First Drive Review
So enticing are the promises of a convertible, however dreamy and unrealistic, that buyers will sacrifice much--comfort, performance, money, virtually anything--just to know someday they will have that one idyllic moment of topless bliss.
In this one way the 2003 Audi A4 cabriolet is like sex.
Otherwise, the new A4 cabriolet--the first four-seat convertible from Audi since the unloved 1994-98 cabrio--is just a very solid companion. It's someone you could take to weddings: elegant, smart, and not usually inclined to embarrass you.
Audi achieves this admirable character in two ways. First, it offers this convertible in only front-wheel-drive, automatic-transmission form. Second, the company has worked the details to ensure that the inevitable trade-offs of a convertible are as minimal as possible.
Audi says that based on its experience and research four-seat convertible buyers in the U.S. overwhelmingly choose automatics when given a choice of transmissions. (Audi will offer a five-speed manual in Europe.)
Oh, and it would have cost money to certify a manual model for the U.S. If you want a manual in this class, we suggest the BMW 3-series convertible.
The gearbox that Audi chose is its continuously variable transmission, which was recently introduced on the A4 sedan and can only be had on front-wheel-drive cars. Audi reckons it's less important to fit a convertible with all-wheel drive since a higher-than-average percentage are purchased in warm climates, places where the pavement isn't all shiny from the ice. Also, Audi says the CVT is sportier than a traditional stepped automatic.
We're not so sure about that, but Audi's take on the gearless transmission is the best--or least-weird-feeling--on the market. When the A4 cabriolet goes on sale in October, the only available engine will be the 220-hp, 3.0-liter V-6. In February 2003, Audi will add to the lineup the familiar turbocharged 1.8-liter four. As in the sedan, this engine will make 170 horsepower.
The 3.0-liter in the car we drove is seriously smooth and provides good midrange torque. If it weren't for that pesky Bavarian firm BMW, this engine could be the class of the field. It lacks only the eagerness and perfect torque spread of BMW's in-line six.
We can tell you that it's a mighty fine thing that this engine makes as much power as it does because it has to move about 3800 pounds of Audi beauty and elegance. That's 350 more pounds than the A4 3.0 sedan has to haul around, according to Audi's scales.
Much of the increased mass comes from body reinforcements, including a stronger windshield surround, heavier-duty rocker-panel beams, and stiffening bars that run under the cabin. Audi says the A4 cabriolet is 112 percent stiffer than the old car, and we can't dispute that, in part because the roads we drove were so lightly traveled and bathed in perfect weather year-round that they were almost entirely without flaw. The only shakiness we noticed was a low-frequency rumble in the steering column. We'll have to pound it over our own nightmarishly scabby roads before we can pass final judgment.
The cabriolet moves over the nice surfaces with a seamless, low-friction feel. When the roads turn twisty, the cabrio is a competent if not exactly willing partner in deviance. The multilink front and rear suspensions are set up to mimic the sedan's tuning, although the convertible's body rides 0.8 inch lower. Audi also offers a Sport package with 30-percent-stiffer shocks, thicker anti-roll bars, and more aggressive tires. With the standard all-season tires, there's less conviction to its turn-in than we'd like, and the front tires get to squawking earlier than we'd hoped.
The A4 cab wasn't meant as a canyon carver, though. Audi focused more attention on tuning it for quiet operation than on squeezing the last 100th of a g out of the tires. To that end, all cabriolets come with a heated glass backlight and a three-layer, padded power top. Top up, the car is remarkably quiet for a convertible. Operating the top requires only the exercise of one finger on a button; you don't even have to latch the top to the header. It stacks gracefully under the powered hard tonneau.
