Audi’s topless beauty

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/09/2002 (8654 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Los Angeles — There’s something seductive and alluring about top down touring. Somehow, cruising around town in a convertible with the roof and windows out of the way, you can’t help but feel more connected with the world around you.

It’s this addictive connection with the outside world that Audi plans to capitalize on as it introduces its new 4-seater cabriolet, based on the very successful A4 sedan.

Yet despite its obvious A4 heritage, the new cabrio has its own distinctive personality and look, and shares no body panels with either the A4 sedan or avant. The clean, simple, uncluttered exterior has an appeal all its own.

Inside, the A4 cabriolet is attractive and functional. Excellent attention to detail makes the interior aesthetically pleasing, but not necessary stylish or chic. Quality, comfort and luxury are the hallmarks of this topless beauty.

On the highways and coastal roads of California, our test vehicle seemed more suited to top down touring than to sporty performance.

Although it handles twists and turns with ease, it feels heavy and less nimble than we anticipated. According to Audi, 0-100 can be achieved in 7.5 seconds (our numbers were closer to the 9-second mark). In either case, these are not numbers one usually associates with a sports car.

Not that Audi ever made the claim that the new cabrio is designed to perform like a sports sedan. On the contrary, the emphasis is on emotion — the primary reason to buy and drive the newest addition to the Audi family.

Frankly, a number of emotions surface almost immediately when driving this convertible. First and foremost is the thrill of open air touring. Oddly, this emotion is closely followed by a sense of tranquility and peace due to the fact that even with the top down the noise and wind levels (for front seat occupants) remain low, even at highway speeds. Listening to music or conversing with the front seat passenger doesn’t require the driver to strain the ears or the voice box.

With comfy rear seats, and a surprisingly generous amount of legroom, rear passengers enjoy the ride equally as much as the front passengers, as long as most of the driving takes place in the city. At highways speeds, the amount of wind generated at the rear of the car is unpleasant, and at times, even unbearable.

With the roof in place (a hands-off task accomplished in 24 seconds at the push of a button) the interior is impressively dead quiet and hardtop-like. The soft top is composed of three heat and noise insulating layers, sonically welded (not stitched) for improved durability and quality. Frankly, Audi has done a superb job with this top making the cabriolet a viable four-season vehicle, even for us Kanucks.

When not in use, the soft top stows away neatly in the top portion of the trunk, leaving 8.9 cubic feet of space for cargo (11.1 cu. ft. with the top up). In comparison, the A4 sedan offers 13.4 cu. ft.

Although the cabrio sits 20 mm lower than the A4 sedan, it possesses pretty much the same fully independent suspension as does its hardtop sibling. Dimensionally the soft top is a few millimetres longer and wider than the sedan, while sitting on a wheelbase that’s slightly longer. It’s also 150 kg heavier than the hardtop, which would explain why it doesn’t feel as nimble as the sedan.

Coming in October 2002, the new cabriolet will be available exclusively with the same 3.0-litre V6 powerplant available on the rest of the A4 lineup, rated at 220 hp at 6300 rpm, and 221 lbs. Ft of torque at 3200 rpm.

Power will be routed to the front wheels via a new multitronic Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT), which Audi says has been in the works for close to a decade.

The CVT uses a link-plate chain, with 75 pins and 1025 links, for limitless ratios and constant power. Although technically this is a gearless transmission, the multitronic actually feels like it ‘shifts’ between 6 ‘gears,’ and does so with such smoothness and finesse that the entire process is rather transparent to the driver.

By February 2003, a 1.8-litre version of the cabrio will be available (same engine as the 1.8 T A4 sedan), coupled with a CVT tranny and front-wheel-drive configuration.

Finally, by October 2003, a 3.0-litre Quattro is promised, this time with a standard automatic transmission.

Besides the usual list of electronic luxury goodies, standard equipment includes an automatic rollover protection system, front and side airbags, a great-sounding BOSE audio system with in-dash 6-disc CD, genuine wood trim (fiberglass on 1.8 T), leather seats on 3.0-litre version, heated front seats and a ski/golf bag sack.

Packaged and/or stand alone options include Xenon headlights, memory for driver’s seat, a multi-function steering wheel and a 30% stiffer suspension and thicker sway bars (part of the sport package).

Pricing for the 4-seater convertible starts at $61,200 for the 3.0-litre multitronic, and $51,000 for the 1.8 T. Audi hopes to sell 8,000 units in Canada and the USA combined, and plans on taking business away from a number of luxury 4-passenger convertibles on the market including the CLK from Benz, Volvo C70, Saab 9-3, and the BMW 3-Series.