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Why I chose the 2022 Audi A4 over the Hyundai Tucson & XUV 700

15th December 2022, 16:34 by Ananth Iyer

The A4 joins my 2014 Honda City.

BHPian neel911 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

My White Unicorn got a sibling this Dusshera: The Blue Unicorn.

Details of Blue Unicorn:

Car: Audi A4.
Variant: Premium
Exterior Color: Navarra Blue
Interior Color: Beige
KMs Clocked: ~1.8K

This post will cover my journey which ended up with the Blue Unicorn and my experience so far. It is a long post and hope it helps other buyers with some content as well. Since the common Audi A4 thread has been closed, posting it in Saurav's ownership thread who also owns Premium Variant

My 2014 Honda City has been doing well. It has clocked close to 60K Kms and post Covid there has been a need and an urge to add one more car.

Sometime in month of October 2021, I decided to go ahead and started shortlisting options. I have been following all launches and price hikes and know the old 30-35L has become the new 40-45L post Covid. The supply chain issues were going to stay for at least a year.

My Initial criteria:

Budget: 40L OTR Bangalore[Karnataka has 20% road tax]
SUV
5 star NCAP rating (for me safety is more important than features)
AWD (not offroader - just for that extra peace of mind )
Engine: Preferably Petrol as my annual run is going to be low but fine with Diesel if refined
Seating Capacity: 5

SUVs considered in ascending order through the journey : (some did not meet above criteria but more details below):

2020 Tucson
VW Tiguan
Skoda Kodiaq
Citroen C5 Aircross
BMW X1
Mahindra XUV 700
2022 Tucson

2020 Tucson - ~34L OTR Diesel AWD

This was the 1st SUV considered in month of November after following team bhp thread. This is one highly under rated car and the blame goes to Hyundai on how they market it. It ticked all boxes in my criteria. Called up Trident Hyundai and they have dedicated SA for Hyundai premium segment: Kona/Tucson now. AWD comes only in top end Diesel. Test drive vehicle was arranged immediately. The engine is refined and the gear shifts were so smooth. I loved the tuning of the engine. However, interior felt dated to me and my wife. We are not fond of dark interiors as it feels car less roomy. With the next gen Tucson already launched in international markets, we decided to drop off idea of 2020 Tucson.

VW Tiguan- ~40L OTR

Come December, we had launch of VW Tiguan facelift. I was really excited pre-launch. However, it did kill excitement with lack of features (how can you heated seats instead of ventilated in India) and high pricing. However, there were limited options in market and it did tick all my boxes. We called up Palace VW and they had Tiguan for test drive. My wife and I saw car in person and it looked much better in person. This was a black one. I did a decent test drive and the car was spacious but again the black interiors were not too appealing for us. It also felt more of station wagon than SUV from exterior. On pickup, I did feel a bit of lag, something I wasn’t expecting. The Bangalore pot holes also did not help and I could feel them in cabin at low speeds. Not 100% convinced, we put it on Hold.

Skoda Kodiaq- ~47L OTR L&K

Come January 2022, Skoda Kodiaq Launched. This came in 3 variants and after looking at feature list, only L&K seemed the right one for me. I checked the Graphite Grey L&K and the car looked fabulous. It looked premium from outside and inside. We did not need 7 seater and the last row is only for small kids and for short trips. If I had to go for Kodiaq, it had to be L&K and it wasn’t possible for me to stretch so much that time. We were not able to take test drive and it went into drop/hold category.

C5 Aircross: ~43L OTR Shine variant

So now with limited options, I was ready to look at options which may not meet all criteria. In Feb, 2022, we checked C5 Aircross. The car has a fresh feeling. It felt premium inside, though could have been better. Somehow the car does not look as big as what the dimensions say. The rear seat was also something unique but I’m not a big fan of this layout as it gives limited moving space when only 2 passengers are on rear. Took a long test drive. The suspension is superb. However, during low speeds, I always felt the gear box a bit confused and had to drive in sports mode most of the time. Checked the sale numbers and not too exciting. After Ford exit, I wasn’t too comfortable shelling out 40L+ on Citroen. The pickup did not give me that smile as well (found Tucson better). Result: Dropped from list

BMW X1: ~54L OTR sDrive20d

Always been wanting to own a car in luxury segment. I know people who picked up Diesel X1 at about 40-42L due to Bs norms changing. This was already out of my budget but still wanted to go and check once considering it was financial year end and was not sure of what discounts might be offered. This now comes only in FWD option. Contrary to some of the reviews, I did like the interior in person. Yes, it does not have all upgrades other BMW have got, but I was fine with it. I took 1 short test drive and loved the engine. The Petrol engine is so well tuned. I then took second test drive for longer one and through some bad patches. This is when I could feel stiff suspension (it has improved but again it’s a bimmer) and my wife wasn’t that happy sitting in rear. I checked on discounts and they are no where what they used to be pre Covid but they were ready to negotiate and get it to ~50L. The package looked nice but the ride quality made me put this on hold and also had to figure out finances if I would still go for this.

Mahindra XUV 700 ~32L OTR AWD

With one by one, options going into drop or hold bucket, I needed backup. Finally called up Mahindra SA and was offered test drive of top end Diesel non AWD. Petrol would have been fine but AWD comes only in Diesel option and if there is one, wanted to go for it. The front has grown on my and my family liked the car from exterior and interior. Somehow I felt it pretty easy to maneuver within the city. Waiting time was about 1.5 years and I went ahead with booking (completely refundable). Within 4 days, got the estimated delivery date of November 2023. There is no way I was going to wait so long but needed backup and was hoping that supply chain issue might ease. The other benefit of waiting for at least few months was that hopefully any major niggles reported would be sorted out.

2022 Tucson ~44L OTR HTRAC AWD

My Hyundai SA (who helped me with TD of 2020 Tucson) called about launch of 2022 Tucson in month of April. Dealers were taking bookings. I knew more about 2022 Tucson through various threads on team bhp than my SA. I went ahead and booked the HTRAC variant. When the car was finally launched, the pricing was a big bummer. 44L OTR for top end HTRAC version was insane. I had lot of discussions within my family and it did not make sense to stretch so much. With my usage, I dropped off the idea of getting AWD but wanted all other bells and whistles. This was coming to 42L OTR. I did 2 test drives and was really happy with the vehicle. It felt premium and now comes with beige interior. I changed my booking to Starry Night 2WD Signature top end. My SA assured delivery by September end (delay since I changed variant).

Conflict:

So now the search had stopped from my side. My family on the other side was still not convinced. The car is lovely and though looks are polarising, we all liked it. However, they were not able to attach a ~42L price tag to Hyundai. A lot of convincing (bad timing for the Latin NCAP results where people just look at star rating without understanding details) but at end there was constant discontent. If you are spending 42L on Hyundai, either you stretch for a premium luxury brand or get into 25L segment and save money.

Now comes Blue Unicorn

This was early September. I had about 2-3 weeks left before my Tucson would be allocated. One of my close friend (who also did not completely agree on spending 42L on Hyundai), suggested to check out Audi A4. My wife just had to be there and she jumped saying, what is the harm to check out. I called up Audi Bengaluru and fixed an appointment.

Once I reached the showroom, the experience was on another level. The staff was so courteous there. They had Navarra Blue Audi A4 Tech Edition on display and it was love at first sight. The DRL on front and rear made car look luxurious and sporty. The interior was again at another level. This feeling is something both me and my wife got for first time. However, when we sat at rear, though seats were super comfortable, the middle hump was pretty huge and I was a bit concerned on comfort. We are usually 4(2 kids) but at times we need space for 5th person. I just told the SA that let me think about it as I was looking for SUV and this middle hump seems concerning. He respected my thought process but at same time persuaded me to take test drive. This is when things started to change. The car’s suspension is so well tuned. My wife and I immediately felt a big difference in how car absorbed undulation and potholes on the road. The acceleration was superb and engine so silent. Though this is longer than XUV700, I felt so comfortable driving it. My wife also took a short test drive and she also loved it. I got my daughter(12y) the next day to sit in middle, and she was fine. The ground clearance is better than by 2014 Honda City which has scraped only once in past ~9 years so I was comfortable.

Now the Tech Edition was way beyond my budget: 64.5 OTR Bangalore. Audi A4 now comes in 2 other variants: Premium(56 OTR), PremiumPlus (61.3 OTR). The only variant I could settle for is Premium. After a long discussion, my family agreed, that either I stretch myself and go for this or get into a 20-25L segment for now but cancel the Tucson. After driving the A4, I kind of agreed.

Now the negotiation phase started, and the dealer was keen on closing it by end of September. The next 7-10 days went into back and forth negotiation and after working out few things on my finances and the discount, I finally closed the deal 3rd week of September. The Navarra Blue with Beige interior was not in stock and had to come from lot getting manufactured.

Delivery date of Dusshera was finalized. I also opted for complete PPF from Audi itself with 5 year warranty (Stek is what they offer). The final price also includes 5 year Extended Warranty and 3 year Comprehensive Service Package.

Now when I look back on this journey, there is ‘Destiny’ and I am so glad I went with Audi A4.

What I Love:

The look. For me, the lights look better than A6/Q5
Engine. This feels like rocket. So well tuned
Stability and Secure feeling of car (doors are heavy). Car feels planted
Interior feels like flight cockpit: the ambient light, the ceiling buttons.
Suspension/Comfort: Travelled to Chennai with 3 Adults and 2 Kids and they were comfortable throughout.
Commanding View
Good ground clearance for sedan
Manual knobs

What I Dislike/Could have been better/features missing which I would have liked:

You can easily do illegal speeds. You do not even realize how smooth car touches those speeds
360 camera to maneuver through those tight spaces easily
Inability to retain Auto Start-Stop setting: I prefer it disabled and it automatically re-enables every time I start car
Panoramic sunroof
Inability to fold wipers during cleaning until you move them up
Turbo DSG kicks in when downshifting is happening from D3 to D2 and can take you by surprise when you are slowing down/gently applying brakes
Absence of Direct TPMS

Accessories:

Using provided velour floor mats(carpet like feeling) – not practical during rains/slush. 3D Mats are out of stock
CR70 sun film on rear and sides (don’t miss rear AC vents)
Direct TPMS – SensAiry
3M Nomad Mats

I hope you found details of this journey insightful. This is a beautiful car and looking forward to keeping it for years.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank various team bhp members. They have been all so kind in responding to my various messages/queries that helped me finalize this car. If I start listing, it is going to be a long list. This forum has been of tremendous help. Thank You !!!

Some pictures from delivery day/short trip around Bangalore: