 2009 Audi A4 Avant 2.0T Sport. Click image to enlarge |
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2009 Audi A4 Avant
Toronto, Ontario – If there was any doubt that a station wagon could be sexy, Audi has pretty much dashed that with this tarted-up version of a 2009 A4 Avant Sport.
While the A4 Avant is a conservatively handsome piece, and the Sport version a tad more racy with its lowered ride height and 18-inch alloys, this black 2.0T Premium specimen, showcasing numerous bits from the Audi Genuine Accessory catalogue is quite a looker. It regularly pegged the needle on the gawk-o-meter during my week behind the wheel.
Audi is well aware that aftermarket customization is a lucrative business, and to that end they offer buyers the chance to purchase their goodies in-house. As would be expected, Audi’s eye candy does not come cheap, but you are assured of its quality and unerring attention to detail.
 2009 Audi A4 Avant 2.0T Sport. Click image to enlarge |
The complete body kit on this car, which includes a two piece front lip spoiler with blade insert, side sills, rear bumper side sills, two piece rear diffuser with blade insert, polished stainless exhaust tips and roof spoiler, runs $2,182 before painting and installation, which my local dealer quoted as $1,800 and $900 respectively. Ouch. The parts can be ordered a la carte if so desired. Finishing items include aluminum-finish side mirrors with Side Assist ($427.82) and “Audi Sport” license plate frame ($51.23).
All tasty bits, but nothing without the gorgeous 19-inch “Hollow Spoke” alloys shod with 255/35R19-inch Pirelli P Zero tires. These wheels are manufactured by BBS and feature cavities in both the spokes and wheel shoulder for reduced unsprung weight. They’ll set you back $1,410 a piece. They are also available in silver ($1,384.47) and anthracite finishes ($1,175).
Oh yes: can’t forget the P Zero tires. My local retailer will part with a set for $2,560. But you’ll also be buying some winter wheels and rubber too.
As Jethro Bodine would say (anybody out there remember the Beverly Hillbillies?), “Time to do some cipherin’.”
 2009 Audi A4 Avant 2.0T Sport. Click image to enlarge |
The 2009 A4 Avant 2.0T quattro in Premium trim (this adds 18-inch wheels, adaptive bi-xenon headlights, powered front seats with driver memory, light and rain sensors, auto dimming mirror, auto three-zone climate control, and powered lift gate) lists at $47,000. This tester was equipped with rear side airbags ($500), sport package (included are ten-spoke 18-inch wheels with all-season tires, a three-spoke multi-function steering wheel, sports seats and sport suspension $1,800), technology package (blind spot monitor, adaptive Xenon headlights, Homelink and an advanced keyless entry and start/stop function $2,200), Bang and Olufsen audio ($1,100) and navigation package ($3,500).
Now, figure in all the body bits ($2,661.05), painting and installation ($2,700) plus 19-inch wheels and tires ($8,200) and you’re looking at a pricey little shooting brake: $69,661.05.
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at 4:16 am
70 G’s for a A4, who are they kidding.
at 4:17 am
Thats why you buy aftermarket.
at 4:46 am
Nice wagon!
The base wagon with the 19-inch Hollow Spoke BBS wheels with 255/35R19 Pirelli Pzero tires @ $8,200 alone will do for most buyers until knockoffs are sold on Tirerack. I don’t see many $70k A4’s being sold like the tester however. You’re into A6 Avant money by then. The question is, will dealers actually order these things fully jammed and risk being stuck with them when the dollar hits par? This spec car will likely be $15k less south of us.
at 6:33 am
70 G’s + tax=$78,400.00 resale value after 3-4 yrs approx $37,000 that a hit of $900.00 per month plus your monthly payments. Almost as good as Canadian Bonds.
at 7:28 am
Nice wagon, but anyone with that kind of money will buy an A6 Avant instead.
at 7:59 am
Crazy pricing – I almost didn’t even bother reading the second page when I saw the total price tag on the first page.
So this thing is called a “Sport Wagon” – then were is the stick-shift? At least the dsg but an automatic with the 4-banger!?! Audi could almost be sued for false-advertising. Here’s a question for car-buffs: which manufacturer offers a current model ’sport’ wagon (not a hatchback) in North America with all of the following: stick-shift, awd, turbo4/v6?
at 9:13 am
Roy -
Subaru. You could argue that the Impreza is a wagon, not just a five door hatch.
That’s all I can think of.
I’d love to say Mitsubishi, but their Ralli-art is only available with a DSG. Although really, that IS a manual transmission.
at 9:29 am
The silver “lips” ruined the otherwise gorgeous car in my opinion. Some people did not understand why someone would pay over 40k for the 2.0T A5. But 70k for a 2.0T with 22k worth of options is just ridiculous. You could have bought a Q7 which I assume is bigger and more powerful.
If 70k is within your budget, there are many more cars to choose from. I own an Audi by the way so I’m not being biased (for once)
at 9:30 am
@Roy, the Saab Sportcombi 9-3 with XWD springs to mind. I haven’t seen any on the road, and i don’t know anything about the car except that, on paper, it seems to be a direct – if less expensive – competitor of the Audi.
One could also make an argument for the BMW 535xiT – slightly bigger (and only slightly), but it’s about 50% more powerful than the 2.0T, and looks as good with the m-sport pack. It’s also likely not much more expensive than the loaded A4 in the article.
The A4 avant is gorgeous, but I agree that the bodykit is not worth the money, and the lack of a stick or DSG will likely lose Audi many customers.
at 9:45 am
Way too much for that kind of money there’s way better and far more reliable vehicles out there.
at 10:48 am
Sport Wagon with an Automatic trany
– funny
I used to be upset about Audi tranny choices, but now I laugh, cuz it’s pathetic
at 11:03 am
Actually, I own a 08 Saab 9-5 Sportcombi, more power, more room and substantially less money than this A4. There is also the 9-3 Sportcombi available with AWD and 4 or 6 cyl. 210/285 HP.
Hopefully Saab will rebound as they make great cars!
at 11:11 am
@Randy, yeah i was thinking specically about the 9-3 with the AWD and smaller dimensions. Great to hear the 9-5 is treating you well though. It will indeed be interesting to see what becomes of Saab in the next little while. Clearly there are still fans of the brand who yearn for Saab to go back to making more focused, if quirky, performance cars.
http://tinyurl.com/ycon6v3
at 12:29 pm
Roy-
BMW offers a 328i with AWD,a 230hp 3.0L inline six
and a 6 speed manual for around 45,000$.It even looks half decent IMO.
at 12:43 pm
Hmm.. No mention of the new CTS wagon…I’ll take a Caddy CTS wagon in burgundy, 6 spd stick, AWD…and spend the extra 10-20 g’s on a nice Hyundai Elantra for getting around town…And, by the way…those wheels are not only hideously priced…but pretty derned ugly too…
dragonfly
at 1:39 pm
$70,000, next joke please!
New DSG and $13,000 for wheels, rubber and an ugly body kit, no thanks. After all it is only a 2.0 T under the hood.
I am wondering about the folks at Audi sometimes.
at 4:19 pm
Zis eez a joke, yez? Zats a lot of Euroz for a Munchen poizei auto.
at 4:20 pm
Mein bad… POLIZEI auto. Lowzy zpell czech mit mein Vista.
at 4:24 pm
Audi Canada is retarded. They have been for at least 10 years. They all need to be fired.
at 4:25 pm
“…a pricey little shooting brake…”
Pricey yes, shooting brake — not exactly. But I digress.
What a silly car. This longtime Audi wagon fan is shaking his head.
at 9:32 pm
Ok; I thought I knew what a shooting brake is (hail, Britannia BTW, who else would come up with that?). How come you say ‘not exactly’?
at 10:03 pm
Wow Audi is smoking something strong…good design for most of their lineup but not so good reliability…as for the price like I said either they are smoking something or they are plain greedy trying to rip people off.
at 6:45 pm
Whoa, $70000.00 is far too much for an A4 wagon, and I love these cars.
And no 6 speed manual, you can’t be serious.
I’ll bet Audi’s scoring the same s**t that VW’s been smokin’ lately judging by their brilliant choices for NA (VW Caravan,5 cyl. engines etc)
at 3:22 am
I guess you’d have to love this wagon a lot, and a lot, to blow the money oh, essentially, body work…
As an Avant owner myself, I think I’d invest the money in engine work instead.
at 3:24 am
Really poor value, the A3 is a much more legit sport wagon. The A4 Avant is a wonderful car, but more in the base config then this gussied up pretender. Even the base config should be closer to the low 40’s.
at 10:15 pm
The best part is for $70K, you’re stuck with a 210km/h speed limiter. That is one great marketing trick there Audi, buying the sports package gets you all show and no go.
Who ever dreamt this up (the execs or legal counsel) should be banished to driving 20 year old rust buckets for life.
When you pay this much coin, you want the knowledge that you can go faster than most cars on the road, whether you go above 210 or not.
Yes, the CTS wagon with 3.6L engine has a much higher speed limit than this A4.
at 2:26 am
@ Tom
Don’t worry, at 210kph you’ll get to jail or the funeral parlor quickfast. What you want is an ambulance with no limiter. BMW M5 Touring I imagine.
On the side note of max speed limiters…
I’d like to see a minimum requirement for ANYONE w/o a min of 15yrs driving experience who buys a car without a top speed that isn’t regulated to 180kph max. I’m sick of paying high insurance so a few miscreants can be a douche on the road and still get re-insured. If you’re a tool behind the wheel, you don’t get the privilege. Get out of the car and take a bus.
Cars have advanced so quickly in just the last 10 years alone but driver testing hasn’t. The same way fast drivers say people with large minivans and absurd pickups require a different license and one lane, same goes for faster cars. 210kph max is enough for this Audi until drivers get better. Oh, and by the way, mandatory mudflaps for large pickups too. I hate those f%#@&%’s with the obnoxious diesels, truck nuts and the bouldertossing rubber. WTF is it with this stuff anyway? When did these POS’s become vogue or legal within present crash testing boundaries? Has the insurance bureau ever tested what happens when one of those things rear-ends an Audi like this? MDK’s everywhere but their insurance is the same as any stock F150? That’s another issue all together I guess.
at 10:35 am
Wow, what a sexy looking car. When you have stock wheels that look as good as these, who needs after market? Audi styling just keeps getting better and better.
at 11:55 am
pishtosh,
“Shooting brake” is typically a two-door car with a wagon back. This Audi is not that. It is an estate car, or station wagon (as in “go to the station and pick people up,” hence 4 doors and luggage space).
at 3:54 pm
@Andy Rooney
Apparently everyone on the roadway is expected to cater to you and your frail emotional coping driving skills.You are going off on a luxury import and then start bitchin about 4×4 trucks.The world is about choices not catering to the needie emotional retards of this world. Constructive critizism would be better than whining like a little girl not getting your own way on the roadway.Follow-too-closely is a chargable HTA offence.
By the way the A4 in appearance is a eye pleasing vehicle.Pricey but thats imports.Medication works wonders these days.
at 4:51 pm
@ Andy Rooney
Very true! We also need to ban anyone over the age of 50 from driving. Don’t you just hate them old farts doing 30 in an 80? Oh and let’s not forget them careless teens…You shouldn’t even be able to get your license till you’ve hit 25…
at 8:22 pm
Man, you’d really have to be in love with the A4 Avant to go this route. I recently sampled a 2010 S4 (333 hp, 7-speed S-tronic) that cost less than this A4 2.0 Avant. I wouldn’t have any trouble deciding which of the two would get my money.
at 10:31 pm
Ah, Audi, the rich man’s Volkswagen.
at 1:09 am
Andy Rooney, when is the last time you heard of an accident in Canada where the car was going 200KPH? Thats right, drivers almost never crash at that speed. Lack of attention is more common. But of course, there is no reason to make cars that can double the speed limit. I say we put 110 kph limiters on all cars and reduce the police force by 30% as well as the courts, prosecutors etc etc.
at 2:47 am
with tax it will be $80,000 for a 4 banger…LOL what the fuk!!
at 2:48 am
rims are nasty
at 4:06 am
1997 Ford Taurus wagon. Best there was. is, and ever will be as far as a wagon goes.
at 10:04 am
^ LOL
at 7:56 am
The author mentions importing the S4 Avant from Europe at the end of the article. Does anyone know how to do this? I am interested in the S4 but have not pulled the trigger yet because I really want the S4 Avant.