Audi A4 VS Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Audi A4
Likes
- Nice to drive
- Looks good
- Impressive interior
Dislikes
- Space-saver tyre
- Short warranty
- Paying extra for driver-assist tech
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Likes
- Luxurious finishes
- Upmarket and intuitive tech
- Precise handling
Dislikes
- On the compact side for size
- Low-ground clearance may grind the teeth
- Dynamic guidelines are trippy
Summary
Audi A4
The Audi A4 allroad is the off-roader of the A4 line-up. I’m using the term ‘off-roader’ loosely here because this wagon is obviously best suited to daily duties in a city and suburbs, with perhaps an occasional foray into very light off-roading, i.e. driving on a well-maintained gravel or dirt road with few, if any, corrugations, and in dry weather only.
But that’s not a negative factor because the great thing about adventures is that they can be scaled to suit you, your lifestyle and your vehicle of choice.
However, is this allroad your best option for a comfortable, nice-driving all-rounder? Read on.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.0L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Diesel |
| Fuel Efficiency | 5.2L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
When it comes to choosing a family car, sedans are often overlooked for their long-legged wagon or beefy SUV cousins.
They're a bit of a forgotten hero but they'll always hold a piece of my heart for their practicality and (often) sexier kerb-side appeal.
If you can get used to your body cracking like a glow stick when you get in and out of them, the sedan may make a comeback!
The new Mercedes-Benz C-Class, in entry-level C200 form, has definitely tempted my family to consider a sedan in the future – it looks stately and refined but the driving experience also makes it fun.
Let's see what else it did right and if there was anything that could be improved.
Did I mention, I'm fond of sedans... ?
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 1.5L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Hybrid with Premium Unleaded |
| Fuel Efficiency | 6.9L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Verdict
Audi A47.4/10
The Audi A4 allroad 40 TDI quattro S Tronic is a nice-looking wagon that’s fun to drive.
It’s packed with tech, adequately functional for daily life and it’s also capable enough off-road as long as the driving surface is nothing more challenging than well-maintained gravel or dirt tracks in dry weather, and you’re not planning a rough-and-tumble expedition into remote bushland.
As I mentioned earlier, the great thing about adventures is that you can scale them to suit you and your vehicle and the allroad offers a nice stepping-stone for people who’d like to experience the outdoorsy lifestyle, before perhaps diving deeper into it.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class8/10
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class C200 is such a stylish sedan and I would totally have one. The driving performance, luxurious features and practical size made it a winning combo for my family. The price point is definitely up there but you do get a high-end build for the cash. I've seen bigger boots in other sedans and not being able to fit a third child seat will limit some families, but this still easily earns an 8.5/10 from me.
My son really loved this one. The ambient lighting was the highlight for him and he thought it looked like a "space car" inside. He gave it a 9/10.
Design
Audi A4
The allroad’s overall look is part of a range-wide refresh and it certainly fits in with the line-up’s updated aesthetic.
Because I’m a bloke who spends the bulk of my time in 4WDs – traditionally bulkier vehicles rather than slim city-friendly wagons – I’m not totally enamoured of the Audi’s style, especially in terms of trip-packing practicality. However, I can certainly appreciate the appeal of its quite low, sleek and streamlined appearance, which its tweaked chunkier grille adds some gravitas to. It’s just not my cup o’ tea.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
The C200 is a sleek and elegant steed.
Initially, you may think this is just a standard Merc showcase. There's the nice big badge on the pronounced nose. Beautiful sleek lines in the body... but it's the attention to detail that make this feel special.
There's a repeated badge motif in the grille and a cute cursive Mercedes logo tucked into the corner of the windscreen. The puddle lights on the doors project the badge at night time and you can often spot a badge etched into the LED lights.
However, it's the interior that's the highlight for me and I feel like it's a big step up from previous models I've been in.
Our model has the grey 'Artico' synthetic leather trim (says grey but it's really white) and a lovely mix of piano black and shiny chrome inserts that are set against soft touchpoints throughout.
The quality of the build oozes through every stitch and join. Don't even get me started on the cool customisable ambient lighting system inside, which makes this feel like you're on the set of Tron and really elevates the interior.
It's quite fun to build one of these in Mercedes' online configurator. You can customise your trims to make it feel like your own and their blue paintwork options are great (I do love a blue car).
Practicality
Audi A4
I’ll answer that question as a politician would – without actually answering the question.
The allroad’s interior looks good and certainly feels open and spacious, although the driver’s seat tends to feel a bit more snug as the dash is angled towards that position.
The new 10.1-inch touchscreen, home for most upfront functions, dominates the dash, in a good way.
The front seats are electrically adjustable with lumbar and driver memory.
There are plenty of places in which to put your everyday bits and pieces (including a decent storage bin/arm-rest), as well as charging points, including two USB ports, for your devices.
Need somewhere to put a cold beverage, mate? There are two cup-holders between driver and front-seat passenger, two in the fold-down centre arm-rest for the back-seat passengers, and bottle holders in all doors.
Back-seat passengers also get air vents, climate control, mesh seat-back pockets and grab handles.
There is a 495-litre cargo space when the rear seats are in use, but that increases to 1495 litres when those seats – 40:20:40 split folding – are stowed away in the floor.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
I'm not going to lie – there are sedans out there that have an almost limo-like space inside but the C200 isn't one of them.
It's not small by any means and all occupants enjoy the comforts of decent legroom and headroom but it's not cavernous considering the specs (1437mm high/1820mm wide/4751mm long).
The optional panoramic sunroof does cut into the headroom for back seat passengers, which is something to consider if your family is very tall.
The storage is maybe a tad leaner-than-average for a car of this size. The glove box and middle console aren't massive but will suffice.
The cupholders up front can be removed if you need extra storage space for larger items and back seat passengers enjoy retractable cupholders in the armrest.
The way the front doors curve out creates a larger than normal storage bin and drink bottle holder – which help make up the difference. There is a dedicated phone pocket, to tuck it out of the way.
The boot space is 455 litres (VDA), which isn't as large as some others on the market but it was plenty big enough for my family's needs.
There's a handy under-floor storage pocket for smaller items, like the puncture repair kit, because you don't get a spare tyre in this.
When it comes to ease of use, my six-year-old loved not needing my help to get into his seat and he still enjoyed a decent view out of the wide back window.
The amenities in each row are good but not class-defining. Still, creature comforts have be well-thought through.
Front occupants enjoy heated seats and fantastic lumbar and under thigh support. Dual-zone climate control sorts out the temp, and the cool circular air vents that make loud audible 'clicks' when manoeuvred give the interior a jet cockpit vibe.
While I've never had an issue opening or closing a sedan boot, the powered lid was a nice feature to have this week.
The tech throughout is great and intuitive to use. The massive 11.9-inch touchscreen multimedia system is cool and is easy to use once you become acclimatised to Mercedes system.
The customisable digital instrument panel makes the driving experiences feel individualised.
The interior is a chilled out space with gentle scrolling touchpads taking the place of most 'push' buttons and dials.
Think of each surface as being a bit like a touchscreen tablet in how you operate it. I was a little worried the touchpads would be laggy but they're very responsive.
There's only one USB port in the whole car, which limits charging for other passengers but I did enjoy the easy connectivity of the wireless Apple CarPlay.
The electric heated front seats are a nice touch but I was amused by the 'kinetic' function on both. It's what you might call a 'massage' function on another car but here they don't really work. It's best to think of them as a way to do some (very) gentle stretching on a long trip.
The 360-degree camera view is super clear and crisp but the dynamic guidelines (which tilt the camera angle) are a bit too dynamic for my liking and I relied mostly on the bird's eye view to park.
As I've mentioned, the ambient lighting system creates a stellar atmosphere inside. I've often wondered why other car manufacturers haven't jumped on that bandwagon because it's a relatively cheap way of creating wow factor. And it generates massive wow factor in here.
Price and features
Audi A4
The Audi A4 allroad 40 TDI quattro S Tronic has a MSRP of $69,900 (plus on-road costs).
It has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine unit (140kW/400Nm), a seven-speed S tronic automatic transmission, and Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive system.
In standard guise this allroad’s features list includes a new 10.1-inch touchscreen (with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), DAB+ digital radio, an Audi 10-speaker stereo, wireless charging for Qi-enabled smartphones, Audi’s Virtual Cockpit (a 12.3-inch digital display), smart key with push-button start, leather trim, three-zone climate control, as well as LED headlights, 18-inch alloy wheels, illuminated door sills, and overall tweaked exterior and interior styling.
It also has AEB with pedestrian detect, lane change warning, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera.
But our test vehicle has a few different features and a fair few extras. Our allroad has a ‘price as tested’ of $75,681 (plus on-road costs), because it has Assistance plus package ($2900), which includes a raft of driver-assist tech, such as adaptive cruise control, active lane assist, collision avoidance assist, high beam assist, head up display, park assist (helps to steer the vehicle into a parallel or perpendicular parking space), as well as a 360-degree-view cameras
It also has 19-inch Audi sport alloy wheels in 10-Y-spoke design ($1350), instead of the standard 18-inch alloy wheels in 5-V-spoke design, and metallic paint (Mahattan grey, $1531).
Note: when we were conducting this test, Audi announced that, among other things, it would release a new-gen A4 allroad quattro 40 TDI in early 2021 that would have an extra 10kW more than our test vehicle, so it’ll be a 150kW/450Nm machine.
For those of you into hot laps, the current-generation achieves 0-100km/h times of 7.9 seconds; the new A4 allroad quattro 40 TDI is claimed to achieve that mark in 7.3 seconds.
Pricing for the upcoming 150kW A4 allroad quattro 40 TDI as standard was set to be $70,700.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
Herein lies the rub. There are four models for the C-Class sedan and ours is at the bottom of the pack.
But don't let its position fool you in thinking it'll be cheap because this model starts at $78,900... and that's before you start adding the option packs.
Our model is fitted with the 'Vision Package' which adds a host of features – like a panoramic sunroof, head-up display and heated front seats, to name just a few. This adds about $3000 to the price tag.
This also has the optional 'Sport Package' which adds 19-inch AMG alloy wheels and rear privacy glass, among other things, for an extra $1300.
Unfortunately, even without all of those options, this is still one of the most expensive 'entry-level' sedans in the luxury class!
Under the bonnet
Audi A4
The Audi A4 all road 40 TDI quattro S Tronic has a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, producing 140kw at 3800-4200rpm and 400Nm at 1750-3000rpm.
It has a seven-speed S tronic automatic transmission and all wheel drive.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
The C200 has a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine with an integrated starter-generator.
What's that, you ask? So, glad you did. It's basically an electric battery that also acts as your starter... or alternator.
It smooths out vibrations from the engine and generates some power from braking. Making this a very mild hybrid. Note the 'mild'.
Is it powerful? Surprisingly, yeah. It has a maximum output of 165kW and 300Nm of torque. Combine that with the starter-generator and we have a powerful little engine that can push the C200 from 0-100km in 7.3 seconds, while still feeling like there's power in reserve.
The nine-speed auto transmission is damn smooth and there's no clunky gear changing at any speed. It's got great pick-up, too, for when you need to overtake or zip across traffic.
Efficiency
Audi A4
It has claimed fuel consumption of 5.2L/100km (combined), but we recorded actual fuel consumption on test of 8.4L/100km – driving in soft sand likely negatively impacted that figure.
It has a 61-litre fuel tank.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
The official combined cycle fuel figure is 6.9L/100km. Real world testing saw my figure at 7.2L, which was awesome for the heavy driving I did this week on a combo of urban and open-roads.
The light regen braking probably helps this coast comfortably into being a very efficient sedan for its size.
Minimum fuel requirement is 95 RON premium unleaded and you'll need 66 litres of it to fill the tank.
Driving range using the official consumption figure is around 950km, and 915km using our real-world number.
Driving
Audi A4
For a bloke who spends a lot of time in big, tall and bulky 4WDs, I felt like I was driving a go-kart. It’s that low, but it’s also that much fun – and it’s a very different driving experience to what I’m used to.
The allroad is 4762mm long, 1847mm wide and 1430mm high, and has a listed kerb weight of 1720kg. So relative to the 4WDs I usually steer around, this is light and low slung. It’s more car than SUV, that’s for sure.
Acceleration is rather punchy (the engine and auto are a decent match-up), steering is light but precise, and you can cycle through drive modes (efficiency, comfort, auto etc) to set up vehicle characteristics to suit your driving style and conditions.
The quattro all-wheel drive system helps to keep the allroad planted and composed at all times.
Ride is on the sharpish side of firm and you do tend to feel every irregularity in the road surface – it is long and low and on low-profile rubber afterall.
The virtual cockpit plus – a 12.3-inch high-resolution colour display – offers a comprehensive read on all things to do with the allroad.
Throw around your superlative of choice – “sporty” and “dynamic” fit this allroad well – but I’m loathe to gush about its on-road performance much more than that because I reckon if any motoring journos are reading this – many of whom spend the lion’s share of their time swanning about in sports cars – they would have already choke-spat out their dirty chai with surprise by now.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
The steering feels solid and concise. The tyres seem like they're glued to the road, making winding roads downright fun to tackle. Oh, and the sharp 11 metre turning circle is wonderful.
The handling makes this your best friend in a car park. The lower ground clearance did elicit some unladylike grunts when I parked on a hill, but otherwise the wide door apertures makes it easy to get in and out of.
The only thing I would note is the low-profile ground clearance. Just be aware of your speed and angle when you handle car park ramps or road bumps in this. They are not your friends.
Safety
Audi A4
The Audi A4 all road 40 TDI quattro S Tronic has the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating.
It has eight airbags (dual front, front side, side bags front and rear, and curtains front and rear), as well as AEB with pedestrian detection, lane change warning, rear cross-traffic alert, a reversing camera, and front and rear parking sensors.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
The safety sheet is well-stocked and has the usual suspects you want in a family car, like: AEB with car, pedestrian, cyclist and junction turning assist (effective speed 7.0-90km/h); forward and back-over collision warning, lane keeping assist, lane departure warning and emergency lane keeping assist, as well as, blind-spot monitoring.
I quite like the 'Active Distance Assist' which helps to automatically slow your vehicle speed to keep a set distance to the car in front in stop-start traffic.
Perfect for those busy city commutes. And if you're not confident on parking, this also has a 'Park Assist' feature.
It's nice to see that this has nine airbags, which include a driver's knee airbag and the newer front centre airbag.
This has a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating which is nice and new from testing done in 2022.
There are ISOFIX child seat mounts on the outboard rear seats and three top tether anchor points but because of the narrower rear seat, you'll only comfortably fit two side-by-side.
It was super easy to fit my seats and there's a good amount of room for front passengers when a 0-4 rearward facing child seat is installed.
Ownership
Audi A4
This Audi has a three-year/unlimited km warranty. Service intervals are recommended every 12 months or 15,000 km, whichever comes first.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
The C200 comes with a five-year/unlimited km warranty, which is standard for the market.
There are multiple servicing options and on the five-year plan, the services average $1090 annually, which is quite expensive.
Servicing intervals are pretty good at every 12 months or a longer than usual 25,000km, whichever comes first.