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2007 Audi A4 3.2 Avant Titanium Road Test

Sometimes I just run out of superlatives. Sometimes, they're just not ... superenough. I'm not even talking supercar here, just a relatively simple but stylish wagon that does everything so well that supercars and their scissor doors and exposed engines and bizarrely placed trunks begin to seem silly. Not that I wouldn't want a Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, but I know I could never live with one day in and day out without complaints starting to creep into my mind. And if I could imagine living with only one car, capable in all four seasons, year after year without complaint and meeting my limited demands for passenger and cargo capacity, this might be it ... the A4 Avant. Okay, who am I kidding, it would be the RS4, but that's a $70K car, and so far over my budget I shouldn't even be dreaming about dreaming about it.

But this A4 Avant, this is no dreamer's car. No, it's a practical car with ample room for 4 adults and a spacious cargo hold that can handle minor antiquing excursions and basic home-reno shopping-trip duties, so long as you're careful not to scuff the interior. Across the line, the Avant cuts a stylish profile with strong shoulders and an angled tailgate window that hints

The A4 Avant 3.2 quattro fits us just right... (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

at its speed. At this point, I could never go back to Audi's former two-part grilles now that I've fully adjusted to the yawning trapezoidal grille and sculpted headlights of this B7 generation A4. Audi carefully balances a strong corporate identity both through the slightly foreboding grille (best when seen approaching at high speeds) and a similar aesthetic throughout their range, but it is easy to see the differences between current wagon models, with the A6 sporting an even more aggressively swept tailgate and the A3's size limiting the amount of detail that could be applied to its compact shape. The A4 is a study in understatement, but I'll come back to its styling once I return to the particular details afforded by the S-line and Titanium trim.

As much as I admire the A4 in all its forms (Avant or otherwise), it isnot just any A4 Avant that my heart desires, although

With nav, you'll (hopefully) never be lost again. Being lost is so not cool. (Photo: Jonathan Yarkony, American Auto Press)

it would surely please me in any of those forms. No, this is The One. The one with the 3.2-liter V6 that makes 255 horsepower as it climbs to 6,500 rpm on the tach, but is flush with 243 lb-ft of torque from as early as 3,250 rpm. Some would denigrate me for not aspiring to the S4 Avant, but I've spent my share of time in various S4s, and the 3.2 gives up very little in terms of pure pull, balance and audible expression. While the S4 edges it out in most categories, the 3.2 manages almost all the fury for thousands less on purchase and even more saved over the long run in fuel consumption. In its own right, the 3.2 builds power smoothly and launches with tenacity by virtue of quattro all-wheel drive splitting torque equally to the front and rear axles through the traditional Torsen center diff. I admire the 2.0T for its ability to motivate this rather heavy vehicle, but it takes the ease of power offered by the 3.2 to really inspire and elevate the A4 with its AWD equipment

Oh, there's a bit of red stitching on the perforated leather rim, and the needles are red too... (Photo: Jonathan Yarkony, American Auto Press)

and luxury fittings to levels of performance that would make me feel slightly guilty about the wear when pushing the 2.0T to its limits.

The second requirement met by this 3.2 Avant was the transmission—astraightforward and ideal six-speed manual. The clutch is dutifully firm and the gates are tight and a touch grabby, particularly second, but it's the kind of gearbox whose nuances you can learn over time, gradually becoming a well-oiled tandem the match of any automatic. Shifting gears is an object of study, an aspect that adds to the complexity of a vehicle's operation but also presents a reward in each shift, ecstasy in every fluid clutch drop trying to skim a proverbial tenth off every sprint.

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