My 2p - RS4, RS5 & RS7 PE back to back.
Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 7:33 pm
Had the chance to spend half a day in the new B9 RS4, RS5 and RS7 Performance. All back to back, thanks to Audi UK suporting my dealership with an Audi Sport event at Goodwood.
Overall the new RS4 felt like it makes the RS6/7 a bit redundant; unless you really need that extra space. The new V6 was quite a surprise, thought I'd hate the forced induction V6 but it's sportier than expected with very little lag. That extra torque actually makes it quite a punchy and devastating tool over the B roads and is a noticeable step forward in real world performance from the old V8. I did keep hitting the limiter though, as it arrives earlier than the outgoing V8 by some margin.
The engine sound obviously is never going to beat the V8 but inside the cabin, it feels good enough for the money you are spending and fun to boot. I'm pretty sure there is some sound alteration going on in the cabin though, as the V6 was throatier and more raucous than the twin turbo V8 in the RS7 PE. The RS4 I went out in had the standard exhaust and then the RS5 I swapped over to straight afterwards, had the sports exhaust option. The standard RS4 exhaust was audibly louder, but the RS5 had more accentuated pops and crackles. I think the loudness is just down to body type, as the RS5 obviously separates sound from the cabin better. So RS5 owners might want to investigate aftermarket alternatives, whereas RS4 owners could probably just stick with the Sports option which has a bit more boom than previous generation.
Next up was the gearbox and this was unexpectedly, my biggest disappointment. People love the ZF-8 speed but I found it very average and the down changes across all 3 cars were slow and laborious compared to the S-Tronic dual clutch in the outgoing RS4. Driving in manual is not as rewarding and probably best left in automatic Sport. It actually suited the RS7 PE the best, as that had a lazier feel to the experience which wasn't helped by the air suspension. Quite why anyone wants air suspension on an RS product is beyond me, but to each their own.
The RS4 came equipped with standard suspension (no DRC) and also standard steering, whereas the RS5 tested afterwards had both the DRC and Dynamic steering options. In fact, it had loads of kit with an RRP of £84k. Point to note is that both cars were adorned with the same optional 20” alloys. Anyway, the standard suspension is very well judged for UK roads, the spring rate is softer and has more travel despite the dampers being marginally firmer than DRC in comfort mode. In the DRC car, the springs are a tad firmer but when in comfort mode you suffered less ‘moob jiggle’. If I was mainly driving around pot holed suburban city roads, littered with speed bumps. Then I’d probably pocket the money saved and choose the standard suspension. On the other hand, should you enjoy more open roads for your driving, then the DRC equipped car exhibited less body roll and handled marginally better.
Another surprise to me was the difference in steering. Both available systems still lacked that hydraulic feel, so no improvement there over the predecessor. However, I’ve never driven a normal rack and then been able to go straight into a dynamic steering equipped car until today. The dynamic steering was far sharper, making the car feel nice a pointy at low speed, it also made parking manoeuvres quicker with less effort. Out on the road, I’ve never had an issue with the changeable ratio and weight like some journo’s have moaned about historically and it still remains the same system as before. Yes, the Dynamic setting still adds loads of needless resistance, so best keep that one in Auto, along with the DRC when tuning your Individual setting.
Out of the 3 cars, I genuinely got out of the RS4 feeling that I had the most sense of occasion. The Swiss Army Knife of cars now has that everyday performance it deserved and yet that still doesn’t trouble the Quattro system. I think this is perhaps why the press have warmed to it more, this time around.
Overall the new RS4 felt like it makes the RS6/7 a bit redundant; unless you really need that extra space. The new V6 was quite a surprise, thought I'd hate the forced induction V6 but it's sportier than expected with very little lag. That extra torque actually makes it quite a punchy and devastating tool over the B roads and is a noticeable step forward in real world performance from the old V8. I did keep hitting the limiter though, as it arrives earlier than the outgoing V8 by some margin.
The engine sound obviously is never going to beat the V8 but inside the cabin, it feels good enough for the money you are spending and fun to boot. I'm pretty sure there is some sound alteration going on in the cabin though, as the V6 was throatier and more raucous than the twin turbo V8 in the RS7 PE. The RS4 I went out in had the standard exhaust and then the RS5 I swapped over to straight afterwards, had the sports exhaust option. The standard RS4 exhaust was audibly louder, but the RS5 had more accentuated pops and crackles. I think the loudness is just down to body type, as the RS5 obviously separates sound from the cabin better. So RS5 owners might want to investigate aftermarket alternatives, whereas RS4 owners could probably just stick with the Sports option which has a bit more boom than previous generation.
Next up was the gearbox and this was unexpectedly, my biggest disappointment. People love the ZF-8 speed but I found it very average and the down changes across all 3 cars were slow and laborious compared to the S-Tronic dual clutch in the outgoing RS4. Driving in manual is not as rewarding and probably best left in automatic Sport. It actually suited the RS7 PE the best, as that had a lazier feel to the experience which wasn't helped by the air suspension. Quite why anyone wants air suspension on an RS product is beyond me, but to each their own.
The RS4 came equipped with standard suspension (no DRC) and also standard steering, whereas the RS5 tested afterwards had both the DRC and Dynamic steering options. In fact, it had loads of kit with an RRP of £84k. Point to note is that both cars were adorned with the same optional 20” alloys. Anyway, the standard suspension is very well judged for UK roads, the spring rate is softer and has more travel despite the dampers being marginally firmer than DRC in comfort mode. In the DRC car, the springs are a tad firmer but when in comfort mode you suffered less ‘moob jiggle’. If I was mainly driving around pot holed suburban city roads, littered with speed bumps. Then I’d probably pocket the money saved and choose the standard suspension. On the other hand, should you enjoy more open roads for your driving, then the DRC equipped car exhibited less body roll and handled marginally better.
Another surprise to me was the difference in steering. Both available systems still lacked that hydraulic feel, so no improvement there over the predecessor. However, I’ve never driven a normal rack and then been able to go straight into a dynamic steering equipped car until today. The dynamic steering was far sharper, making the car feel nice a pointy at low speed, it also made parking manoeuvres quicker with less effort. Out on the road, I’ve never had an issue with the changeable ratio and weight like some journo’s have moaned about historically and it still remains the same system as before. Yes, the Dynamic setting still adds loads of needless resistance, so best keep that one in Auto, along with the DRC when tuning your Individual setting.
Out of the 3 cars, I genuinely got out of the RS4 feeling that I had the most sense of occasion. The Swiss Army Knife of cars now has that everyday performance it deserved and yet that still doesn’t trouble the Quattro system. I think this is perhaps why the press have warmed to it more, this time around.
