2010 Audi A4 Quality Review

With its latest reinvention, the Audi A4 finally gets the interior space it's been lacking for a car in its price range. Wagons are even more generous with cargo space, though both sedan and wagon could use a higher rear seat for better comfort.

Automobile cites the A4's measurements and proclaims it "significantly longer and wider than the [BMW] 3-series and the [Mercedes] C-class." The upsizing grants the A4 "a roomy interior, to which Audi adds a generous trunk." They add, there's now "more space for long legs, broad shoulders, and tall heads than before," and that "the overall layout...is much more practical." Edmunds says the increase in wheelbase and cabin room "does more than improve the 2009 A4's ride and handling"-it also hands the A4 "some useful rear-seat legroom at last." Few reviews cite the comfort of the Audi A4's seats, but TheCarConnection.com's editors feel the A4 has great front seats and plenty of headroom for all, but the rear seats aren't that comfortable. Our complaint? The bottom cushion is short, the seatback angle is more upright than you might expect, and the seating position is low-though there's plenty of knee room, at last.

Passengers aren't the only ones to benefit from the added space. There's more room for stuff in the A4's "truly huge (i.e. flat, tall, and deep) trunk," says Car and Driver. The A4 Avant wagon tops the sedan with 17.3 cubic feet of space behind the rear seat, a hold that AutoWeek says "approaches the trunk space in full-size sedans such as the BMW 7 Series." AutoWeek also adds "with the rear seat folded, the Avant's 50.5 cubic feet approaches the space in...the Ford Escape and the Nissan Murano." Though "the vast majority of Americans don't seem to care for wagon variants," Popular Mechanics thinks "the convenience offered by the A4 Avant's fold-down rear seats, its hatch and its comprehensive array of rear load-support bars, hooks and nets is worth a close look."

Audi does a better job than most companies in matching plastic textures and colors, so the A4's interior still ranks above those from BMW and Mercedes even though it's lost some of its rich-looking wood trim and conservative style over the years. "The design of the A4's interior sets a new standard for small premium sedans," Edmunds says. "Not only is it fantastically comfortable, but also it looks beautifully modern and wonderfully constructed - nothing feels cheap." Car and Driver feels that "clear attention was paid to the haptic quality of the A4's various buttons, switches, and other ditties that one must twist, poke, or pull."