There was a time when a compact luxury car like the 2023 Audi A4 served as a natural step up from a mass-market brand, and driving enthusiasts favored German marques for their Autobahn-hewn and Nurburgring-tuned dynamics. But today, we live in a different era. Crossover SUVs rule, and the Tesla Model Y is the best-selling premium-brand model in America*.
Within the 2023 A4 lineup, Audi tries to address the crossover customer with an Allroad wagon variant dressed up in an SUV costume. Separately, Audi bookends the popular Tesla Model Y with electric SUVs of its own, each wearing E-tron badges. Naming these two models requires too much explanation, and you would still be confused, so head to the Audi website to see the company’s electric-vehicle (EV) model lineup.
So, is there a future for the Audi A4, now going on its seventh year in production since its last full redesign? Time will tell. In the meantime, let’s refresh our memories about this traditional German luxury sports sedan.
The 2023 Audi A4 lineup includes a 4-door sedan and an Allroad 4-door station wagon that sits on a lifted suspension for added ground clearance. Think Subaru Outback, but German. Audi also offers a performance-tuned version of the sedan called the S4, which I reviewed in 2020. For 2023, the A4 sees minor changes to its standard and optional equipment.
Within the A4 sedan lineup, you decide whether you want a standard turbocharged 4-cylinder engine (40 TFSI) or a more powerful one (45 TFSI). Then, you select from three trim levels: Premium, Premium Plus, or Prestige. Audi’s Quattro all-wheel-drive (AWD) system is standard on every A4. This review focuses on an evaluation of an A4 Prestige 45 TFSI.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The Audi A4 competes in the Compact Premium Car market segment. According to data collected from verified new-vehicle buyers for the JD Power 2022 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study, 65 percent of new Audi A4 buyers are male (vs. 75 percent for the segment), and the median age of a new A4 buyer is 57 years (vs. 51).
As part of the APEAL Study, owners rated the A4 in 10 primary categories. Listed below in descending order, you’ll find their preferences, from their most favorite thing about the vehicle to their least favorite:
In the 2022 APEAL Study, the A4 ranks sixth out of nine Compact Premium Car models.
In the sections that follow, our independent expert analyzes an A4 Prestige 45 TFSI equipped with the following options:
The test vehicle’s price was $55,840, including the $1,095 destination charge.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Audi A4 owners rate entry and exit near the bottom of their list of favorite things about this car. That’s easy to understand. The A4 sits low to the ground, and Audi mounts the front seats far enough back that taller people can struggle to get around the car’s center door and roof pillar.
The rear door openings are small, and there isn’t much room between the base of the seat and the front seatbacks, so if you have larger feet, this is problematic. The A4’s rigid plastic front seatback panels with storage nets are also unfriendly to knees and shins.
Once everyone settles in, seat comfort is good, and the cabin feels cozy and intimate. The front-seat thigh bolsters adjust for added leg support, and you can move the head restraints closer if you prefer. The test car had triple-zone automatic climate control, heated and ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel, and heated outboard rear seats.
The driver faces digital instrumentation and a touchscreen infotainment system that looks like an iPad clipped to the center air vents. While it appears to be an afterthought from a design standpoint, the Audi Multi-Media Interface (MMI) infotainment system is intuitive and causes little frustration.
Horizontal slats separate the top of the dashboard and instrumentation from the lower half of the cabin, and Audi deftly integrates the car’s air vents into this stylistic flourish. Mostly, the controls are easy to find and use, but the separate cruise control stalk and lane-keeping activation button on the end of the turn signal stalk take some acclimation.
Audi installed perforated leather, aluminum and gloss black trim, soft-touch surfaces, and thick carpeting in the test vehicle. Some surfaces consisted of hard, low-gloss plastic, but this isn’t out of the ordinary in the segment. Control buttons had a matte-black surface with white markings for improved legibility.
Storage space is good, though it could be better if Audi swapped the location of the cupholders and the open tray on the center console. Unfortunately, the tray under the center armrest doubles as the wireless smartphone charger, so you must choose to use it for that purpose or extra storage space.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
In 2020, Audi introduced a next-generation version of its MMI infotainment system in a refreshed A4 lineup. Three years later, that system continues, and with Premium trim, it includes:
As you move up to Premium Plus and Prestige trim, upgrades include:
The test vehicle had all of these features, plus the Audi Virtual Cockpit Plus. This 12.3-inch digital instrumentation panel serves as an extension of the MMI by displaying radio or navigation information between the digital gauges. Impressively, the navigation system incorporates Google Earth imagery. If you minimize the gauges, the instrumentation screen transforms into a satellite image of your route with an overlay of traffic data and points of interest.
I found it easy to find and select preferences for a variety of features and functions, and using the MMI on a daily basis is a pleasure. Sure, the center display looks like an afterthought, but its prominent position facilitates quick data reference. Also, it offers intuitive menu structures, persistent Home and Back buttons to keep you on task, and acoustic feedback confirming inputs. All these traits make the A4’s MMI a model of simplicity.
The Bang & Olufsen premium sound system deserves mention for two reasons. First, it is fantastic, up to about 75 percent of the maximum volume. Beyond that point, however, it starts to lose its composure. In my experience, this isn’t a common issue, so perhaps it pertains only to the test vehicle or the A4’s interior acoustics and the materials surrounding the speakers.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Every 2023 Audi A4 has a turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine, a 7-speed S-tronic dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT), and Quattro AWD that powers only the front wheels unless driving or surface conditions require added traction from the rear wheels.
In the A4 40 TFSI, the turbo-four generates 201 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque, and Audi says it can accelerate the car from zero-to-60 mph in 6.3 seconds. If that’s not fast enough for you, the A4 45 TFSI’s high-output engine produces 261 hp and 273 pound-feet of torque and shaves more than a second off the acceleration time, dropping it to a claimed 5.2 seconds.
Additionally, the A4 has Drive Select, allowing the driver to choose Comfort, Auto, Dynamic, and Individual settings. Audi also fortifies the A4 45 TFSI with a sport-tuned suspension that drops the ride height by 23 mm. Add the test car’s larger 19-inch wheels and 245/35 performance tires, and it’s not surprising that I question the need for Audi to offer the 349-hp turbo V6 in the S4 model. Not that I’d kick it out of my driveway or anything.
According to verified A4 owners who shared their opinions with JD Power, this car’s driving feel is their favorite thing. (Usually, exterior styling takes the top spot.) I hadn’t driven an A4 since the current-generation design’s debut year in 2017, and after a week spent behind the car’s steering wheel, I agree. I’d forgotten how rewarding this Audi is to drive.
Quick enough to satisfy most people, the high-output engine sounds and feels refined while supplying plenty of torque low in the rev range where you need it most for city and suburban driving. In addition, though it’s a DCT, the S-tronic transmission behaves beautifully during the daily drive, rarely exhibiting the kinds of hiccups common to automated manual gearboxes.
Furthermore, though the A4’s underlying engineering is nearing retirement age, the car nevertheless feels solid and secure over sharper bumps, cracks, and holes in the pavement, the sport suspension expertly filtering what you don’t want to feel in favor of what you do. Take the A4 Prestige on the highway and you’ll be surprised by how quiet it is, thanks in part to its dual-pane acoustic front window glass.
As lovely as the A4 is to drive in typical situations, it is even more fun when you take to twisty roads. Energized by the switch from Auto to Dynamic mode as I pushed the A4 deep into the Santa Monica Mountains near Los Angeles, the 45 TFSI did not disappoint.
Testing day roasted the blacktop with sizzling triple-digit heat, but the A4’s stout brakes resisted fade, and the sticky Hankook Ventus S1 Evos tires delivered extraordinary grip. Manually shifting the A4 was a joy, thanks to paddle shifters with downshift rev-matching and the snappy response from the S-tronic DCT. The Quattro Ultra AWD system was also up for the romp across the mountains, regularly transferring power to the rear wheels as I clipped apexes and applied power out of corners and curves.
The least enjoyable thing about driving the A4 was the steering. There’s nothing to complain about, but I can’t praise it, either. Unfortunately, Audi reserves its dynamic steering system for the S4 model.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Audi equips every 2023 A4 with automatic high-beam headlights, a lane-departure warning system, and these two Pre Sense safety features:
Upgrade to Premium Plus and Prestige trim and the A4 adds Pre Sense Rear. This does the same thing as Pre Sense Basic, but when the car senses a rear-impact collision is about to occur.
Additionally, the 2023 Audi A4 Premium Plus and Prestige come with the following safety features:
Exclusive features reserved for Prestige trim include Park Assist (a semi-autonomous active parking-assistance system) and a traffic-sign recognition system.
The test car had all these features; overall, they’re accurate and effective. I appreciate that Audi makes it easy to turn on and off the lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assistance systems by using a button on the tip of the turn signal stalk. That way, if they start aggravating you, there is no need to delve into a menu buried within the digital instrumentation or the infotainment display.
Audi mounts the cruise control stalk low, under the turn signal stalk. It is hard to see and even harder to read, so it takes some time before using it becomes second nature. It would be better if Audi placed these controls on the steering wheel, complete with nighttime illumination.
While using the adaptive cruise control, a car ahead slowed to exit the freeway. The A4 dutifully kept a safe distance. However, once the car ahead was clear of my travel lane, the Audi did not respond fast enough, turning the A4 into a rolling traffic cone for the people behind me.
Since it is easy to exceed the speed limit in an Audi A4, I liked that I could set a speed warning of 80 mph. This tech actually works for me, reminding me that I need to back off even if the traffic around me travels at that same pace or faster. (Yes, that can happen in the Los Angeles area when traffic is flowing.)
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
The 2023 Audi A4 can carry 12 cubic feet of cargo in its trunk. Get the A4 Allroad wagon, and that volume doubles to 24.2 cubic feet. Fold the back seat down, and the A4 Allroad can handle 58.5 cubic feet of cargo.
According to official EPA fuel-economy ratings, the A4 Allroad returns 26 mpg in combined city/highway driving, the A4 with S-line exterior design averages 27 mpg combined, and A4 sedans without S-line livery get 28 mpg.
The A4 Prestige 45 TFSI with S-line styling and 19-inch wheels averaged 24.8 mpg on my evaluation loop. Based on its 15.3-gallon fuel tank, this gives it a driving range of about 380 miles. But since you won’t run the car dry before stopping for gas, figure you’ll travel around 350 miles per tank.
The Audi A4 earns impressive crash-test ratings. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the A4 sedan earns a maximum 5-star overall rating, including for rollover resistance. Unfortunately, though, the car gets 4-star ratings for driver and front passenger protection in the frontal-impact test.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) assigns the 2023 A4 a Top Safety Pick+ rating for the 2022 calendar year. Since the IIHS operates on calendar years instead of model years, this could change in 2023, depending on how the IIHS might modify qualifications for its highest accolade.
At the start of the model year, Audi A4 prices range from $39,900 for a base Premium 40 TFSI sedan to $50,900 for the A4 Prestige 45 TFSI. Choose the A4 Allroad, and the price span runs from $45,500 to $55,400. The destination charge adds another $1,095.
In the JD Power 2022 Initial Quality Study (IQS), the Lexus IS ranks highest in the Compact Premium Car segment. The Genesis G70 and the BMW 4 Series are the next highest-ranked models.
In the 2022 APEAL Study, the Lexus IS ranks highest in the Compact Premium Car segment. The Genesis G70 and the BMW 4 Series are the next highest-ranked models.
Other competitors to the 2023 A4 include the Alfa Romeo Giulia, BMW 3 Series, and Volvo S60.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
With the Audi A4’s customer base migrating to crossover SUVs and electric vehicles (the Tesla Model 3 leads the Compact Premium Car segment in registrations*), it’s not surprising this car is increasingly rare on American roads. However, if you’re looking for a rewarding luxury sport sedan in the traditional Germanic idiom and you’d rather not park the same BMW 3 Series or Mercedes-Benz C-Class as everyone else, the 2023 Audi A4 remains worthy of consideration. However, with the 3 Series updated for the 2023 model year and the C-Class recently redesigned, the A4 has its work cut out for it.
*Based on 2021 calendar-year registration data reported by Automotive News.
Christian Wardlaw is a veteran digital automotive journalist with nearly 30 years of experience in test-driving vehicles. He has held editorial leadership roles with Edmunds, JD Power, the New York Daily News, and others. In addition to JDPower.com, his work has appeared in numerous new- and used-car buying guides, newspapers, and automotive industry trade journals, including Autotrader, Capital One Auto Navigator, CarGurus, Kelley Blue Book, WardsAuto, and more.
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