Got rid of my S4 back in July? in search of an RS4. Almost did a courtesy trade for one and bought another but got cold feet because they weren’t ‘perfect’. Picked up another S4 avant as a project/fun dd in September but I still find myself looking at the god damn rs4’s. Its becoming dated (not in a bad way), lacks gadgets in comparison to the new cars, poor gas mileage, not incredibly fast in a strait line, expensive to get power out of yet something about the body, v8 and 6 speed keeps drawing me back to it. It is possibly the last of the 6 speed v8 RS’s ever.
Part of me says I should add some variety to my life and pick up a track car. Part of me wants to go check out a E46 M3, but Im not a huge BMW fan and the interior looks awful IMO, or a B8 S4 but I think they would be to refined. I just can’t seem to find a newer car (or older) that I would be content with and not still want that rs4. Hopefully this avant will be up and running in a month and I will be able to begin searching for the RS again. It seems like there are a number of current and former S4 owners that still have a desire to get one eventually.
I look at the for sale listings everyday and if other things weren’t a little more important right now Id already be driving one.
I disagree with your “expensive to get power out of” statement, but I guess that is just defined by your comparisons. Sure expensive compared to an LS motor but anything with an LS won’t touch the fit and finish interior wise of an RS4 or the rarity of the vehicle.
I don’t think it’s any more expensive to get power out the RS4 than, say, the B8 S4. Few thousand $$$ will net you pretty good results on both platforms. Hell, the JHM blower will probably be cheaper than the one for the B8.
Definitely dated in that it’s nothing like the look of the newer cars. I love the newer cars’ angry faces too though. Not really lacking in gadgets other than ipod interface. Not much different on gas to the B8 S4 etc. Definitely not ‘incredibly’ fast. Subjective I guess. Not that expensive to get power out of at all.
You’re starting with 420 hp, so that’s nice. With a tune, piggies and a catback you’re going to really change the sound and attitude of the car…and will pick up about 30 hp (or 45 hp if you agree with Arin’s theory that tuning is where the peak gains are). You will also only be out $2000. You will be pushing deep into the 12s.
As clochner said $2000 in a B8 S4 and $2000 in a B7 RS4 gets you very similar results in street trim (with pump gas), especially from very similar starting points (both cars in the 1/4 run 13.0 @ 107 or so…and go 0-60 in 4.5-4.9 seconds. The fastest B8 S4 guys with stage 2 and no other mods are as follows
auditude4.2 REVO1 12.4 @ 112
jspazz APRS2 12.4 @ 111
the others are all 12.8 or slower
The RS4s with the mods I mentioned above are very similar. And, for $8000 you can start to look at a JHM stage 1 kit + piggies. That’s pretty compelling!
For me, the car’s character 100% of the time is very important. Not it’s character 5% of the time. Let me explain.
When I drive my car 10,0000 miles a year, probably 90% of the time I’m just cruising to work or to the store etc. When I do it, my car is still special. It sounds insane, it looks like violence, and it feels great. The engagement with the manual transmission inside is constant. The interior is excellent and with the updated RNSE (2010+) you can have your entire music catalogue stored safely on 2 SDHC cards (64 GB).
It’s a good car. Considering they’re holding their value so well, that’s another factor. They’re not selling any more manual transmission V8 powered small fun sedans on this continent any time soon. Or since. It’s a unique combo. As much as the car forum world is all ‘FI or DIE’ the real world is not. That helps the RS4 value quite a bit.
I searched for all stock/stock exhaust cars, and no intake, no lw wheels cars. Interesting that the fastest was a stage 1 revotechnik car. Wouldn’t have guessed that.
I test drove B8 S4’s before I got the RS, they were nice and the new little gadgets are awesome, but the engagement and pure joy the RS brings can’t be matched.
Not only that, I love when a true enthusiasts notices the car, some of there reactions and questions are priceless.
Gadgets
What are you referring to when you talk about gadgets? (Not aimed at anyone specific)
Re the Rs4, I got bluetooth, RNS-e 2010+, voice activated stuff, rear parking sensors. Plus the radio is basically double DIN so I change it to some all singing, all dancing touchscreen Pioneer/Alpine/Kenwood. Not sure how easy that is in the newer Audi’s.
Regarding the driving experience
I will preface this with the fact that I think the B8 S4 is a great car (only tested a DSG one). Fast, good handling, comfortable. V6 was meh sounding but that may not be a priority for all.
The E92 M3 was also great to drive. That V8 sounds bonkers and the handling is fantastic. The interior did not befit a car of this class. And fuck me it was a handful in any ice and snow. I would not be able to squeeze into nearly as many gaps in traffic/intersections with as much confidence as the RS4.
Track cars
I think something small, light, and simple to maintain would be more fun than an M3 or RS4 if you are looking for a dedicated track car. I reckon even a 325i E30 would be just the ticket. Maybe I’ll do a couple of gentle track days down the line but I wouldn’t want to be wearing through multiple sets RS4 brake pads and tyres every year.
The RS4
Everything what saki said. I even bought the same colour as him lol. (Or maybe I’m just another fake account)
I recently sold my e90 m3. It was a great car. Fun to drive when pushed hard, but kind of blah when not. The handling was of course spot on and it was a blast to turn dsc off and cut her loose. It had a primary cat delete coupled with a Dinan cat back and sounded incredible. The new idrive was a very nice system but the interior again…kind of eh take it or leave it. The rs4 feels much torquier and is definitely more enjoyable to drive on a day to day basis. You don’t need to wring it out to have fun. I thought the m3s transmission couldn’t be beat for silky smooth shifting, but I had never tried the rs4. I will take this trans any day of the week. Looks…I mean come on. That isn’t even close. The rs4 is just a great looking car from pretty much every angle. All in all, I don’t miss the m3 at all. Saki summed it up regarding the character of these cars. They are pretty damn special.
Yea I think its time to start looking again. FOund a nice suzuka grey with 36K miles only to find out it has been in two accidents. And the owner didn’t seem to know lol.
