The A4 Premium Plus is a good, old-fashioned station wagon updated, according to trim level purchased, with driver-assistance technology and other advanced electronic safety aids, Warren Brown writes. (Audi/Audi)

It is a wagon — a direct descendant in layout and function of the venerable station wagon. It is not a crossover or sport-utility vehicle, although it is sold only with all-wheel-drive. These things are important to know in terms of buyer expectations.

The Audi A4 wagon, with modest cosmetic and important technical changes for 2017, is a good town-and-country wagon that can carry five people and lots of their stuff. It can travel off-road on dirt, gravel and wet grass. It performs wonderfully on rain-slicked paved roads.

Favored with warm, mostly bright early spring weather, I did not have the challenge of driving this one in snow. But the 2017 A4 wagon largely is based on the Audi A4 sedan, which I did drive in snow, and which works perfectly.

For 2017, there are modest cosmetic changes to the wagon’s front fascia — a revised grille and snazzy LED headlamps. More important, there is a new engine — a turbocharged (forced air) 2.0-liter, gasoline four-cylinder model that delivers a maximum 252 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque.

You can run this one on less costly premium-plus (89 octane) gasoline. But I’d follow the owner’s manual and use the “recommended” premium grade “for best performance.”

The wording is a bit of a marketing ruse. “Recommended” is different from “required,” the latter often applied to vehicles with high-performance engines. “Recommended” speaks more to the buyer’s ego. To wit: You paid a lot of money for that A4 wagon (as much as $51,400 plus taxes, fees and various other add-ons); you think you’ve bought something with an engine to match.

It’s understandable.

You did buy a wagon with a very smooth, strong engine — 0 to 60 miles per hour in about 6 seconds, assuming that is a matter of tremendous importance to you.

But, er, you bought a station wagon — a lingering but still necessary breed in a world overrun by pickup trucks, sport-utility and crossover-utility vehicles, all strategically separated into performance, high-performance, “affordable” and luxury models.

The 2017 Audi A4 wagon is not a performance machine, as such. It is a good, old-fashioned station wagon updated, according to trim level purchased, with driver-assistance technology and other advanced electronic safety aids.

You aren’t driving this one to compete at the Virginia International Raceway. You are going to a nearby shopping center or big-box store. For that, you don’t really need high-performance gasoline. Read between the lines. Save money. Buy 89-octane gasoline.

This is what I meant by buyer expectations. If you expect the A4 wagon to carry you over rocks, through deep mud and across-fast-flowing streams because it is adorned with Audi rings, think again. If you are looking for first-place finishes at VIR in an Audi wagon, stop looking.

The 2017 Audi A4 wagon is a wagon, probably one of the best wagons ever conceived and manufactured to serve as a wagon. I like it.