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We are solidly on record at Winding Road as having a penchant for many of the succulent automotive fruits readily available elsewhere in the world, but not available to American consumers. So when the opportunity arises for us to sample one of these exotic flavors – despite being uniformly quick to agree to the offer – we remain well aware that the sweeter the taste is, the longer we’ll spend with a resultant bitterness malingering on our automotive palates.

It’s a good thing, then, that Audi is at least flirting with the idea of bringing its newest 3.0-liter V-6 TDi A4 sedan to our shores, as want for this able diesel could otherwise make us surly drivers indeed.

Since its LED eyebrow-winking debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2007, the fourth generation of Audi’s mid-sized sedan has always struck us as being extremely well-tailored. While its German competition seems to lose more of its stylistic bearings with each generation of the very executive sedans that brought them to prominence, the A4’s progression has been one of steady updates that are both forward-looking and restrained. The current model’s broad, clean flanks with a high belt-line and subtly blistered wheel arches convey a muscularity that works to enhance, rather than hide, the car’s swollen size versus the last generation car. That kind of unfussed and powerful design language is found throughout the A4, including on the interior that manages to look at once premium and simple.

That simplicity was happily bolstered by our test car being presented in a perfectly reasonable level of specification. While our European A4 didn’t have the massive amounts of gadgetry found inside many high-end sedans, it did have clear and easy to read instruments, Audi’s intuitive Multi-Media Interface system, and overall cabin refinement equal to any vehicle we’ve been in lately that didn’t have a six-figure price tag. Perhaps the car’s most exciting feature, though, was the six-speed manual gearbox, which made harnessing every ounce of the 3.0-liter diesel’s deep power reserves both effortless and charming.

And it is, let’s face it, the A4’s diesel V-6, that most likely has you reading (and us writing) this piece in the first place. The TDi six is set to take America by storm in a big way, coming to U.S. Audi dealers ensconced in the company’s Q5 and Q7 crossovers. We’d like to believe that makes the powerplant an easy fit for the American lineup of A4’s as well. One might guess that if the German company with a history of performance vehicles—and a record for diesel-powered motorsports success—saw fit to include the engine in those largish to large SUVs, that the TDi would be something of a phenomenon in a smaller sedan – it is.

The available power from the TDi engine is so smooth that it’s almost hard to believe at first just how forceful the acceleration on tap can be. Drawing a towering 369 pound-feet of torque from just 1500 rotations of the engine per minute (up through 3000), the low-revving unit makes chicken soup of pulling away from traffic in nearly any gear. This groundswell of twist from the engine would probably make any hearty automatic gearbox feel well at home in the posh Audi, but the additional control granted by the finely-spaced six ratio gear-swapper makes almost unseemly hooliganism a real possibility. Not that you’ll find a lot of tire-burning action easily with the Quattro all-wheel-drive system keeping matters in check, but drivers will find themselves quickly falling in love with the sort of silent, magic carpet ride acceleration that can be found by dropping a gear and lowering their right foot. Perhaps even more remarkably – especially in a market crying out for higher efficiency options – is the fact that this 3649-pound sedan delivers that performance to the tune of 44 miles per gallon on the highway. Even the A4’s stated combined mileage of 36 mpg would make it among the most frugal fuel-sippers on sale in the U.S. This, while hauling four adults in comfort with stupid grins plastered on their faces.

The diesel-burning A4 also manages to pull off its pavement busting torque show without so much as a grumble. The car is almost disturbingly quiet, the engine bay emitting little more than a steady thrumming in all but the tippy-top of the six’s rev-range. That may be less than satisfying to the aftermarket exhaust enthusiast, but we’re guessing it’ll sit just fine with the meaty part of Audi’s A4 buyers demographic.

So does this Euro super hero have any downsides? Well, we guess so. Audis aren’t really known for being especially cheap, and this particular model will carry the dreaded “diesel premium” as well (not to mention that the fuel itself is mightily expensive these days) if it makes it to U.S. dealerships. We also haven’t always had the best of luck with the bells and whistles associated with the Volkswagen family of products before, Audi included. Those significant issues on the table, we still think that the A4 TDi is one of the more gracious steers we’ve had in some time.