True music aficionados will tell you the only way to appreciate a favored artist is to own their entire catalog, from studio albums to distorted bootlegs tracked down from the darkest reaches of the internet. But less ardent fans know it’s far simpler to just buy the greatest-hits compilation or click its streaming equivalent—a useful and time-saving synthesis of all the stuff that’s worth a listen. Which is how we see the new Audi S4 Avant: pretty much everything we love about Audi’s current A4 line in a single package.

Don’t get too excited. This package isn’t destined for the United States. As a nation, we love fast Audis and can even raise modest enthusiasm for the company’s stylish wagons, but the U.S. marketing department’s Venn diagram shows no overlap between the “fast” and “wagon” circles. The S4 Avant is restricted to those parts of the world where the equation “performance + space ≠ SUV” still holds true. Having driven one in the United Kingdom, we can report that this is a huge shame.

Simple Formula

The S4 Avant isn’t the sort of assembly that would have Dr. Frankenstein working overtime. It’s a simple splice: the mechanical package of the S4 sedan combined with the wagon body sold here as the A4 Allroad, although without the raised ride height or the lifestyle-affirming body cladding.

That means power from the new EA839 turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 that has replaced the similar-capacity supercharged engine of the previous S4. As in the sedan, this makes 354 horsepower accompanied by 369 lb-ft of torque at just under 1400 rpm. Torque heads to all four corners through a conventional eight-speed automatic rather than the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission that Audi uses in lesser A4s, including the Allroad. Our test car also came fitted with the optional torque-vectoring sport differential, which Audi claims sharpens responses by distributing the engine’s torque across the rear axle as needed.

Practical Performance

The wagon body means the same 24 cubic feet of smartly presented cargo space (seats up) as in the Allroad, plus the ability to turn the Avant into a reasonably convincing small van by collapsing the rear seats for 59 cubes of volume. It’s not the most spacious of wagons, but it is one of the most attractive thanks to a body kit that manages to be muscular without being overly aggressive, plus 18-inch wheels and quad exhaust tailpipes of an identical caliber to those of the S4 sedan. The S4 cabin brings body-hugging sport seats in the front, a smaller steering wheel, and the synthetic suede door panels that Audi typically reserves for its S and RS variants. Audi’s numbers say this wagon weighs 99 pounds more than its sedan sibling.

The increase in mass isn’t obvious; performance is both towering and effortless. While the A4 Allroad feels respectably brisk, the S4 Avant is a station wagon that moves like a bona fide sports car. Audi claims a 4.9-second zero-to-62-mph time, two-tenths slower than its figure for the S4 sedan, but the company has a long habit of conservatively quoting acceleration numbers. The breadth of the engine’s torque plateau means that there’s no need to work it hard to mine solid performance, but it reserves enthusiasm for the upper reaches of its rev range, and the pleasingly hard-edged soundtrack that accompanies harder use gives plenty of encouragement to push it. Low-down throttle response has lost some of the crispness that marked the previous S4’s supercharged V-6, but in every other regard the new turbo unit feels both brawnier and better.

As befits its place in the range, the S4 leaves some space for the inevitable RS4 Avant that will follow. While adding a meaningful extra dose of performance for the faster version will be hard, the S4’s chassis settings are more civilized than you might expect from something so quick, giving plenty of scope for the angrier variant to turn things up to 11. With the optional adaptive dampers in their softest Comfort mode, the S4 feels pretty close to the regular Europe-spec A4 Avant. Even the firmer Dynamic mode doesn’t deliver the sort of concrete springing that normally defines German ideas of sportiness. Body control is good, and refinement is outstanding at faster cruising speeds. As usual, the Quattro all-wheel-drive system delivers flawless traction, with the sport differential making its presence felt under higher chassis loads, fighting understeer and making the car feel like a keen rear-driver under enthusiastic use.

Greatest Hits

It’s not perfect. Steering is generic for a fast Audi: direct and proportional but with no more feedback than a half-decent video-gaming rig would provide. And, to get the criticism out of the way, the eight-speed auto also is a mild disappointment, slurring between upshifts where a dual-clutch gearbox would snap the next ratio into place and causing the car to surge off the line even on the gentlest throttle applications.

Yet considered against the totality of the S4 Avant’s talents, these are just niggles. It’s a supreme all-rounder: stylish, secure, effortlessly fast, and with the ability to carry four people and their luggage cross-country faster than most things short of a Bell 429 helicopter. It’s not just a compilation album, it’s a personal concert. And while the not-for-U.S. cars we often tell you about are frequently nothing more than curios or distractions, this is one omission from Audi’s U.S. lineup that really stings.

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