ALL GROWN UP; The 2009 A4 gets bigger and better.(News)

Byline: WES RAYNAL

The old rap on THE Audi A4 has been that it's a choppy ride, with a too-heavy front end and a tiny back seat. With a new Mercedes-Benz C-Class and the newish BMW 3 Series on the market, the A4's flaws were magnified. With its new A4, which made its public debut at the Frankfurt motor show on Sept. 11, Audi hopes it has caught and passed its German brethren.

The new A4 is bigger than the car it replaces, six inches longer in wheelbase and overall length and two inches wider. Although Europeans will have a choice of five direct-injected engines ranging in power from 143 to 265 hp, we will get two: the 3.2-liter V6 producing 265 hp and 243 lb-ft of torque and the 2.0-liter, 200-hp turbo four.

We had a chance to cruise around Italy for half a day in the V6-powered car with a six-speed Tiptronic transmission. The V6 pulled strong and smooth, and the ride felt greatly improved; the long wheelbase helps, clearly. And while "supple'' has never been a term used with stiffly sprung Audis, this ride is far less jarring than the outgoing car's.

It's a sharper handler, too, because of several subtle but important changes. Audi engineers moved the front differential forward of the clutch, so the engine sits farther back; the lower rack-and-pinion

steering system helps lower the center of gravity; the quattro all-wheel-drive system now splits torque 40/60 front/rear. Combined with the new aluminum suspension (five-link front, multilink rear), it all adds up to a car that feels less ...