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ARRIVAL 2017 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro Zach Gale

“Anyone eschewing the A4 2.0T because it has a four-cylinder engine hasn’t experienced the car’s forceful full-throttle acceleration.”

EPA CITY/HWY/COMB FUEL ECON 24/31/27 MPG BASE PRICE $40,350PRICE AS TESTED $52,325

My first car was hot. At least once or twice, in fact, worryingly hot, but maybe that’s not surprising when your first car is a high-mileage sport sedan. Beyond my incredible fortune at getting a car at all, my 1996 Audi A4 was attractive, fun to drive over the canyons to school, and well-equipped—a previous owner installed an excessive eight-disc CD player in the trunk to complement the single-disc unit in the dash.

Since my long-gone 1996 Audi left the dealership as a new car, the A4 has come to define the brand. As Audi’s resurgence in the U.S. continues, I’m spending a year with a 2017 Audi A4 2.0T to see how the car has matured over the years and whether it holds up to previous positive experiences we’ve had with this latest generation. What’s it like to own the second-place finisher of our recent luxury sport sedan comparison? We’ll soon find out.

In that comparison, we lauded the 2017 A4 2.0T for a number of reasons, including impressive straight-line acceleration and its tech features, but we criticized the car for its lack of passion. The A4 isolates you from the road more than competitors such as the Cadillac ATS and the comparison- winning (and our 2018 Car of the Year) Alfa Romeo Giulia, and I’m eager to see what I’ll think about the well-rounded A4 after 12 months. Offered with front- and all-wheel drive, the compact luxury sedan competes in a huge class with at least 10 automakers vying for attention (and your money). At the bottom of the A4 lineup is the A4 Ultra, with a 190-hp turbo-four good for 236 lb-ft of torque.

Most buyers will skip that entry-level model and get the volume-oriented 2.0T model like we did. Like the A4 Ultra, our A4 is powered by a 2.0-liter turbo-four, but this variant sacrifices a few mpgs for more power. Our car makes 252 hp from 5,000 to 6,000 rpm and 273 lb-ft from 1,600 to 4,500 rpm. Mated to a seven-speed twin-clutch automatic, the package feels more powerful on the road than the numbers suggest. For our all-wheel-drive 2017 A4, EPA-rated fuel economy is a respectable 24/31 mpg city/highway, compared to 25/33 mpg with the same 252-hp engine and front-wheel drive or 27/37 mpg in the front-drive-only A4 Ultra.

The 252-hp 2017 Audi A4 2.0T started at $38,250 but has been dropped for 2018. Our Quattro all-wheel-drive model adds $2,100, and we selected the Prestige trim for another $8,600. Notable features on our $52,325 tester include LED headlights, a superb 19-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system, a fully digital instrument cluster on a 12.3-inch screen, navigation with Google Maps satellite images on an 8.3-inch screen, a head-up display, an active safety tech package, a multi-camera system with distance sensors, 18-inch wheels with contrasting gray inserts, and