lig

LOL

The do have a nice stainless fridge with orange juice & bottled water. There was a big pile of pastries too. The espresso machine is a nice touch as well. Of course this is Seattle so any dealership without coffee is shunned.

The Audi guys were pretty casual... shirts/ties, no suits. O.K. with bolt-on mods like coilovers and cat-back exhausts. No voiding warranties over stuff like that. I never had any problems on the service end of my M-B experience. Phil Smart M-B took good care of me and the E.

aintME

congrats on the S4. perfect car for the rainy city

PHXATC

Sweet ride.

No bashing here...it looks cool and obviously suits your needs. I like the lines and appearnce. Nicely done.

rbahr

I owned a B5 S4 Avant, as well as a 2.8 Avant and a Audi TT (wife's). I REALLY liked the thought of these cars BUT kept having all sorts of reliability issues with them. We sold the TT back to the dealer because it was in the shop for 14 weeks out of the last 6 months, and sold the S4 at the same time because of the problems it was having. So in addition to the reliability isses we got hammered with depreciation. In addition, before we got the E500 wagon, we seriously looked at a 2003/4 S6 which is a hoot to drive - but I decided that I didn't want to take another chance on the reliability front.

In terms of the B6 S4, I don't have any first hand experience.

Ray

jangy

King: We are talking stock to stock here. There are plenty of mods for the E, too.

ricky: I'm done, but why just me? You sure you are staying objective and not subjective?

rjm

That is a BEAUTIFUL car! Great move upwards, in my opinion. I went from the E-430 (same complaints as you....electrical problems, failed transmission at 32,000 miles, etc.) to a Lexus LS-430 and couldn't be happier with the move. Enyoy the new ride...it is nice!

reb03

lig, I think the S4 is awesome. Before getting my second M3 a came very close to getting a Dolphin Grey B6 S4 like yours. The S4 is more comfortable and makes a better daily driver IMO. But at the end of the day I couldn't get past the lighter feel of the M3 and perhaps more importantly the awful gas mileage of the V8 (I drive 20k miles/yr). Great car, nice wheels and forget about the haters.

lig

Thanks for the kind words, fellas. I really am enjoying the car immensely.

I was soooo tempted to get an M3 but it honestly felt like it was a bit too close to my S2000. High revving, relatively light and razor sharp. Personally i think the M3 is better looking but the S4 better suits my needs and is a great complement to the S2000.

The S4 is still pretty good for business use.

The gas mileage is incredibly bad though. 12-14 city 20ish hwy. My E got way better mileage than that.

Falcon7

Nice ride, I might have gone for the S4 if I hadn't owned an A4 (b6) for almost four years and plus needed the extra room. For the price of a new S4, I was able to get a 2005 E500 fully loaded - no brainer for me.

I will probably miss the all inclusive service for 4 years that Audi had but reliability is hit or miss with them. Not shure how long things would last after my warrantee period and always hated the dreaded check engine problems that come up with Audi/VW. I really went off at Audi when they had malfunctioning coil-packs as well and cars would randomly lose power due to bad parts. This was a nasty recall they had for 2002 model year.

You'll have fun and some good advice from the Audiworld forum. Respect the design and people that choose to own it but not the Audi/VW group the runs the business.

PS - Get a VAG tool to do the diagnostics. It's one of the must have tools to own.

CynCarvin32

You know what ill get in on this test and I bet i can spank both your butts with a C32 (stock motor)

Track:

Streets of Willow

Date:

Oct 14th

Bring your E55 pig and ill leave you dead in your tracks. I have an E55.... its a barge boat freeway hog.

At the streets the S4 will clean your clock to I bet.


Dont chicken out now its just a race track....

just a friendly little 5 lap shoot out? Do we do best of 5 laps or maybe total of 5 laps or avg of a session?

CynCarvin32

Sorry to say but my E500 is far more fun to drive in the twisties than my E55. The E500 feels like a nose heavy lead slead. The E500 actually enjoys throttle steering and trail braking (well until BAS gets angry with you).

E55 really never impressed me other than on an on-ramp or long freeway pull.

zam2000

Sound like a lot of Audi (S/RS) smoke your E55, and now you're just ranting at Audi owners huh ? Why sound so pity dude ?

I've seen plenty of AMG get smoked by Audi (and even Subaru), why can't you accept the fact that 4wd + lot of hp = AMG beater ?

CynCarvin32

with all due respect i have only seen 1 audi i could not get around in the C32 (suspension, wheels and braks only -- stock motor) and it had 500 hp and tipped the scales at 3000lbs. That was not your road going S4 either.

B6 S4's are not that quick and there is no way to get much power at a reasonable price. B5 S4's are quicker track cars really. Dont forget 4wd sucks up power and your driveline loss is nearly 25% while a AMG car is 17% or so. There is a reason why audi's die on the top end...the 4wd system sucks up any power it had and lesser cars start to gain on the distance the 4wd system created. Also B6 S4's do understeer. Thing Car and Driver said it had the worst tire wear of the group (C55, M3 and S4) and that means it was pushing the most. Audis all push but an E55 is likely worse.

but the E55 is no track car. It works for a freeway screamer but if the road turns watch out the E55 is going to get all wooly...

schwarzwagen

But I like doin' 155 in your barge boat freeway hog!

GDawgC220

nice ride man, just beautiful! Love the B6 body fwiw, '04 and '05 A4's have been pretty reliable for the most part as bugs have been worked out since it's intro in late '01/early '02. My '05 has been a blast so far, just passed a year of ownership (damn, so quick) and have 20k on mine already :p

Love both MB (esp the AMG models ) and Audi

jangy

I apologize to lig.

This new guy in the C32 is toooo funny.


Too bad ricky already gagged me, or I may let off some.

vraa

Just keep it civil bro, you know I love arguments, just keep it to the cars though

lig

No worries, jangy. It's the internet.

I'll buy you a beer if you ever come out to Seattle.

Glad to know not everyone hates the Audi. It doesn't attract nearly the same amount of attention that my E did and that really is a bonus in a way.

I just figured that we are mostly car enthusiasts here and some of you guys may like the S4.

Now I need to get my windows tinted.

Back2Benz

nice new ride...still think your model looks cleaner than the 06...and the rims/lowering looks perfect!

silversurfer

and if it suits your needs and you enjoy driving it, that's really all that matters.

This is coming from the guy who owns the B5 S4 that won the European Car S4 Challenge (on the streets of Willow I might add). I love my S4, it's aboslutely amazing, but it's also got my E55's MSRP in mods done to the car.

No comparison for me. My Beast Wagon (Kleemann 2) could tear *** all the way up to 190mph. Whereas my S4's acceleration falls a bit short of that, it also doesn't feel as stable. However, a road course, r u kidding me...S4 hands down....These aren't Top Gear's road course, don't know about you guys but I'm only hitting 120-130 on the longest straights I've driven. In that range, what the 55 does in the straight line, the S4 will more than make up for in the corners.

Anyhow, nice wagon, great color, and sweet RS-GT's!

CynCarvin32

Not really a newbie around here but no need to debate. Bring your HOG to the track and we can see whose lap time is quicker! Simple and the clock wont lie! I have the E55 in the garage and know it well. I bet on the tight sections of the streets of willow my E500 would be right on the bumper or walking away from an E55. Once you get to a straight of course the E55 will run off. Just remember to brake early as those AMG brakes tend to go poof really quickly! "Brake over-temp reduce speed"!!! Just messing around but lets not get to far down the E55 is a road race king road. Its a nice freeway and sweeper car but ask it to transition over and over is hardly its strong suit.

I sure the S4 wont cause much of an issue but it may if it has chassis mods. Those cars just need a good set of shocks with the right race springs to get dialed in. Well dont forget the front links to get some negative camber and it might not understeer so much.

lig

nice S4! No question a modded B5 will destroy a modded B6. After installing the catback the first thing I did was visit Achtuning.

My S2000 is still getting the track/auto-x days. The S4 is hard on brakes. Waaaay too heavy.

Yes - it pushes - but not nearly as bad as I thought it would. In slow and on the gas very early vs. most any other car I've driven.

E55 + wild S4? dayum!

A recent SCCA Club Trials pic. Kind of cool - timed run groups. It's like Solo I - a 120+ mph auto-x. Smokey OEM brakes.

CE750

why? doesn't make sense... aren't the newer ones' faster?

silversurfer

You need only modify software and the airflow of a turboed car to get much more significant gains than an NA car.

lig

Stock vs. Stock - the newer ones are faster. 250 vs. 340 hp.

The B5 2.7 turbo engine is extremely mod friendly. Massive power potential. The V8 is NA and is pretty well tuned from the factory. Nothing short of a supercharger will give the B6 big additional hp.

It's kind of like owning the last gen. FD RX7. Super power potential but I would likely have it grenade on me at some point.