AUDI is offering some excellent buys at the moment and this test car is one of them.
Getting the exact price and specification is a bit difficult but there are sizeable reductions till the end of June this year on the cost of both the Sport specification and the Multitronic transmission for the A4.
This is a fine-looking saloon, with clean lines, intelligent detailing, a huge boot even with a full-size spare wheel under the floor, and a typically smart Audi interior.
Despite being bigger all round than the previous model, it's not quite as roomy in the rear cabin as it looks from the outside.
But there's absolutely no argument about the superb fit and finish, inside and out.
The Sport specification, currently on offer at a remarkably low £500 instead of the £1,400 list price, adds 17" five-spoke star alloy wheels, body coloured bumpers and sill extensions, a revised front valance with larger air intakes and built-in foglamps, plus a rather discreet bootlid spoiler to the standard A4.
It doesn't stop there, because this model also boasts sports suspension, sports front seats with effective lumbar support, leather trim for the steering wheel, and some other equipment.
The Multitronic transmission, almost certainly the best CVT system on the market - is also on offer at £500 instead of the usual £1,450. So, at the current special-offer price this version of the A4 is well worth serious consideration.
As far as ride quality is concerned, the suspension settings and the tyres fitted don't do the A4 Sport many favours on anything but very smooth roads.
At lower speeds, it picks up all the little bumps and pimples on the surface, although when it really starts to move things get much better.
In a front-wheel drive A4 like this one - the four-wheel drive quattro types have 177bhp on tap - the latest version of the 2.5-litre TDI has 160bhp, but how much torque there is depends on which transmission is fitted.
While the Euro IV-compliant engine is tuned to provide 258lb/ft at 1,500rpm in cars with manual transmission, the Multitronic versions peak at 228lb/ft. That still feels good enough, especially as maximum torque feeds in from just 1,400rpm.
So you enjoy strong mid-range performance to go with pretty sharp acceleration, but one of the particularly appealing things about this engine is the nice noise it makes.
A substantial improvement on its predecessor, the latest A4 runs quietly even in diesel form, especially when on smooth motorway tarmac.
The A4 is also available with the smaller 1.9-litre turbo diesel engine, but you can't deny how impressive the V6 model is on a long-distance cruise eating up the miles in an impressive manner.
The brakes are simply superb and for such a solid saloon this car can really be chucked around.
I'm not usually a fan of so-called F1 transmissions because many of them are so awful, but the Audi Multitronic has been a success right from the start, with its sophisticated technology.
It works very well when either making the standard stepless ratio changes or letting the driver select the six manual holds, and doesn't do as much damage to the performance and economy figures as a standard automatic.
It's certainly not a bad buy at the £500 offer price, and even at its full £1,450 it is still a worthwhile option.
I also got a first hand view of how well built the new A4 is. A week before my test, a colleague took it to a function we attended in a Glasgow hotel. The next morning we found it with a park bench on its roof.
The roof had a huge dent in it and it took four of us to lift the bench off. However, when the weight was taken off the car the roof promplty popped back out, leaving only four smaller dents.
The old Germans still make them strong!
FAST FACTS
Audi A4 2.5TDi Sport auto
Price: £24,400
Mechanical: 163 bhp, 2,496 cc, 6cyl diesel engine driving front wheels via Multitronic CVT transmission
Max Speed: 141mph
0-62mph: 8.9 secs
Combined mpg: 40.9
Insurance Group: 15
CO2 emissions: 189g/km
BiK rating: 23%
Warranty: 3yrs/ 60,000 miles; 3yrs paint; 12yrs anti-rust