurable. The resolution is good. I love the different themes. It's easy to use. And if you skip that, you still get a really nice set of analog gauges on the base trim. And the touchscreen too isn't half bad with reasonably quick responses, good resolution, deep blacks. Its placement is just a little awkward and seems not too fitting for the cabin. I also think the Audi phone box, which boosts your cell phone antenna and charges the phone, is a nice touch. And really there are a lot of thoughtful features into this thing. So I'm going to make the ergonomics and comfort their own reason for buying an A4. So I like that you have a height adjustable center armrest. Then you will also have, so long as you don't get the base car, adjustable thigh extensions, which definitely help. I'm six foot three and I can fit in this relatively small car with quite a bit of comfort, despite this also having traditionally German firm seats that help when cornering. Plus, if you were wondering, I can sit behind myself in the back seat. I'm just going to be a little cramped. However, the back seat does have one trick to it. It's a 40-20-40 split folding row. So that means that if you want to have four passengers in this thing and carry long items, you can do that with ease in the A4. Plus this definitely deserves the practicality card because again, it offers a wagon. It's just kind of hard to find. Briefly, I'd like to thank Royal on the Eastside in Bloomington, Indiana for letting me test out some A4s in the past. The staff are very knowledgeable and all of their new cars are sold at MSRP. If you're in the market, check them out. So the next reason is handling. Along with more power, the 45 is also going to have a sports suspension. This is going to make the car noticeably stiffer. For the compact luxury segment, I would still consider it forgiving enough, but the advantage is definitely felt when cornering at higher speed when compared to the regular car, which does come off a little bit more posh, which almost makes me wish that the sports suspension was just an option on the 45. But nonetheless, it does make the car very capable. It stays composed despite any road imperfections. The steering is also precise, well-weighted. It changes direction quickly with the stiffer suspension, despite not having a darty characteristic. There's just a minimal amount of feedback to the driver. Now, I haven't driven the Genesis G70 or the new generation BMW 3 Series, but I've heard that those do a better job at giving you an engaging experience. So if that's what you're looking for, maybe this isn't the route. However, this is still a great option if you care about performance, not only with the back roads, as I just explained, but also with straight line speed. So even with the base engine, you're going to look at a 0-60 time of about 6.3 seconds from my testing. But with the 45, I got five seconds flat. With 261 horsepower compared to 201, that gap makes sense. Power comes from two different versions of the VW Group 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. This allows the 45 to take on a different persona, reacting to throttle inputs with more haste and providing plenty of passing power. It helps transform the A4 into a sports sedan. The 40 has some punch and merges to highway speed without breaking a sweat. It just lacks urgency. Not to mention the S4, which is also available if you want even more from the A4. Plus, this is going to be hooked up to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that operates in a smooth manner in 99% of driving, but can also shift quite snappy. Although quick shifts and refinement is great, it does call for a little bit of low-speed lagginess if you go for the 40 powertrain. I don't think it's tuned to click through the gears quite the same way as the VW GTI is, but it feels immensely capable, especially with the launch control and the Quattro all-wheel drive, which is standard on all A4s. This is the Quattro Ultra system, using clutches instead of a center diff like the S4. It will operate as front-wheel drive primarily, but uses various sensors and will proactively switch to all-wheel drive based on what it thinks the driver wants, along with what the weather and road surface look like. For instance, if you're hustling the car around even a dry back road, it will still function constantly as all-wheel drive. The result is the same feeling of a full-time all-wheel drive system, a still impressive amount of traction as a majority of power can still go to the rear, and improved efficiency. It's just less built for performance than the Torsen center diff Quattro. With upscale cars, one common concern is reliability. This generation was debuted for 2017. It uses the EA888 engine, which it has for a while. Despite the issues of timing chains and oil consumption in the previous generations that really made these things something to kind of avoid, this car has been pretty reliable. In the first couple of years, it was fairly common for these to have coolant leaks out of the thermostat and water pump. Some engine mount leaks were reported as well, as were bad window regulators, something that can be expensive on these. There are some other miscellaneous issues reported, the most common of which would be the Bang & Olufsen sound system trim peeling up and cutting people. This got a recall toward the beginning of the generation, so it shouldn't be a problem anymore. I just think that's kind of an odd fault. Now, I would almost list reliability as a pro for the Audi A4. However, with the new introduction of the mild hybrid systems as standard, I think I could be jumping the gun on that, given Audi's history. But I will say that if you're looking for a luxury car and reliability is a top concern for you, I think the A4 is still worth consideration if you aren't just fixated on Lexus. Now let's talk the biggest downsides. One I've already touched on is that hybridization, which I know is to improve the response and add for a smoother auto stop-start capabilities, but I don't think either of those things really improved the car. I mean, I didn't have any reservations about the powertrain in the past, and this new setup is still great. I just don't consider the mild hybrid as necessary. The next thing, and this is probably my biggest complaint, would be the touchscreen. So there's nothing inherently wrong about it. I think it was just an afterthought. Like this cockpit was designed for the previous system, which used a rotary dial and a smaller screen set further away, resulting in it looking borderline aftermarket. And my last qualm with the A4 is that it gets pricey quickly. While the base 40 is a good car, in order to really have an eager powertrain, you have to step up to the 45, and that's going to cost you. And you're also probably going to want to get the convenience package too. So with both of those, you're now well into the mid 40s. So there's really not a huge value argument for the A4, but very few luxury cars really offer that these days. While the A4 isn't necessarily a car that a lot of people get really excited about, I enjoy this thing because it's a master of the details. It nails the things that we've come to expect from a German luxury car, like a good quality interior, great handling, competent performance. But with its other thoughtful features and wide variety of configurations, the A4 is still one of my first recommendations to people that are looking to get into a luxury car for under 50 grand. Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed it, please leave a like and help me make a fool of the YouTube algorithm. If you want to see more, subscribe and hit the bell. And thank you to my loyal patrons. I'll catch you in the next one.