handling: rs 4 vs evo 8 260

[mikhailk]

I never driven an RS 4, but on testdrive of evo 8 260 I was really impressed by what the salesperson demonstrated in terms of handling.

Whats the handling like in RS 4? Can you floor it round a roundabout and keep it pointed where u want to go?

[Mog]

I recently drove the evo 8 MR340 and was very dissapointed with it....I felt that I was sitting on the car rather than in it.

Mog

[Petoir]

Can't speak for the evo 8 experience, but my old Evo 6 Tommi Makinen was incredible in the twisty bits, had a brilliant gearbox / gear change and great brake pedal bite. Not to mention ridiculous acceleration up to about a ton. There's no way on earth those things are 276 bhp - my standard Tommi was dyno'd at 306 on a warm day.

I've owned my RS4 for a year now and it will corner at the same speed, but with nowhere near the road contact feedback through the wheel, hence you tend to have less confidence in tight corners. I've also found that the tyre selection on the RS4 is much more important. The Dunlop SPs on the car when I bought it were dreadful, but the Michelin PS2s are top notch. Other big difference with the RS is you can really feel the extra weight and it's pretty unpleasant at first, but you get used to it.

But the Evo was also a bit of a cheat - again, not sure on the 8, but the negative toe at the front was verging on funny. People often commented that my axle was bent it was so bad. As a result it used to eat tyres on the inside edge - lucky to see 6 / 8000 miles, with a front rear rotation.

RS is a smoother ride by far on standard suspension and mind bogglingly faster from 80mph onwards. Not quite the drivers car the Evo was, I do miss it, but I don't miss the image, the attitude of other drivers and the running costs of the Evo. It's a super fast, tuned crappy Japanese saloon with a body kit at the end of the day (again, can't talk for the eight) and it used to eat itself alive from the inside out - clutch, gears, brakes, tappets, steering rack - you name it, it got replaced. RS is a rock and a far better car and as for engine note, it's like comparing an on-song twin turbo charged V6 with a hairdryer, Evo sounds awful....

Bit of a brain dump, because I do miss the Tommi Mak!

Pete

[kiwi_mtm]

nice report pete

[mikhailk]

yeah coz evo 8 has all the clever computer thing, active yaw control or something, while as I understand rs 4 is just mechanical, right?

[TarmacTerrorist]

Yep, Cosworth mechanical.

[Nordschleife]

Cosworth actually did some casting and assembly work on the engine. Nothing at all to do with the rest of the drive train, transmission, differentials and what have you. In actual fact the RS4 was developed for quattro GmbH by a specialist shop in Cadolzburg called SMS.
Audi hasn't a clue what to do with Cosworth, so its main purpose appears to be as a specialist non-ferrous foundry and machine shop, be careful not to confuse Cosworth Racing (Ford) with Cosworth Technology (Audi)

R+C

[excursion]

Nordschleife what is the difference between the two? Were they departments to the same parent company?

I have only ever heard of Cosworth when spoken in relation to engines.

[romario]

I owned an EVO VI for a while and had ordered an VIII 330 before I heard about the MR models. My dealer had a brain fart suggesting the MR range would only be available as a personal import, they then wrote to me saying the 330 was to be superceded by a MR range!
So I bought the Audi, haven't looked back.
Driving wise I found the 330 all or nothing. It's handling is incredible on a track but on the road you have to be many cans short of a six pack to drive it as intended. I found the engine flat as can be off boast, drinks even more than the Audi and sounds awful. The exhaust gets on your nerves after a motorway stint and the brakes stink after a decent B road drive. I only had the car on loan for a weekend but was glad to give it back.
My Audi is not as scintilating a drive as the Evo VIII at full chat. However my UUC quickshift and pending H&R coil overs will make it such a better car for me. It can commute beautifully, has interior quality (bar Recaro chirps) the Japs can only dream of and the V6 with twin turbos sounds great. My 996 is still my drivers car so mine is my daily drive and I'm yet to find a better car for the purpose. I was at Goodwood on Monday and the car really impressed on the circuit, shame their were no Evos there to pass, but a STi PPP Scooby was growing more distant in my mirrors by each lap!
Buy the Audi, with 20000 mile service intervals, great specialists to care for it and sensible road tyres that last its the car for those in the know!

[Nordschleife]

Originally Cosworth was all one, producing wonderful engines for the world in general and Ford in particular. Then there was another one of those implosions - at the end of the day BMW had Rolls Royce, VW had Bentley (they thought they had RR too, well they did but not the name), Cosworth got split between Audi and Ford. At about the same time there were all the shennanegans with Rover and BMW, so it was confusing. I think that as the deal makers were sorting out the loose change Cosworth got carved up and handed out 'cos nobody had any really small coins.
What VAG really doesn't need is a specialist engine builder, you might notice that they do a great job of building tough high performance engines. So Cosworth Technology have been used to improve casting techniques, which is a damn hard sell, because there is little respect for British Foundry technique in Germany, but they could not think of what else to do with the company. VAG are not alone with this problem. Mecedes' inability to deal with Ilmor is probably the major contributing factor in the recent engine problems they have had in F1. Without Morgan, there was nobody to keep the 'pushy German blusterbeast' at bay and Ilmor got distracted from their task.

R+C

[excursion]

Many thank's, cleared that up