Audi says bluntly that the A4 is its bestseller - and has been for 39 years, through eight generations and 10 million cars - and it's not about to mess with success.
So the 2012 model year facelift, due for world launch late in 2011 and SA release in the second quarter of 2012, is more a nip-and-tuck than a new look, with slightly harder edges to make it appear crisp and fresh.
The bonnet is slightly more arched, the six corners of the single-frame grille more sharply etched; the redesigned bumpers have more angular air intakes and flat-faced foglights.
The headlight clusters now have a curved lower edge; the LED daytime running lights form a narrow, even band along the bottom with a gap just below the xenon projector lens.
The tail lights echo the shape of the headlight clusters, including narrow, horizontal bands of LED's, above a new bumper with a more prominent diffuser insert and dual tailpipes, which are common across the Audi Four Family.
Interior trim has been refined with high-gloss inserts slander chromed bezels, a restyled ignition key and a selection of new steering wheels including, of course, a flat-bottomed, leather-trimmed sports tiller.
But the most important changes are to the multimedia interface where Audi, tacitly admitting (as has its rivals) that its infotainment system is impractical, has reduced the number of buttons from eight to four, with a script function integrated in the volume control dial.
At the same tine it has simplified the operation of the automatic transmission, the air conditioning systems, drive select and the multifunction steering wheel. The seat heating and air conditioning are now directly operated by their respective buttons.
Standard on all variants is a new driver information system with break recommendation - it detects steering patterns and other movement parameters, detects when it becomes erratic warns the driver to take a break.
A chorus CD radio with eight speakers is standard issue, with the MMI navigation plus system with large hard disk, colour monitor, 3D graphics and DVD player on upspecced variants, with voice control and optional digital audio broadcasting.
Bluetooth online connectivity, via Audi connect, provides voice-controlled Google searches for points of interest and navigation with Google Earth pictures, along with Google Street View.
Audi online traffic information, another such service, gives the driver the latest news on congestion along the selected route, and the cabin is a wi-fi hotspot so passengers can surf the 'net and send e-mails from their mobile devices.
DRIVETRAINS
The new A4 sedan and Avant models will be available in Europe with a choice of six diesel and four petrol engines, all supercharged and with direct fuel-injection, for which Audi claims an average 11 percent improvement in fuel consumption, thanks mostly to stop/start and brake energy recuperation, now standard across the range.
The two-litre TDI engines also have a new centrifugal pendulum-type shock absorber in the dual-mass flywheel for smoother running at low revs.
The most frugal version is the 100kW tuning, quoted at 4.2 litres per 100km and 112g/km of CO2 in the Sedan, while the new 120kW mapping needs 4.4 litres of diesel per 100km and puffs aus 115g/km grams CO2 per km (185.07 g/mile). Both engines are available for the sedan and the Avant.
The four-cylinder TDI is also available in 88, 105 and 130kW formats.
Then there are three V6 TDI units, ranging from 150kW (4.9 litres per 100km) to 180kW.
The new 125kW/320Nm 1.8 TFSI petrol engine has updated valve technology in a lower internal-friction cylinder head that weighs 3.5kg less than its predecessor, for a claimed 19 percent reduction in fuel consumption to 5.6 litres per 100km and 134 g/km.
The 1.8 TFSI is also available in detuned 88kW format, while its two-litre sister is good for 155kW and the two three-litre V6 options for 200kW and 245kW (in sporty S4 trim!) respectively.
Six-speed manual 'boxes are standard on front-wheel drive A4s, with continuously variable multitronic transmissions as options. The quattro versions have either the manual transmission or a seven-speed S tronic.
A limited-slip sport differential is an option on V6 quattro variants.
Chassis updates on the A4 are limited to stiffer mounting rubbers on the rear suspension control arms and revised damper rates, but all A4s now have electromechanical power steering, which teams up with the ABS system to counteract torque steer by gently braking the offending wheel.
AUDI S4
The S4, available in sedan or Avant format, comes with the range-topping three-litre TFSI V6, rated at 245kW and 440Nm, good enough to take it from 0-100 in five seconds flat and on to an (electronically limited) 250km/h at a cost of eight litres per 100km.
The S4 has S sport suspension, 30mm lower than standard, 18” (or optional 19”) rims, special headlights, bumpers and air inlets, and an all-black interior with subtle trim changes.