Compare the2024 Audi A4VS 2024 Toyota Crown

The A4’s pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Crown doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

Both the A4 and Crown have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The A4 has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Crown’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

Both the A4 and the Crown have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver and front passenger knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, post-collision automatic braking systems, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

The A4 comes with a full 4-year/50,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire car and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Crown’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 1 year or 14,000 miles sooner.

The A4’s corrosion warranty is 7 years longer than the Crown’s (12 vs. 5 years).

The Audi A4’s engines use a cast iron block for durability, while the Crown’s engines use an aluminum block. Aluminum engine blocks are much more prone to warp and crack at high temperatures than cast iron.

As tested in Car and Driver the A4 45 TFSI is faster than the Crown Platinum 2.4 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid:

Both the A4 and Crown have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. The A4 has a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily.

To lower fuel costs and make buying fuel easier, the Audi A4 uses regular unleaded gasoline (premium recommended for maximum performance). The Crown Platinum requires premium, which can cost on average about 82.8 cents more per gallon.

A seven-speed automatic (SMG) is standard on the Audi A4, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a six-speed automatic is available for the Crown.

The A4 offers a standard sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Crown doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

The A4’s launch control uses engine electronics to hold engine RPM’s precisely in order to provide the most stable and rapid acceleration possible, using all of the available traction. The Crown doesn’t offer launch control.

For better stopping power the A4 45 TFSI’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Crown:

The A4 stops much shorter than the Crown:

For better traction, the A4’s optional tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Crown (245/40R18 vs. 225/55R19).

The A4’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 50 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Crown’s standard 55 series tires. The A4’s optional tires have a lower 35 series profile than the Crown’s optional 45 series tires.

The A4 Premium Plus handles at .97 G’s, while the Crown Limited pulls only .82 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The A4 Premium Plus executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 2.2 seconds quicker than the Crown Platinum (25.3 seconds @ .74 average G’s vs. 27.5 seconds @ .61 average G’s).

The Audi A4 may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 550 to 700 pounds less than the Toyota Crown.

The A4 is 8.6 inches shorter than the Crown, making the A4 easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

A low lift-over trunk design makes loading and unloading the A4 easier. The A4’s trunk lift-over height is 26.9 inches, while the Crown’s liftover is 30.3 inches.

To make loading groceries and cargo easier when your hands are full, the A4’s available trunk can be opened just by kicking your foot under the back bumper, leaving your hands completely free. The Crown doesn’t offer a hands-free gesture to open its trunk, forcing you to put cargo down if your hands are full.

The A4 has a 3968 lbs. towing capacity. The Crown has no towing capacity.

The A4 uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Crown uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The engine in the A4 is mounted longitudinally (North-South), instead of sideways, as in the Crown. This makes it easier to service and maintain, because the accessory belts are in front.

J.D. Power and Associates surveys of service recipients show that Audi service is better than Toyota. J.D. Power ranks Audi 8th in service department satisfaction (above the industry average). With a 17% lower rating, Toyota is ranked 20th.

The A4 Prestige has a standard heads-up display that projects speed, warning and navigation instruction readouts in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Crown doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The A4’s rain-sensitive wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically based on the amount of rainfall on the windshield. This allows the driver to concentrate on driving without constantly adjusting the wipers. The Crown’s standard intermittent wipers change speed with vehicle speed, but can’t turn on and off or change speed based on changing rainfall.

Heated windshield washer nozzles are standard on the A4 to prevent washer fluid and nozzles from freezing and help continue to keep the windshield clear in sub-freezing temperatures. The Crown doesn’t offer heated windshield washer nozzles.

In poor weather, headlights can lose their effectiveness as grime builds up on their lenses. This can reduce visibility without the driver realizing. The A4 Prestige has standard headlight washers to keep headlight output high. The Crown doesn’t offer headlight washers.

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the A4 has standard cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Crown doesn’t offer cornering lights.

Manual rear side window sunshades are available in the A4 to help block heat and glare for the rear passengers. The Crown doesn’t offer rear side window sunshades.

The A4’s standard rear view mirror and optional side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Crown has an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Audi A4 and the Toyota Crown, based on reliability, safety and performance.