Cincinnati.com's view

I may quibble some with the philosophy behind the brand-new Audi allroad, but the execution is dazzling. Management obviously gave the engineers carte blanche to show the competition how it can be done.

The allroad quattro (Audi likes the number 5, and shies from capital letters) is the latest in a tidal wave of crossover vehicles, which generally have some modest degree of off-road or at least all-weather capability, as evidenced by their rugged, almost-sport-utility-vehicle looks, but are at their core station wagons in drag. The lesser members of the breed are based on passenger-car platforms.

Audi itself has two sweet all-wheel-drive station wagons, the A4 and A6 Avants, both excellent choices for year-round, four-season fun and security — on the road.

The allroad quattro (the cognomen Audi’s name for its all-wheel-drive system) is meant to emulate a luxury vehicle on pavement, while having what it takes to keep up with more purpose-built SUVs where there are no roads.

That’s a tall order, and in the case of most crossover vehicles, involves equal parts hyperbole and wishful thinking. The common practice is to jack up a station-wagon style body and slip an all-wheel-drive mechanism underneath it. While that may allow for discreet off-road sallies, it also makes the vehicle more ungainly on the highway, as well as aerodynamically dirty in the regime in which it is usually called upon to perform.

Audi has here gone to some pains to make it workable in both environments, without indulging in a juvenile butching-up of the skin. The only stand-out touch is a matte-finished roof treatment, which many of my impromptu panelists noticed right away and approved of.

The allroad sits atop an electronically controlled air suspension, both front and rear, which can vary ground clearance between 5.6 inches (typical of a car) and 8.2 inches, which is respectable for a full-fledged SUV. It uses an on-board air compressor, which can also be used for inflating tires, including the spare, which is carried uninflated to save space.

The system is controlled via a dash-mounted switch. It can be left in automatic mode or activated manually, up to a point. It includes an automatic load-leveling function.

The lowest ride height is meant for speeds of 75 mph or more over decent surfaces, where a bit of firmness is required for optimal handling and control. The No. 2 position, one inch higher, allows for more shock travel and thus a more comfortable ride. The No. 3 position is designed for moderately bad roads and modest-speed on-highway driving, as on distressed city streets. At speeds of 50 mph or greater, it is automatically overridden to the No. 2 setting. Similarly, the rough-road No. 4 setting works only up to 22 mph, at which point it is lowered to No. 3, and so on.

Built-in delays prevent overly-frequent automatic ride-height changes, although I scarcely noticed the changes taking place as I experimented w ith manual settings; nor could I hear the air compressor at work.

From the outside you can see the difference in ride height, although even at the extremes it doesn’t approach the look of a hijacker or lowjacker, so popular in Los Angeles.

Ride quality was very good overall, whether flying over freeway or pounding poor pavement. I wouldn’t recommend going cross-country, making a trail for oneself, however, because it IS an all-wheel-drive setup, which means front and rear axles cannot be mechanically tied together, and it has no low range, sometimes useful in dire circumstances. It would be a champ on anything remotely resembling a path, however. I question whether a person could bring herself to expose such a luxurious vehicle to the vicissitudes of off-roading, though.

The quattro mechanism is the familiar viscous-coupling center differential, which can vary the torque split from one-third front, two-thirds rear,to thxact opposite, with an essentially infinite numb of ratios in between, depending on which axle has the greater traction. Electronic differential locking front and rear guarantees that you’ll go if even only one wheel has grip. As always, it was unobtrusive, very fast-acting, and highly effective, both on-road and off.

Because of the unusual nature of this beast, Audi commissioned Michelin and Goodyear to produce specific, dual-purpose tires for it. The Goodyear Wrangler F1 allroads on the tester showed excellent adhesion on surfaces wet and dry, smooth and irregular, and were commendably quiet at freeway speeds. The 225 – 55 rubber is wrapped around generous 17-inch alloy wheels. The skins are only H-rated, since the allroad is governed to 130 mph in North America, which means they’re more forgiving of road shocks than higher-speed tires.

With that large contact patch between tire and road, the ventilated disc brakes front and rear (12.6 inches fore, 10.1 aft) provide prodigious stopping ability. The fronts have four pads, like high-performance cars. Pedal feel is firm and easily modulated. The standard antilock pulsed quite rapidly with a mere purring sound to prevent lockup in my simulated panic stops.

Providing the impetus is a nifty engine we’ve seen in the Audi A6, a 2.7-liter, 30-valve (yes, three intake, two exhaust)) double-overhead-cam V-6. If that sounds a bit underqualified for a 4,200-pound car, not to fear — there is a turbocharger on each bank to raise the output to 250 hp (@5,800 rpm) and 258 foot-pounds of torque (@1,850). Note the very last figure — a torque peak coming in so low is more characteristic of a pushrod engine and guarantees a good launch feel, even with an automatic transmission, which the tester had in place of the 6-speed manual.

I found that to get the best blastoffs, it helped to mash the throttle, or even cheat a little by winding up the engine a bit with the brake on, but once those turbos kicked in, it was hang on, Molly. The 0-60 times were in the low-seven-second range, which would do most sporty cars proud. I’d expect to shave at least half a second with the six-speed manual, but who wants that on a luxury wagon?

An additional argument in favor of the five-speed automatic is its inherent goodness; it shifted swiftly and smoothly, and was particularly apt at selecting the right gear in traffic, downshifting uncannily well on deceleration. The only time it got a bit bollixed was when I forced full-power downshifts from second to first — those two gears are relatively far apart and the gearbox sometimes questioned the move for a second or so.

There have been no crash tests on the allroad, but it feels like a tank in terms of bodily rigidity. Should the worst happen, there are dual-stage air bags in front, side air bags, and a head-protective curtain along the side glass for driver and navigator. The side bags, unlike the ones in front, stay inflated for five seconds to protect in a rollover.

The allroad manages on regular fuel, although 91-octane is preferred. EPA estimates are 15 mpg city, 21 highway. I saw 17.4, making the turbos sing for their supper.

Base price on the allroad is $41,900, pretty reasonable in light of its extraordinary mechanicals and luxurious fitments. The tester also had the automatic trans, $1,000; navigation system, $1,630; power moonroof, $1,000; fancier wheels, $1,000; a package consisting of xenon headlamps, auto-dimming mirrors, folding outside mirrors and memory seats and mirrors, $800; another package of heated front and rear seats, Homelink transmitter and heated, multifunction steering wheel, $800, and a Bose premium sound system, $750. Final price of the tester was $49,480, with freight.

“The Gannett News Service”