Evo says goodbye to their RS4

[bam_bam]

‎
Hmm, not really, the Japanese use "ne" like the English use innit. But I see your point regarding question mark usage, I wasn't really asking a question, so agreed, it shouldn't be there.

Oddly, I've also struggled to understand the German tiptro gear selector. I loved driving arcade racers when younger and when the smaller cabinets were brought in, sequential shift became popular. It'd be many, many years before i'd actually drive one but even as a teenager, the pull back to upshift just felt 'normal'. We also got a lot of Brit touring car highlights in Australia and so it was notably the same, it looked 'normal' for the drivers to be hard on brakes, hung in their harness and pushing forward for downshift.‎
Image my shock during my first drive of a Tiptro Audi, it still feels wrong. Probably because I still play the Battle Gear series in the West End arcades a couple of times a month.‎ Accelerating and pushing forward to upshift just feels wrong.
I think BMW swapped it briefly in one of their X6 cars, IIRC Clarkson reviewed it and pointed it out "look, they've put the gearbox in upside down! You don't push UP to go DOWN" - or something like that. 

[Graeme4130]

only use the paddles in manual never looke at the stick configiuration but for me up shift woul be pull back and down shift push forward

I don't use the stick either, and stick to the paddles too. However, it still seems counter intuitive to have up forwards - down back..
Like yourself, I only know forward down, back up. I believe the reason for this being the 'norm' is that in Rallying (where sequential shift originated ?) then under braking where you'd need a down shift, the weight of your hand will naturally push the lever forwards and vice versa under acceleration...

Paddles are way easier and I find the weight and size of the RS4 paddles (mine's on the original, smaller paddles that have since grown a bit) about right.
My mrs' Mini Cooper S Countryman has paddles too, but they're absolute <beep> in comparison (both paddles function the same and you pull back to go up and then push them forwards with your thumb through the wheel, to go down...

[Graeme4130]

Also, seeing as we're off topic now but away from the slanging match, I thought id ask a couple of B8 questions that I've not fathomed for myself yet in 8k miles;

On cold start, what changes to make the different noise for the first 15 or so seconds? It's not just exhaust as I've opened closed the note during this period

The intermittent rain sensitive wipers don't work half as intuitively as they did in my B7. Is it little adjuster to the right or left to make more sensitive ? It doesn't seem to make much difference on my b8 whereas on my b7 it was just in the middle and worked perfectly and I don't think I moved it once in probably 40k miles

I'm hoping one of you guys took the time to learn the car better than I have and can answer these questions

[Graeme4130]

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Hmm, not really, the Japanese use "ne" like the English use innit.

 

Ah, we is talking yoof speak then innit, I stand corrected

When i was in Japan, I always tended to ignore youths due to unnaturally large haircuts and massive high tops !

[bam_bam]

‎
Hmm, not really, the Japanese use "ne" like the English use innit.

 

Ah, we is talking yoof speak then innit, I stand corrected

When i was in Japan, I always tended to ignore youths due to unnaturally large haircuts and massive high tops !

Ahuh... but what about the girls?
Where did you live?

[Graeme4130]

‎
Hmm, not really, the Japanese use "ne" like the English use innit.

 

Ah, we is talking yoof speak then innit, I stand corrected

When i was in Japan, I always tended to ignore youths due to unnaturally large haircuts and massive high tops !

Ahuh... but what about the girls?
Where did you live?

I didn't live there, but had to visit quite regularly. Mainly in Utsunomiya and Tochigi when I was working for Honda
Cool place, but definitely weird

I always found the longer I was there, the better the girls looked

[bam_bam]

I spent a lot of time in Osaka, I always craved seeing blonde haired girls when being there too long. The girls were amazing though, big fan of the love hotels, it always meant that if you pulled the night wasn't over... and they were some of the weirdest rooms I've seen, ever!

[Graeme4130]

I spent a lot of time in Osaka, I always craved seeing blonde haired girls when being there too long. The girls were amazing though, big fan of the love hotels, it always meant that if you pulled the night wasn't over... and they were some of the weirdest rooms I've seen, ever!

Haha, I just missed boobs and bums as the majority of Japanese girls don't have either
Never ventured into a love hotel though, perhaps I missed a treat

[neckarsulm]

Audi Pardner wrote:What I find rather strange is that the mag criticises both the B8 RS4 and the current RS6 for their thirst. Sure, they are thirsty, but that's what you expect from a performance car, and if you compare them to others in their class they're not that much different in terms of consumption (or indeed many classic cars like Stags, E-Types TR6s etc). And they're vastly more fun to drive than a RR Sport (or any other 4x4 for that matter) with similar, or worse, consumption. Just my two penn'orth.....It's a good point, I think no car in the evo review sphere should receive that criticism or if it does, it should be a boot note. No matter what, especially if it's sharing pages with a Lambo Countach long-termer or an Aston Martin Rapide. If your strapline is the "thrill of driving" then purpose should transcend MPG.

I read the RS6 arrival in Evo piece and I too found the mention of MPG weird especially when it isn't that bad but I think I know why.
Journalists don't get paid as much as you might think even on a prestigious mag like Evo - even Nick Trott says he wouldn't be able to afford a rebuild on his 911's engine should it require one and he's the editor.
So while they get given an RS6 to use for free, it's quite possible that this means quite a large amount of their income can go on fuel just getting to and from work, something a real owner/driver wouldn't be massively concerned about - not half as much as the depreciation anyway

Mind you properly minted Harry Metcalfe the Pagani owner is a serial MPG moaner but I guess that's how the rich stay rich

It's Japanese, look it up.

Can we stick to English, however shoddy?

[Graeme4130]

It's Japanese, look it up.

Can we stick to English, however shoddy?

Mondai-nai ! (that's Japanese for no probs... sorry, couldn't resist !)
English from now on


Back on topic, I find it odd that people moan about buying a sports car with poor economy. In fact, not just sports cars, but premium cars in general.
I can't imagine a Phantom owner or even a 7series/S Class owner is honestly expecting 50mpg, as you'd have to do a serious amount of miles for your fuel efficiency to out way depreciation

Over the next 24months, my RS4 is likely to loose around £20-25k in depreciation. I went into the purchase with my eyes open, so is the difference between 24mpg and 30mpg really an issue ? I think moaners just like to moan

[bam_bam]

I used to know how say "play my flesh oboe" in Japanese, it'd cause a lot of giggles but it sorted the willing girls from the shy ones.

[neckarsulm]

Back on topic, I find it odd that people moan about buying a sports car with poor economy. In fact, not just sports cars, but premium cars in general.
I can't imagine a Phantom owner or even a 7series/S Class owner is honestly expecting 50mpg, as you'd have to do a serious amount of miles for your fuel efficiency to out way depreciation

I think moaning about the impending £500 tax disc for a lot of cars from 2006> is much more worthwhile

Back to Evo and I am now sure they are losing it - on page 71 of the current issue they have used a pic of a narrow body 996 Carrera (one from a buyers guide around 8 years ago) but labelled it (wide body) C4S, disgusiting.

"Dear Mr. Metcalfe,
As a regular reader of your magazine since 1999 and a driver of Evo 4 star cars (they run on 4 star), I was disappointed to read you recent long term updates on the B8 RS4 which I found vague to say the least and lacking in oversteer.
Also can you explain why you are not running the new RS6 when you have been so positive about both of the previous versions while they were your long term test cars? Is it because of the MPG or do you find the gawdy 'quattro' grille logo upsetting to the animals on your working farm?
And finally, please don't use a pic of a narrow body 996 to depict text relating to a wide body car even if the image is a side profile and not immediately obvious, this is just lazy (still at least you didn't use a pic of that nail Jethro bought).
Mr. C (M) Harris."

[drybeer]

Mind you properly minted Harry Metcalfe the Pagani owner is a serial MPG moaner but I guess that's how the rich stay rich

And even he sold the Pagani about a year ago. For a significant profit!

[neckarsulm]

yeah £200k tax free!

In the current issue there is a mention about how he had to spend £49k on maintenance during that period but he did actually use that car and must have stuck some miles on it so all in all what a fantastic move.

[Graeme4130]

yeah £200k tax free!

In the current issue there is a mention about how he had to spend £49k on maintenance during that period but he did actually use that car and must have stuck some miles on it so all in all what a fantastic move.

I'm not sure it's tax free as it'd be eligible for capital gains tax. On normal car sales, the tax man tends to turn a blind eye, but he sold it for something like £600k or so if I remember correctly (???) and that much landing in your bank account tends to fly above the radar. Not only that, but it was quite broadly publicised