Audi A4 review

Getting in and out of the front seats is easy, thanks to wide door apertures and low sills. Once inside you’ll find plenty of head, leg and elbow room, and are unlikely to feel cramped unless you’re extremely tall.

You get plenty of interior storage solutions, too, including a tray under the adjustable armrest, two cupholders in front of the gearlever and sizeable door bins with recesses big enough to hold a 1.0-litre bottle of water.

There’s enough room in the A4 to accommodate a couple of six-footers reasonably well. Access to the back seats is decent, too, thanks to wide-opening doors and low sills. Life isn't as comfortable for a central rear passenger because there's a large transmission tunnel to straddle, although it's the same story in most rivals. 

That said, the Audi A4 falls short on rear space compared with the VW Passat or the giant Skoda Superb, and if your focus is on the premium marques, it doesn’t have quite as much rear seat space as the rival BMW 3 Series, either.

Meanwhile, rear storage amenities come in the form of door bins that will each fit a 1.0-litre bottle of drink. However, you’ll need to add the optional, but reasonably priced, Storage Pack if you want nets on the backs of the front seats and cupholders in the central armrest.

Unlike many of its rivals, the A4 comes with split-folding rear seats as standard – even if you opt for entry-level Technik trim. Better still, the seatbacks divide in a convenient 40/20/40 layout, as opposed to the more common 60/40 split, so you can fold the middle backrest to load long items while still carrying two passengers.

The front passenger seat is height adjustable, and electric seats are available as an option on all versions. Adjustable lumbar support is standard on all A4 models.

The A4’s boot is par for the course in this class. Being a saloon, its narrow opening restricts access just as much as it does in most rivals, but you’ll find a load bay almost identical in size to that of the BMW 3 Series, but substantially squarer. You’ll easily be able to fit a couple of sets of golf clubs or a big weekly shop without dropping the rear seats. The A4 Avant will be a better choice if luggage capacity is your key priority. 

All A4’s get an electric boot lid release and the optional Storage Pack adds bag hooks and a luggage net to boost practicality.