2020 Audi A4 Lineup: Fresh Face, New Mild-Hybrid System, and S4 Goes Diesel

Wave goodbye to the gasoline-powered S4 sports sedan.

byChris Tsui|
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Year, Make, Model: 2020 Audi A4, S4 TDI, and A4 Allroad Quattro

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Twenty-five years after first giving birth to the A4, Audi is giving its fifth-generation compact sports sedan a mid-cycle refresh. Aside from an updated face, Ingolstadt's rival to the BMW 3 Series gets a new infotainment screen and—in Europe, at least—some pretty drastic changes under the hood.

What's New: For 2020, the Audi A4's appearance has been heavily revised. New headlights, taillights, and a shorter grille bring the A4 in line with the automaker's current, futuristic design language while box-style fenders are a nod to the iconic Quattros of yesteryear. On the inside, the facelifted A4 gets a 10.1-inch center touchscreen to accompany the 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit Plus system that sits in front of the driver.

Under the hood, the A4 will be available in Europe with a choice of six different turbo engines ranging from a 148-horsepower base four-cylinder to the 342-hp V6 in the S4 TDI (more on that later). At launch, three of those engines will be paired to a 12-volt mild hybrid system for better fuel efficiency. As previous reports have confirmed, last year's A4 Ultra Sport is the last manual transmission Audi sold in the U.S. and alas, the 2020 A4 will only be available as an automatic. 

2020 Audi S4 TDI, Audi AG
2020 Audi S4 TDI, Audi AG

Hold onto your hats, people, because the S4 is going diesel. Coupled with mild hybrid help, the S4 TDI gets from zero to 62 in 4.8 seconds (5 seconds flat in the Avant) and boasts 516 pound-feet of torque. Audi hasn't announced whether the newly diesel-powered S4 would make it to America but we're not holding our breath. In any case, the hot AWD sedan comes with an eight-speed auto and sport suspension. Options include even sportier "S Sport" suspension with damper control and a sport differential that supposedly helps curb un-sporty understeer. How much sport can an Audi sport if an Audi could sport sport?

2020 Audi A4 Allroad Quattro, Audi AG

Oh, and there's also a new Allroad that sits 1.4 inches higher than the regular A4 and rocks black, scratch-friendly cladding. 

Quotable: "The A4 represents the core of the brand—after four years in the making, Audi has made the successful midsize model even tauter and sportier," reads Audi's press release. "Its exterior is integrated into the brand’s new design language; the large MMI touch display offers the kind of operating experience customers will be familiar with from their smartphone."

What You Need to Know: In Europe, Audi's A4 lineup will consist of the A4, A4 Avant, S4 TDI, S4 TDI Avant, and A4 Quattro Allroad. In America, you can count on the regular A4 and Allroad to make it over. U.S. availability for everything else, meanwhile, is officially TBD but we're gonna go ahead and advise wagon fans to not get their hopes up.

2020 Audi S4 TDI, Audi AG
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