Audi A4 Avant vs Mercedes E-Class Estate

Whether transporting a family and their luggage on holiday, mountain bikes or kayaks on weekend sporting adventures, work-related stuff or items of furniture, estates like the Audi A4 Avant and Mercedes E-Class make light work of whatever’s asked of them – and they do it in style. But how do they compare?

Classy estates with different aesthetic approaches

The Audi A4 Avant incorporates the marque’s customarily imposing front grille, flanked by visually exciting and high-tech headlights. Its lines and shapes are relatively restrained, exuding solidity and strength, the horizontal beltline leading to a timelessly classy and dynamic-looking rear with alluring light clusters. Of the two, the Audi is visually the sportier.

Cabins and practicality compared

Audi interiors are renowned for their absolute beauty and every high-quality surface, control and feature in the A4 Avant has received obsessive attention to detail. The air vents run the full width of the dashboard to convey an aura of spaciousness, the slim screen for the MMI infotainment system and the elegant temperature controls enhance the cabin’s sophistication, while an abundance of optional upgrades satiate the needs and wants of each A4 Avant driver. These include quilted Fine Nappa leather seats, a head-up display and wireless smartphone charging. Headroom and legroom are impressive front and rear, and the practically-proportioned boot accommodates 500 litres of luggage with the back seats in use. Fold them down and there’s 1,500+ litres to play with.

‘Leather’ upholstery is standard for the lavishly luxurious Mercedes E-Class Estate, the most spacious in the segment. Its curvaceous interior features stylish circular air vents incorporated into the sweeping leather-trimmed fascia beneath the 8.4-inch infotainment display. Sat nav also comes as standard courtesy of Garmin, although upgrading to the Comand Online system is highly recommended, providing larger and more high-tech displays that host an array of extra systems. Mercedes’ E-Class Estate has long been synonymous with supreme levels of space, and the latest model’s cavernous 640-litre boot expands to an incredible 1,840 litres when circumstances require. 

Conclusion: for space and luxurious comfort, the Mercedes E-Class Estate is perfect

The engine range for the Audi A4 Avant offers plenty of versatility.
Drivers for whom petrol is more suitable will relish the 2.0 TFSI which is the second most powerful unit in the A4’s range. It produces a potent 252PS and is complemented by the added assurance of the marque’s respected Quattro four-wheel drive system.
• A front-wheel drive 190PS tune of the 2.0 TFSI is also available, but many drivers are impressed by the 1.4 TFSI with 150PS and remarkable combined fuel consumption of 41.4mpg.
• A4 Avant diesel drivers seeking ultimate efficiency will be hugely impressed by the 70.6mpg 2.0 TDI ultra, while non-ultra versions of the 2.0 TDI are available including one with Quattro.
• The most powerful diesel is the 272PS 3.0 V6 TDI Quattro which is still capable of upto 51.4mpg. Depending on the engine, a 6-speed manual or 7-speed S tronic automatic transmission can be specified.

With the Mercedes E-Class Estate, diesel is the primary fuel choice available and all of them are matched to the smooth 9G-TRONIC PLUS 9-speed automatic gearbox combining comfort, pace and efficiency. 
• Starting with the 150PS/67.3mpg E200d, the E-Class engine line-up then progresses to the E220d with 194PS before topping out with the powerful E350d. 
• Its V6 produces 258PS and reaches 62mph in just 6 seconds compared to the entry-level model’s 8.7 seconds, while offering economy of upto 51.4mpg. 
• Petrol drivers are limited to one engine but it’s an absolutely astonishing one, in the form of the 401PS E43 AMG, a 3-litre V6 unit hitting 62mph in 4.7 seconds and capable of 155mph.

In numbers…