This generation of audi A4L, B9, is obviously not a success. The initial launch of the audi A4L did not result in a synchronous increase in sales. On the contrary, because the customer feedback model is too close to the previous generation of models, the price has gone up again, the initial sales volume has been tepid, until the terminal price dropped to about 240,000 yuan starting, began to have a substantial increase. This became almost the same fate for this round of audi products.

If you remember our conclusion after experiencing audi Q5L before -- 320,000 yuan Q5L really smells good -- then the same is true for the cash A4L. At the price of 240,000 yuan this kind of camry and Asian dragon, you can buy the audi A4L with enough practical configuration, which is really fragrant. After all, audi still has the base of a luxury car, no matter the chassis structure, powertrain calibration or interior texture, it can still beat the mainstream brands at the same price.

This time in ehi to rent a car to rent is audi A4L 40TFSI fashion, that is 2.0T low power sub-low edition, look online now quote 270,000 yuan or so, it is said that the fifth version of 250,000 yuan less, really no words. In a simple circle around the car, the stamping edge line technology of audi A4L is very good, with strong identification and advanced sense. The only drawback is that the crease waist line does not go through the door handle, which reduces the process difficulty. The car is still an s-line, with a sporty front bumper and full LED headlights that turn on in turn when unlocked, leaving the sense of ceremony intact. One detail is that the audi A4L also USES a door handle that slant upward 45 degrees, which is more in line with human mechanics from the perspective of force application, reducing the strength of the door.

However, I feel regrettably that this generation of A4L and the medium-term modified A3 adopt the same design, which makes it unclear whether the two models can be clearly separated on the main road. Now it seems that audi has suffered from this kind of convenient design management.

Inside the car, the high-tech interior atmosphere audi has been building is still very strong, and the fashion version has been equipped with a full LCD dashboard and a floating center control, both of which can easily reflect the digital sense of The Times. A large number of silver feels adornment to match black gray to keep out plastic to cover piece, highlight the visual feeling that gives a kind of technology product to resemble cold and austere. Even where there is no soft material, audi has designed matte hard plastic to match, or at least to look rich and varied, instead of using plastic parts with similar patterns.

In fact, when it comes to the sense of design, audi A4L doesn't carry out too much fancy or creative design on the interior, but almost puts all functional areas in order. Perhaps it is because of this "neat design without design" that audi pursues the positioning of "technology".

Audi is also careful with the details, with silver trim in each area and fine chrome trim and texture on the edges of knobs and buttons, including the polished silver finish on the ignition keys. In addition, the atmosphere light inside the audi A4L is actually the simplest white light, and even some of the light is not even, but it does not hinder the car is to give people a very high-tech texture impression.

In some cases, the front center cup holder doesn't even have a cover, and the brushed silver veneer feels a bit too simple now, but the flocking is still in place. In addition, audi car has always pursued the "click click click" sound quality of the keys, the lever also appears in the car, really very simple sense.

Unfortunately, this simple and straightforward design doesn't seem to be gaining much traction with consumers. Of course, this is not to blame Chinese consumers, one is that there is no sense of luxury, and the other is that some operations are really not advanced. For example, the center screen can only be controlled through the MMI area. Consumers who are used to smartphones are not comfortable with the design of touch screen. The main thing is to remember that it is not a touch screen only when the screen fails to respond. For another example, the experience of MMI knob operation is also general. Although the surface of the knob can be written by hand, it is too small to clearly write Chinese characters.

As the audi A6L has been replaced with more LCD screens -- three to highlight the "digital quality" of the car -- the A4L's mid-range interior has also undergone a dramatic change, eliminating the MMI operating area and enlarging the center screen to 10.1 inches.

After listening to so many praises for the audi A4L, is there nothing wrong with it? Of course not, this generation of audi A4L can sell to 240,000, 250,000 yuan, is also in cost control up and down hard. The most typical one is the leather cover inside the car. There is no leather at all on the front IP platform, while the door is mainly made of brown leather for the door handle and handrail area. However, the texture and texture of these leather are very similar to plastic material, just like the previous generation 3 series. At the same time, the texture of the seats is not good either. At least the new three-series leather seats are made of different styles to simulate the advanced feeling, while the brown leather seats of the audi A4L are really just superior, but the actual experience is very ordinary.

In addition, the central control screen in the use of the car navigation seems to be prone to inexplicable restart, and do not know why. Moreover, the entire restart process is a little longer, and all navigation information is lost after startup, which makes people feel that CarPlay is more reliable.

But these problems, in the face of substantial discounts, are not a problem.

As for the space, as the pioneer of the lengthened body of luxury mid-size cars in China, the audi A4L also has no problem with the rear seat space experience. The back seat has two or three punches of easy legroom and plenty of head space. The functional details of the rear vents are also quite good, including air conditioning in the rear area and charging ports, which means the design may not be as good as the BMW 3 series.

Powertrain, 40TFSI with 190 horsepower, 320N·m 2.0T engine, matching 7 speed dual clutch transmission, or your old friend. However, the fuel consumption of China's six models increased by 0.2l / 100km compared with that of China's five models. However, in actual use, there will be no big impact at all. Basically, the fuel consumption of this assembly under high-speed cruise can be several liters at five, and it can be controlled at around seven liters on the daily road.

The fuel consumption is low, but the 100km acceleration is not weak. According to our 100km acceleration test, this audi A4L achieved a time of 8.27 seconds. Slightly worse is a hundred kilometers of braking, need 38.47 meters, and after several braking thermal attenuation is more obvious.

Of course, like the audi Q5L we've experienced before, the audi A4L has fairly modest power output in either comfort mode or economy mode. In comfort mode, it is also a very active lift, keeping the speed below 2000 RPM as much as possible, and even keeping it below 1500 RPM when cruising at a high speed of 120km/h. The fuel economy is fine with this setting, but the problem is that it's easy to get a drag - for example, when you suddenly hit a ramp at cruising speed, you have a noticeable drag if you keep the throttle open, and a slight vibration tells you to put some gas on.

In the motion mode, the dynamic motivation will be improved a lot. Similarly, the cruise of 120km/h will be kept in S6 gear, and the overall dynamic responsiveness will be improved a lot. The revs aren't too high either, but a sudden push on the gas pedal can cause you to jump straight from the S6 to the S3, giving you a sense of acceleration. In this mode, the transmission efficiency and faster response time brought by the dual-clutch transmission are actually more refreshing than the new BMW or Mercedes models.

In motion mode, if you are more careful to experience, you will find that the shift fork in the gearbox is still a little obvious, the foot lightly on the accelerator pedal will trigger the gear box ready to combine the preparation, in order to quickly respond to the driver's next action. Of course, this isn't a particularly obvious problem, and it shouldn't be easy to feel if you're driving on a city road, because road conditions and the environment are noisier.

In fact, one of the most interesting things is that the audi A4L is basically in the same level of smoothness as the ZF 8AT of BMW. The upshift is smoother, maybe a little less tactile than the shift of the car, but it is already very high level. This powertrain is designed for most drivers to drive without any noticeable setbacks. It is also a powerful combination of smooth and sporty styles.

Since the audi A4L's chassis structure is almost the best in this class -- the front and rear five linkages -- it brings first-line comfort performance. At low speeds, not to mention that the small impact of the road will be completely filtered out, such as running over the speed bumps in the parking lot, which is comfortable enough. The long suspension travel gives people the feeling of "rubber mattress", which is really suitable for urban driving.

Of course, the soft chassis makes for a poor sense of the road at high speeds, but audi doesn't make the car go up and down as much as it does. For example, if you drive 70 or 80 kilometers per hour past the speed limit of the toll booth, the "dong, dong" is still very clean and neat, there will not be redundant movement.

As a comparison, BMW's new 3 series Li is also softer now, but retains some of the stiffness at the beginning, retaining some of the feel of the pavement cracks, and then the suspension is softer until it finally finds support. The audi A4L, on the other hand, is soft enough in the front and middle section, without the hardness of the small section at the beginning of the full 3 series. In my opinion, as for a luxury car that is more comfortable to drive and ride, it is just a question of choosing the direction, regardless of advantages or disadvantages. Even considering the new 3-series style change, A4L can be regarded as the benchmark product of this market segment from a certain perspective.

Experience the audi A4L 40TFSI: no problem to drive, but the price is even better

Relatively speaking, the weakness of the audi A4L is the steering hand feel, with a heavy electronic flavor and no sense of road. The only thing to say is that the steering accuracy and strength feedback are very comfortable. This isolation from the road has led to a surprise -- the audi A4L has a good sense of center and no extra movement on the steering wheel, making it feel stable to drive, which may also be an area that appeals to Chinese consumers.

Driver's summary:

The audi A4L is clearly a more balanced car than its predecessor, with the previously comfortable styling preserved, but with a chassis feel that really scores well when it comes to heavy handling or bumpy driving. At the same time in powertrain, instead of using CVT gearbox to use dual clutch gearbox, the increase in transmission efficiency and driving responsiveness is obvious, occasionally aggressive operation can also be satisfied, and to accelerate also have acceleration, not to pick out a big problem.

A quarter of a million yuan cash audi A4L is indeed a "smart" choice, at least far better than the lexus ES200, which is powered by the Buddha and has a premium price. However, this also left a marketing problem for audi: how can the audi A4L be sold for 300,000 yuan after the mid-term modification? You can't have a midsize luxury sedan always coveting the mainstream b-class market.