Audi A4 Saloon review

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

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You get plenty of storage options, too, including a tray under the adjustable armrest, two cup holders in front of the gearlever, and a sizeable door bin with a recess big enough to hold a 1.0-litre bottle of water.

The Audi A4 doesn’t have quite as much rear space as the rival BMW 3 Series, but the difference is small and there’s enough room to accommodate a couple of six-footers. Access is pretty decent too, thanks to wide opening doors and low sills.

True, life isn't as comfortable for a central rear passenger, because there's a large transmission tunnel to straddle, but it's the same story in rivals.

Isofix child seat mounting on the outer two seats add to the practicality and the door bins will each swallow a 1.0-litre bottle of water. However, you’ll need to add the optional, and 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 SE trim. Better still, the seatbacks divide in a convenient 40:20:40 layout as opposed to the more common 60:40 alternative.

The front passenger seat is height adjustable, and electric seats are available as an option on all versions. Adjustable lumbar support is an option on SE and Sport cars, but comes as standard on S line and above.

The A4’s boot is par for the course in this class. The saloon opening restricts access just as much as it does in most rivals, but once inside you’ll find a load bay almost identical in size to a BMW 3 Series’ but substantially squarer. You’ll easily be able to slot in a couple of sets of golf clubs or a big weekly shop without dropping the rear seats.

The optional Storage Pack adds bag hooks and a luggage net to boost practicality, but unlike some of the A4’s rivals – including the XE – there’s no option of a powered bootlid.