Review of my new car - F10 m5 vs B7 RS4

[joinery80]

Yea maybe

[drbru]

I think you are all right in that there has been a lot of depreciation but then again that suits me for the time being as Ive just picked up a year old car that was 90k (when new and fully specced) for 44k with 17000 miles on the clock so I think that was a great deal...

As far as the car itself goes...Definately a lot for me to get used to....I cant describe how brutal the power deliver is but it makes the car far more exciting to drive compared to my old RS4...Granted I wont be able to use all of the power in the wet as there is simply nothing as good as the Quattro system but then again I dont tend to drive like a maniac every time I sit in the car...

Fuel consumption is actually very good and I think the overall package is definately a massive step up from the RS...I know Im comparing apples with pears here but ultimately this kind of transition seems like the logical one as there is no way I could afford the new RS6 which will be may next obvious choice of car prob in a few years time

[adsgreen]

Thanks for the mpg figures - apparently the tech and electronics in rwd cars nowadays means that you wouldn't notice the fact that it's rwd in the wet. Chris Harris said this about Porsche I believe. Still would prefer the RS in the wet tbh though.

I've driven lots of various rwd cars and even the most modern control systems can't beat proper 4wd for day to day raw traction.
The best I've found is the new race system in the Exige V6 which is frankly quite astonishing. Lightweight, high CoG, rear biased weight, rwd car and you really can enter corner and stamp on the throttle and it'll just pull away with no dramas even in a monsoon.
However that was on a nice smooth racetrack and not trying to be stupid - if you barrel in, unsettle the car (or have a bump do it for you) and then use lead feet on the pedals then it'll end up facing the wrong way quick enough.

The issue is that the electronics can only adjust the outputs it's been given - so it can modulate power to the rear wheels and brake all wheels exactly however there are situations where what you really want is the front wheels to pull the car out of trouble.

[nial335]

Thanks for the mpg figures - apparently the tech and electronics in rwd cars nowadays means that you wouldn't notice the fact that it's rwd in the wet. Chris Harris said this about Porsche I believe. Still would prefer the RS in the wet tbh though.

having had a few AMG's in the past I would say it doesn't matter about how much tech there is, your going to notice the traction control light flashing up on a regular basis on anything other than perfect driving conditions, it's not all about 0-60 and the sheer power of a car that makes it good there's a lot more to it than that, BM's do nothing for me whatsoever,they just look boring IMO, but we all have different tastes, one mans meat is another mans murder

I've had a 330i and a 335i and have to agree about the boring bit. The 335i was fast... but boring after a while. The interior was more modern than an B7 RS4 but it was still boring. Much prefer the mass of orange illuminated controls in the RS4 even though it's an ergonomic nightmare finding things sometimes. And there's nothing like a naturally aspirated V8

[joinery80]

There is nothing like the sound of the rs4 and I've had nearly every other car in the class awesome