Should I be cra**ing it as much as I am!

[MOR8A]

Leading on from my post on : Anyone know this car. Advice please.

I am strongly thinking of buying that Imola yellow RS4 but am rather worried about the miles and the fact that the current owner has only had it for a very short time. Plus the stress that it must be under in tuned state. I have PM'd noggyblueboy who I believe to have owned the car before the current owner. (thanks Des).

I was originally looking at getting a B6 S4 and cant help thinking that that would be a far less worrying prospect as the engine is working far less hard than a 'tuned to 470bhp 2.7 V6 tt'.

I just really dont want to get involved in a nightmare.

Your thoughts please gents/ladies.

[neckarsulm]

You do have a point, why not just go for a less stressed standard car, it will still feel way faster than a B6 S4?
That may not be the B5 RS4 for you but I wouldn't let it put you off the model.

The thing about the B6 S4 is that they aren't perfect either, there is some oil fed tensioner problem with them that isn't easy to sort either.
And they will keep on depreciating (one of the biggest costs when owning a car) - RS4s seem to have stabilised.

[rtd]

hi mor8a, regardless of any car which you eventually buy get a specialist like MRC or Unit20 to inspect it. a lot of forum members are running cars with 420+bhp the engines can take its only when you go past 490bhp that things can get a bit temperamental - at the end of the day everything has a limit.

i myself am in th eprocess of getting my car re-mapped to about 460bhp, as long as the car has been maintained correctly and serviced regularly then i wouldn't be to worried. this car http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1305289.htm has only just gone up on ph and looks like a nice car with nice low mileage for the price - if i was looking it would be top of my list apart from the misano car also on ph at 23k

[ShaneyB]

Agree with both to a point although I test drove a standard B5 RS4 hoping it would blow me away compared to my B6 S4 and was really disappointed. MOR8A I have also been looking at the same Imola RS4 and to me it looks stunning but not sure if I can cope with the colour. Misano or Avus are my colour preferences. I have spoken to the owner and he sounds a very nice guy who looks after his car. I had my old B5 S4 Avant remapped to 320bhp and I sold that at 120k still pulling like a horse. That also felt faster than the stock RS4 (probably not though).

Just my thoughts.

[neckarsulm]

Agree with both to a point although I test drove a standard B5 RS4 hoping it would blow me away compared to my B6 S4 and was really disappointed.

=tin opener + can of worms

[ShaneyB]

Maybe,
My opinion only. When I went from my B5 S4 to the B6 I was disappointed also but wanted a car that looked OK but more importantly had that newer feel to it. I test drove 2 standard B5 RS4's and they 'felt' slower than my old S4 which is why I'm now looking at remapped B5 RS4's or a very well priced standard so I can do the mods myself.
The one thing you can't deny about the RS is it's stance and presence on the road. Audi haven't come close to it since.

[rtd]

i agree with you Shane, i think if you come to the rs4 from a everyday quick car or a modded s4 it could feel somewhat 'normal' i can't relate to this as i came from a diesel however, having driven a mapped car the difference is night and day.

[Contigo]

Standard RS4 is quick but compared to modern cars then it's probably not leaps and bounds ahead. In remapped form (especially MRC) the car realy comes alive and is as it should have been, the torque curve changes completely and it's far more driveable. Overtaking is effortless.

I agree though, having a tuned motor does make the running costs a little more, I could do with a switch that flicks it into a really good fuel econo mode and then a mode that is like red mist. Almost like the M button on the M6 I had, that would make a nice feature.

[rhunter203]

The car will be absolutely fine mate. Chris @ MRC tuned his S4 and that was still pulling fine at well over 150K and this was on original KO3s!!! Obviously the car has been well looked after and the oil was changed every 3k but he was traveling back to Leeds every weekend.

Go for it although get the car checked by a specialist first before parting with your cash!

[juice]

my view, dont let miles bother you, i thought the same but if you think about these cars being nearly 10 years old and from new if someone covered 10K miles a year that would make the mileage near 100K. im sitting on over 100K with quite a bit of power, as long as cambelt has been changed, (with water pump thermostat etc) and you change oil regularly and sparks plugs, cant see any problem, the engine is not a weak point on the car, the block is very strong if looked after, (make sure turbos are warmed up and cooled down - any enthusiast would know this)

[rsmonkey918]

Well said juice- the secret is in the maintenance- I now get my oil changed every six months which is about 4-5k miles, just had the rear diff seals replaced ahead of time and front CV boots at Dougs behest at MRC. prevention always better than cure, my car has NEVER thrown up a fault code in 3 annual services despite having c.450bhp. I NEVER boot it until the oil is up to temp and always warm it down after a run- even if I didn't give it the beans....
I probably have been lucky because I bought it blind from kenny Dunn in Edinburgh with sketchy receipt and history, but with the MTM remap and Millteks peeking out the back and the actual sound of it- no squeaking belts, rattles or pops i decided to cough up another 8 grand from one RS to another. health check at MRC shortly after showed up the DV's and a boost leak on the right hand Y-pipe, both sorted by Doug.
Complete set of Conti 3's last December, Nurburgring in April and still not missing a beat.... needs a clean at the moment and waiting for an aerial amplifier- thanks Virdee! See you Friday?

Regards
Steve

[ollys]

I agree - my engine is running very smoothly at 64k miles now (420bhp MRC map) - had the car for 18 months and in that time I have had three oil changes and just done cambelt and all ancillaries although it was not due until next year or another 16k miles. (The reason I did was becuase the car was running a tad hot in traffic due to partly sticking open thermostat so made sense to do the lot (the thermostat was the only bit that Audi did not change when they did the first cambelt 3 years ago in the previous owner's ownership - typical!). Never had a fault code apart from due to EGT sensor on last service, which was changed, and at each six month service previous to this one very minor boost leaks have been fixed).

Apart from this I did the obligatory DVs and new MAF when I bought it 18 months ago and the engine has not missed a beat. Regular maintenance is the key. I also warm up oil religiously before flooring it and cool the car down. (it'll probably blow up tomorrow!)

I would not be worried about a 460 bhp car which has been well looked after regularly (just get the cams checked!).

Olly

[rsmonkey918]

Nice to hear that Olly- i think if you make the commitment to run one of these monsters, you owe it yourself to REALLY look after them both for your own piece of mind and maintenance of the cars credibility... Did forget to mention the MAF which was changed first thing and turned out to be the original, 8 year old component.
Because of the body shapei think its difficult for people to quite get their heads round the performance- instead of saying 'this is a fast estate' they should be thinking this is a racing car with an estate body'. On the way back from MRC, just after the suspension was done a Lamborghini Gallardo just could not get away from me- knew he was triyng because the hand he was resting on the head rail with a fag in it disappeared into the cabin to stir the gearbox I would presume....
The real bottom line- if you DO get a decent example, keep it that way!

Cheers
Steve

[rsmonkey918]

Nice to hear that Olly- i think if you make the commitment to run one of these monsters, you owe it yourself to REALLY look after them both for your own piece of mind and maintenance of the cars credibility... Did forget to mention the MAF which was changed first thing and turned out to be the original, 8 year old component.
Because of the body shapei think its difficult for people to quite get their heads round the performance- instead of saying 'this is a fast estate' they should be thinking this is a racing car with an estate body'. On the way back from MRC, just after the suspension was done a Lamborghini Gallardo just could not get away from me- knew he was triyng because the hand he was resting on the head rail with a fag in it disappeared into the cabin to stir the gearbox I would presume....
The real bottom line- if you DO get a decent example, keep it that way!

Cheers
Steve

[Contigo]

Nice words there guys and so true.

I think these cars have the same problems, new MAF's needed, boost leaks on Y pipes and the odd EGT and or O2 sensor.

Oil change is essential and the right oil too! These cars need to be looked after as you say and not neglected!