What really puts a smile on your face, however, remains hidden under that lithe-looking bonnet, for in there Audi have plonked in a new two-litre TDI diesel unit now with seven per cent more power and which Audi claim is five per cent more fuel-efficient. Indeed, the peak power rating of this new engine is 190 PS, which is available to your right foot between 3,800 and 4,200 revolutions per minute. Maximum twist force on offer is a very healthy 400 Nm that kicks in as low as 1,750 turns and stays with you all the way through to 3,000 RPM, making for a very flat torque curve — an indication of the car’s driveability. Transmission to the front wheels is taken care of via a seven-speed S Tronic twin-clutch gearbox. On the 0-100 km/h acceleration run the car gets off the line a little slower than you’d expect, but once the wheels are rolling, it picks up speed ferociously and breaches the 100 km/h mark in less than 10 seconds. The reason why this happens is because Audi’s electronics restrict engine revs from building beyond a point when you try to hit the throttle with the brakes still engaged.
Numbers, however, tell only half the story. It’s the way in which this luxury sedan builds speed that is really remarkable. We clocked a genuine 211-plus km/h on our test-run before running out of road, and even then the car felt as if it could log on about 10 more km/h. The other remarkable bit is the car’s power delivery: it is like a straight line drawn with a ruler. There’s power available at every part of the rev-range to propel this 1,830-kg machine ahead with an intent that could prove to be a serious problem for many a “sporty” car. What must be mentioned is that the S Tronic transmission also does a fine job of keeping pace with the rest of the powertrain and at no point in time do you wish for a quicker shifting ‘box.
