Audi A4 3.2 Quattro (2007) CAR review

This new Audi A4, it looks classier than before...

Audi has moved its game on, as indeed it had to. With squarer proportions than the ubiquitous 3-series, this forthcoming A4 looks decidedly more imposing on the road. There’s a considerably longer wheelbase – look at that BMW-esque front-wheel-in-the-front-corner stance. In turn, that pushes the engines further behind the front axle line to increase the balance. But it’s the R8-style daylight driving lights that really make the A4 stand out in an instant, even if you need to opt for the £775 xenon light pack to get them. Is Audi chasing the pushy BMW image? It makes us wonder...

Longer wheelbase? Isn’t a cramped interior a given in compact execs?

It’s increasingly less the case. But while each new iteration of any car inevitably involves an increase in size these days, the A4 gains an extra 54mm in the wheelbase, most of which appears to have gone into increasing rear legroom. That, according to Audi’s figures, makes it the roomiest of the three German contenders. The A4 is long, too, an eye-catching 200mm longer than the BMW and Mercedes. But while that puts the latest A4 on a par with earlier versions of the A6, it’s still a long way short of the layabout space you get in a new Mondeo.