Audi has officially unveiled the 2012 A4 / S4 facelift, to rise up to the challenge of the all new BMW 3 Series. The refreshed A4s gain Audi's new six-point grille and sharper looking headlamps with LED daytime running lights that form a narrow band. Also new are redesigned front and rear bumpers and tweaked tail lights with LED strips. On the inside, the cabin gains a new steering wheel, revised trim and additional chrome accents. Other changes include an updated infotainment system.

On the engine front, Audi says consumption levels have dropped by 11 percent on average, despite the increased power and torque of many of the engines. The A4 sedan and Avant will be offered with the new 1.8 liter TFSI petrol that delivers 170hp and 320 Nm of torque. In the sedan, it returns a combined fuel economy of 5.6 L/100 km with CO2 emission of 134 g/km. This represents a 19% decrease in consumption compared with the previous 160hp engine. The most potent engine available in the series is the 3.0 liter V6 TFSI that produces 272hp in the A4 and 333hp in the S4. The latter is available in both sedan and Avant variants. The S4 sedan sprints from 0 to 100km/h in 5.0 seconds and reaches an electronically limited top speed of 250 km/h while returning an average fuel consumption of 8.0 L/100 km (I doubt any hot-blooded S4 driver would be able to achieve that!). The 1.8L version will be offered with a continuously variable multitronic transmission while Quattro versions will be mated to the 7 speed S tronic double clutch transmission.

Audi added that the mounts of the rear suspension control arms are new and the characteristics of the shock absorbers have been re-tuned. The electromechanical power steering is also new in all models of the A4 series.