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Story by Carl Modesette
Photos courtesy Volkswagen of America

The arrival of Volkswagen’s new CC created quite a storm here at Speed:Sport:Life. Naturally, we all wanted to drive it… but in the end it was the biggest and toughest S:S:L contributor, our full-sized Associate Editor Carl Modesette, who wrestled the keys away from Zerin and ran off on a long road trip. His thoughts on this boutique coupe-sedan are below. Enjoy! - JB

We put 617.3 miles on the CC VR6 Sport over the course of our 3-day trip to the Austin/San Marcos area, averaging 24.1 mpg at an average speed of 47 mph, according to the trip computer. Certainly not bad overall, considering the 18/27 mpg ratings on the sticker, with a 21 mpg combined figure. No matter how you figure it, the cavernous 17+ gallon tank will allow at least 300, if not 400+ miles before refueling is required; meaning that your frequency of pit stops will be driven entirely by the volume of your own bladder. On the highway, the CC cruises smoothly and effortlessly at 80-90 mph; you really do need to be attentive to the speedometer to avoid the speed tax from Johnny Law. Since we at SSL tend to adhere to the “when driving German cars, drive like the Germans do” mentality, we certainly spared no throttle angle on this trip – but we think it wouldn’t be tough to achieve the quoted 27 mpg highway figure with a more lawful pace.

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Story by Jack Baruth, video courtesy of Audi NA

It sounds more than a bit crazy, but we can’t help but wonder: do the powers that be at Audi ever contemplate the idea of sending a thank-you card to the producers of 60 Minutes? Consider the following: History tells us that the show’s deliberately misleading “news” story, which blamed the Audi 5000 for causing several “unintended acceleration” deaths, slaughtered Audi’s position in the marketplace, cutting sales from a then-high 1985 figure of 74,061 to a dismal annual average of 14,000 cars in the five years following. The four-ringed brand, which had been riding high on a wave of yuppie affection for the aero-styled 5000 sedan, became a minor player almost overnight. It would take nearly a decade before the brand was more or less reborn in America with the smash-success first-generation A4 2.8 sedan. The arrival of the affordable, tuner-friendly 1.8T variant a year later put Audi at the top of young drivers’ shopping lists. It was the perfect car for anyone who wanted a solid German sedan but who found the image problems associated with Mercedes-Benz or BMW ownership a bit too heavy to handle, and it offered a generation of VW drivers a perfect next step up the prestige ladder.

The A4 single-handedly revitalized Audi’s fortunes in the United States, to the point where the company was able to move a record-setting 93,506 vehicles last year, but it did more than that; combined with the aforementioned media hatchet job, it had the effect of changing Audi into a youth-oriented brand. The average Audi 5000 owner in the Eighties was somewhere north of forty years old, so even if 60 Minutes hadn’t scared those customers away, most of them would be well into Social Security by now – a demographic more suited to Buick and Lexus than to the company that brought us the RS4 and the R8. By contrast, the twentysomething A4 intenders from 1997 are now entering their prime earning years. They’re still interested in the sporting, progressively hip demeanor of the original A4, but they also want a faster, smoother, more spacious sedan to reflect their current (and expected future) success. At the same time, they’re not quite ready for the sleek, subtle, rather middle-aged A6. What would suit them best? An A4 just like the original, but more so: bigger, quicker, more luxurious, and equipped in no-excuses fashion with all the latest comforts and conveniences.

In a nutshell, that’s what Audi has delivered. The 2009 A4 is simply more of everything, whether we’re talking about rear seat room, horsepower, or iPod integration. It casts a shadow nearly the size of the original Audi 5000 and offers more than twice its power. The new interior has already received rave reviews in the A5 coupe, while the styling conveys grace, dignity, and the unique restraint which has characterized Audi for the last four decades. Still, none of this is particularly shocking. So-called “small” German sedans have been steadily growing larger for quite some time now. The latest Mercedes-Benz C-class and BMW 3 Series are quite sizable cars, and even if the A4 is now longer than either of them – which it is, by nearly half a foot – the simple, almost expected, fact that Audi’s “small sedan” is bigger than it used to be doesn’t do much to raise anyone’s eyebrows.

The shocker, if you will, comes from the claim that the 2009 A4 is no heavier than the car it replaces, while being significantly more interesting to drive thanks to a revamped drivetrain and a rather fascinating new electronic system which offers individual control of steering response, throttle programming, and suspension settings. It seems hard to believe - but if Audi’s not fibbing, it would make for a rather fascinating turn of events in the entry-level luxury market. For more than a decade, every new entrant into the segment has been a little sleepier and porkier than its predecessor. Does Audi have the antidote?

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