Audi A4 Saloon RS4 Quattro 4dr
Test Date 14/03/2006 09:30:00

HISTORY

From its thundering V8 (414bhp) to its aggressively competitive price (£49,980), the all-new RS4 really does sound like a definitive solution to Audi’s inability to create an ultimate driving machine (read: beat the BMW M3). Yet what truly distinguishes the RS4 above and beyond any previous fast Audi is not the way it looks, which admittedly is sensational, nor the way it goes in a straight line (ditto) but, if the firm is to be believed, the way it drives. Audi says the RS4 has a chassis that keen drivers really will connect with this time. And what makes it so much sharper than any previous RS, it admits, is that it was developed partly in the UK, on the sort of roads that we at Autocar know and love. Audi, it seems, respects the British petrolhead like few other car makers, and this time it is deadly serious about unseating the M3 from the top of their wish lists. By any standards that’s a big ask. The RS4 is a big and impressive car in just about every way, but is it impressive enough?

DESIGN & ENGINEERING

The RS4 has a monstrously powerful engine, but has also been stripped of weight. The bonnet, suspension and front wings are all aluminium. It weighs 1650kg; a BMW M3 Clubsport 1577kg, but the Audi has four-wheel drive and more space in its rear seats and boot. The cornerstones of the RS4’s appeal are its engine, gearbox and drivetrain. Unlike in the last (Avant-only) model, there are no turbos. Instead, the RS4 uses a development of the S4’s 4163cc V8 with a new crank, uprated pistons and con-rods, a bigger exhaust and bespoke cylinder heads. It generates 414bhp at 7800rpm with a peak rev limit of 8250rpm. There is 317lb ft at 5500rpm, with at least 285lb ft available from 2250rpm; an RS4 produces more torque at 2250rpm than an M3 does at its peak. There is a new generation of four-wheel-drive system that sends 40 per cent of drive to the front axle, 60 to the rear in normal conditions, but this can change by sending 65 per cent to the front or as much as 85 per cent to the rear. This system works in conjunction with the electronic brakeforce distribution program, anti-lock brakes, ESP and traction control. There are so many devices to keep it glued to the road, including four very wide and very sticky 255/35 ZR19in Pirelli P-Zero Rosso tyres, that it makes you wonder whether you could drive your RS4 across the ceiling. The front brakes are 365mm ventilated discs with eight-piston calipers; at the back are 324mm ventilated discs and four-piston calipers. The RS4 uses a system where the dampers are hydraulically linked diagonally across the car by a central valve to eliminate pitch, dive and roll electronically, but in as natural-feeling a way as possible. The RS also uses stiffer springs and bigger anti-roll bars than any other A4 and sits 30mm lower as a result. Finally, there is a Sport button which enables a driver to select a more aggressive throttle mapping, a deeper exhaust note and even more bolstering from the seat.

ON THE ROAD

The 4.2-litre V8 is one of the great road car engines of the moment. At 1500rpm in sixth gear there is real urge on offer, yet it sounds and feels sensational at high revs in low gears and delivers the sort of thump only supercar drivers will have been familiar with. Its very best work occurs from 5000rpm upwards: the cam phasing changes slightly, the exhaust note hardens and the acceleration crystallizes into one final burst towards the cut-out. That engine is linked to a six-speed gearbox whose ratios are just about perfectly chosen and whose shift action is short and light, if a little notchy. The Audi thunders to 60mph and 100mph in just 4.5sec and 10.5sec respectively, taking care of the M3 (4.8sec, 11.5sec) en route. All the third-gear timings were dispatched within a whisker of 3.0 seconds, be that at 30mph or 100mph. An M3 cannot compete with the RS4’s relentless wave of low- and mid-range flexibility, even if it is marginally more explosive over the final few revs before the limiter. The RS4 still doesn’t have the same clarity of response or steering communication as an M3 or a Porsche 911, but it has more than enough to make it a genuinely rewarding car to drive. The ride is so good over poor surfaces you wonder how Audi got it so wrong for so many years. It controls its body so precisely across uneven cambers and changes direction properly. The steering is extremely accurate, allowing you to place the nose where you want through most corners with nothing more than a whiff of understeer to warn you that the laws of physics are beginning to overwhelm the enormous limits of the tyres. The brakes do an admirable job of coping with all that potential on the road. At the track, the RS4 posted a dry lap time to match that of the Porsche Cayman S, which is no small achievement. Our only concerns were brake fade and the increasing onset of understeer as the tyres get hotter; after four laps the RS felt as if it had had enough. But the Audi is a road car.

LIVING WITH THE CAR

If the RS4 reeks of good breeding from the outside, it is positively regal inside. From the moment you pull on the beautifully engineered handle and peer in, you can’t help but be taken in by the cabin. It looks good and feels good once you’re in one of the heavily bolstered front seats. No doubt about it, the RS4 is a class act inside. The highlights are, as mentioned, great seats, including those in the rear; very possibly the sexiest steering wheel on the market; swathes of tastefully distributed leather and carbonfibre; some of the smartest-looking and clearest-to-read instruments about and roominess in the rear that no M3 passenger could contemplate. Oh yes, and the boot is a big 460 litres, or 720 with the seats folded. The RS4 also comes stacked with goodies. For your £49,980 you get full leather, CD player, climate and cruise control, xenon headlights and 19in wheels. Yet what arguably makes it an even more impressive machine to live with than its pure toy count is its mechanical refinement, and its ability to switch from high-performance saloon to refined luxury tourer. That wouldn’t be possible without such a good ride, such excellent wind-noise suppression and such fine refinement on smaller throttle openings. Our only criticism concerns the road roar that filters into the cabin at high-ish speeds on roughish asphalt; it’s not dreadful, but neither is it better than in the five-year-old M3. We averaged 19.3mpg on test with a best of 24.6 and a worst of 13.2 – pretty good for something this heavy and quick. According to Audi the previous RS4 held more of its value over three years/60,000 miles than either the M3 or Mercedes C32 AMG, and we suspect the new model could even improve on that.

VERDICT

For some while Audi has made RS models that are great to look at and own, but not especially thrilling to drive. The new RS4 changes all that. It’s hard to think of a single major weakness we can highlight, or another car at the same money that can beat the RS4 for all-round appeal. The new V8-engined M3 will need to be very good indeed to take the game on from this.
http://www.autocarmagazine.co.uk/Roa...p?RT_ID=218959

 

Brilliant car! The next C-class AMG better be pretty good!

 

49980 1.2063 60,293.3595


60k for a RS4!

i like the car, but 315 lb Torque is not enough these days.

I just hope the next MB C AMG is no priced so high.. maybe to start mid 50's.

 

i kno u just can't do a striaght currency conversion, but i believe the m3 sells for around 40,000 british pounds. why then, when the rs4 comes here, is it going to be proportionally much more expensive than the competition? i believe all this $85k base price talk is hype, if it's not drastically more expensive than the m3 or c55 in britain, why is it so much more than them here? regardless, i really do like the interior and high revving motor.

 

I understand that neither the steering wheel nor the seats will make it to the US version.

I've been eyeing up the S6 (V10!) and looking forward to the next RS6.

 

i love everything about the RS4 but that FUGLY nose

i don't think i can ever but another AUDI until they get rid of that stupid front grill.

 

It grows on you. I felt the same way, until my friend bought an A6 for his wife and I saw it in person. Now, I just love it!

 

Vid of RS4 accelerating to 140mph:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...37090734&q=rs4

 

love that exhaust sound when accelerating hard!!!

i don't know if i would do 140 MPH w/ oncoming traffic in the rain

 

Yeah, that was moronic. Car does sound great, but that sort of crap is way beyond the pale...

 

i agree.. the grille has a bold design, more like a statement. A little ugly, but brave.. that's what i like about it. I like A6 grille way better than A4.. its size is more proportional to the body width than the one on A4.