The Audi A4 Allroad’s big brother, the A6 Allroad, is a former class winner in this competition. Is the smaller car as good? Not quite, but it’s still a very fine tow car.
The Allroad comfortably held 60mph in top gear into a headwind, and with the breeze in its favour was still accelerating through 70mph. The brakes were among the best in this weight division, easy to apply smoothly but with aggressive bite when needed. The 30-0mph stop took 10.3 metres.
Straight-line stability was fine, but the Audi wasn’t quite as secure through the lane-change test as the Skoda Superb Estate or BMW X1. On the final high-speed run the car’s back end began to move around as the caravan tried to get its own way.
In the reversing test, the engine and well-chosen ratio allowed car and caravan to move backwards smoothly with no sign of any transmission strain. On the 1-in-6 test hill, the electronic parking brake held the outfit first time, every time. However, some drivers noticed the clutch smelling after they cleared the top of the hill.
It may be an estate like the class-winning Skoda, but the Allroad has nothing like as much luggage space as the Superb. We couldn’t find space for two items from our typical luggage load. Under the boot floor there’s a compact spare wheel, and Audi confirmed that this may be used when towing if necessary.