CARkeys (Enlarge photo)

30/10/2008 23:52. I can do no better than tell you the first thing I scribbled in my notebook after I'd driven the A4 2.0 TDI 120. This, I wrote, is a " lovely car". And I meant it.

I was surprised by this, and you may be too. The TDI 120 is, after all, nothing more than the economy special of the A4 family. Its two-litre turbo diesel engine is the same already used elsewhere in the range, but detuned in this case from 141bhp to 118bhp (the 120 in the title refers to the power output in PS rather than the good old British brake horsepower our grandfathers fought for).

With the drop in power comes an improvement in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions to 55.4mpg combined and 134g/km respectively. Obviously there's a cost in terms of performance - the TDI 120 isn't exactly quick, with a 10.7-second 0-62mph... // CARkeys