First drive: Audi A4 Avant

FOR many years estate cars were considered to be utility vehicles but today these cars are more about lifestyle than carrying a load to do a job of work.

No estate epitomises this change more than the Audi A4 Avant, its sleek shape and subtly curved roofline proclaim it to be more than just an afterthought based on the A4 saloon launched six months ago.

Carrying a premium of around 1,100 over its saloon counterpart, the A4 Avant features a range of petrol engines that starts with a 1.6-litre unit developing 102 bhp - it is also available with the A4 saloon, in preparation for a new fuel-consumption-linked company car tax next year - and rises to 170bhp and 2.4-litres, together with three turbo-diesels, ranging output from 100bhp to 155bhp.

Prices range from 18,745 to 23,320 for the 2.5TDi, and there are also three quattro (four-wheel drive) versions in both petrol and diesel form, which cost from 22,315 to 25,450.

Audi claims that most, if not all, new Avant models undercut - in some cases by several thousand pounds - their BMW and Mercedes-Benz rivals.

In Britain, Audi anticipates that the two best-selling models will be the 2-litre petrol and the 1.9-litre TDi, both of which develop 130bhp, although with its average of 50mpg the oil-burner is almost 40 per cent better on fuel.

We tried the 2-litre model on the autobahns and fast cross- country roads in the former East Germany, near Berlin, and found that the Avant handled just as well as its saloon equivalent.

Power-assisted steering felt precise and the overall ride quality over surfaces that sometimes felt more British than Bavarian, coupled with powerful and effortless braking from very high speeds, added to a feeling of safety and surefootedness.

With its rear seat folded, the A4's carpeted load area will swallow items as big as 1.7 metres long, 84cms high and one metre in width, while a further 65 litres of additional space lies under the folding floor area.

Somewhere to stow your ladders, paints and brushes after that house-painting job? I think not.

Audi A4 Avant

Price 19,745

Engine Four cyclinders, 16v 1984cc

BHP 130

Top speed 130mph 0-62 10.2secs

CO2 emissions 192gms

Mpg 35.3

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