Audi Allroad Quattro 2004 Review

With a triple figure price tag, it is not the kind of car that you want something to happen to, let alone get the paint scratched.

Audi Australia boasts the stylish, five-seat all-wheel drive wagon has "fully-fledged off-road capabilities".

But you wold be forgiven for wondering just how far that particular description will actually take this car on the dirt?

One thing the Allroad has got going in its favour is the variable air suspension system that can provide increased ground clearance at the touch of a button.

The Audi Allroad comes in three different flavours, 2.5 TDi diesel, twin turbo 2.7 V6 and our test vehicle the top of the range 4.2-litre V8.

The sensational V8 – a totally revised version of the engine from Audi's flagship A8 limousine – develops a hard hitting 220kW of power and 380Nm of torque, the latter available between 2700 and 4600rpm.

There's enough get up and go to catapult the wagon from rest ot 100km/h in just 7.2 seconds, with a top speed of 240km/h – but it feels faster than that.

On the road the V8 engine delivers swift and decisive performance, with a five-speed tipshift style transmission that offers a sport setting and manual shift if desired.

But with this sort of power on tap it is just as easy to leave the selector in D – the sport setting is particularly aggressive.

Power is fed to all four wheels through Audi's well known Quattro all-wheel drive system (no low range), with the help of traction and stability control.

At speeds over 130km/h the air suspension automatically lowers the car by 25mm, providing less wind drag and a lower centre of gravity for better handling.

Off road the ride height can be raised to provide a maximum 208mm of ground clearance, up to a speed of 35km/h.

In all the ride height can be varied between 142mm and 208mm, a difference of 66mm.

Raising the suspension increases the overhang angle at the front to 19.5 degrees and 23 degrees at the back, with a ramp over angle of 19 degrees.

These angles play an important role when it comes to crossing ditches and driving over hillocks.

The greater the angle the less likelihood there is of the car bottoming out.

In comparison a V8 powered BMW X5 – benchmark for the luxury softroad segment – has ground clearance of 202mm, with front and rear angles of 26 and 23 degrees and a ramp over angle of 18 degrees.

If the Allroad sounds pretty good so far it is but we worry about the low profile 45 series tyres.

They do not provide much of a buffer to separate the expensive rims from damage as we discovered.

Fuel consumption for the V8 Allroad is a claimed 13.7L/100km overall from the 70-litre tank.

But in several days of testing we achieved a figure of about 16.0L/100km.

Standard equipment includes the usual luxury appoints with a kick-butt Symphony sound system.

There are also airbags for the driver and front passenger, side airbags at the front and Audi's SIDEGUARD head airbag system.

The Audi Allroad V8 is priced from $108,900 before on-road costs.