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Hi to all...
My name is Tony and I am from the land of OZ (australia) and after a decade of enjoyment with a subaru I have decided to go upmarket and i am looking at buying a S4 twin turbo...
After reading a large amount of reviews and magazine articles I have come to the conclusion that the only reviews worth listening too are from the actuall owners. SO I put these questions to all the s4 owners out there to answer

1)how good is the car really in terms of handling, performance, reliability and cost of ownership ( ie servicing , fuel consumption, insurance, tyre wear)

2) How does the car handle modifications? What are the limits to power the engne, driveline can take?

3) Is it true the standard radio cannot be swapped out as it also controlls the body computer?

4)How reliable is the 6sp? Are the synchros in the box up to the task or do they wear quickly just like the subaru boxes?


Any other advice or warnings would be appreciated and dont hold back on the juicy stuff...
'

Thanks in advance for everyones help

Drugs are my life
Audis are my passion

1) In standard form:
a) Handling. Nothing special, and certainly worse than a WRX. However with aftermarket suspension it can become comparable, especially with the ESP and other gizmos. But don't forget that it is a heavy car compared to the WRX.
b) Performance. In standard form it is similar to the (basic) WRX, expect that the torque range is extremely broad and the lag is negligible compared to the WRX. With a stage 1 remap it outperforms the WRX. But you should note that the S4's advantage is in the low and mid-range because of the torque. It is restricted at the top end mainly due to the restriction in the exhaust (which can be partly alleviated with free-flow cats). Therefore you tend tp have a different driving style in an S4 compared to a WRX.
c) Reliability. This really tends to vary. My car is a 2001 and I have had negligible problems with it. Others have had serious problems. It depends how old the car is (earlier cars have known problems), and of course how the previous owner treated it!
d) CofO. The servicing schedule for the S4 is actually not too onerous, so as long as you don't get it serviced by an outfit who makes big profits from servicing (dealers in the UK tend to), you shouldn't find this a problem. Fuel consumption is around 5 miles per litre on average. I don't think tyre wear is excessive for the model. As for insurance that will be a local issue for you - it's bound to be a lot cheaper than the UK!

2) As I suggested above, the suspension really is not that good and there are good aftermarket replacements available. The gearshift is long so it needs a short-shifter. I also think the brakes are not too good and a kit for the front should be considered. A basic remap will take the power up from 265PS/400Nm to about 310-320PS/500Nm with 98 RON fuel. Replacing the cats and remapping can get you to about 340-350PS/550Nm. To go further you need new turbos and upgrades on the fuel/air system. This can achieve 400PS/600Nm or more, but I believe that this is close to the limits of the transmission.

3) No, that is not true. However without work on the faceplate an aftermarket head would look rather...aftermarket.

4) I have not read/heard many complaints about the S4 gearbox, although it is true that if abused it will fail. It appears that the RS4 gearbox is unreliable however.

If you do buy an S4, there are a few components which should be upgraded as a matter of course (TBB, f-hose, DVs).

Thanks Dippy,

You have been very helpful and informative...
On saturday i will drive my first S4., and then if the deal is right sign on the dotted line...

On the test drive is there anything i should perform to check if all is okay...
Any tell tale signs of abuse?
Should the turbos make any particular noise or are they very quiet?

Drugs are my life
Audi S4s are my passion (now)

Actually I'm not the best person to advise because I bought my S4 from new. However I can suggest the following:

1) Make sure you see the car started from cold and check for excessive smoke from the exhaust (i.e. looking for internal oil leaks.

2) Drive slowly with the window own and blip the gas pedal. You should hear the turbos spool up with a feint whistle. I think of it as a very quiet dentist drill, but with no metallic sound. If it's any more noise that that, be cautious.

3) Now test the sound with a bit more aggressive acceleration. Really you need to just go from a cruise in 2nd or 3rd gear at 1500 rpm, and take the revs up to 3000-3500 rpm. You should really feel the torque. Listen for any noise from the turbos. There should not be any unless the engine is still cold (you may hear a whine under these conditions - but you shouldn't really stress the turbos until the oil temperature guage needle has started to move).

4) The other thing to check is any noise from the transmission and suspension whilst accelerating and turning. Again there shouldn't be anything noticeable.

This is all I can offer - I hope others will provide better advice.

thanks again ...
I will let you know tomorrow how it goes with the test drive and if i then am the proud owner of 2000 Silver S4...

Great news the car was fantasting to drive... It has done 65k kms... Not too much for a 2000 model? Dealer just did the cam belt service so lucky on that count....

Only thing I noticed was a dull drone like noise at cruising speeds which seemed to come from no where in particular. Is that a typical noise for the quattro system or something else??? No noise when turning or accelerating

Took a while to get used to the clutch though... Is it suppose to spring up with some force and take up very quickly? Is that a sign of a new or healthy clutch?

Just have to wait for the paper work and the car is then mine and a then shed a small tear for the old rex when i say goodbye...

Now i will need some help in working the best tuning strategy to make the S4 handle and go to the best of its abilities

let the good quattro times roll

the clutch on mine is quite strong against my foot, and then bites quickly.

I find sometimes I get a slight drone, in my car it sounds like the tyres. The S4 has so much more road noise that my A4 before it, probably due to the wider tyres.....

Clutch in my car is quite heavy compared to my A4, and it engages very quickly when it does, but it is nearer the top of the pedal movement. It could be that my cars clutch will need some replacement sometime as its 70k miles on the orginal clutch!

I hope this aint another engine out job!!

Hows the car comapre to the Scooby

The other think it could be is wind noise from the door mirrors.

Yes the S4 clutch is heavy but you get used to it. Whenever I go on holiday and hire a car, when I get home the clutch always surprises me. However I think the bite point is set right.

The scooby felt very cheap and nasty after driving the s4 for over an 1hr.
I got used to the strong clutch though and when i jumped back into the scooby i found that i couldnt engage the clutch smoothly with its lighter clutch.
The road noise in my scooby is by far greater aswell as the exhaust throb which is definitely missing from the v6.
I did notice that the s4 had a slight resistance through the steering wheel when changing direction , like when your moving the car side to side in your lane as if you were trying to warm up the tyres in a warmup lap on the track. The scooby has no resistance and is almost instant in its response when you move the wheel.
The brakes are strong but do not compare to the AP ones i had ftted to the rex. Hopefully I can get the calipers to fit on the S4.
Suspension needs a definate improvement as it has does 65,000 km and it definetely on the floaty side.
What has worked you guys as a good street setup that doesnt turn into a rattling mess on our bumpy roads in melbourne.

Dippy, speaking of door mirrors the left hand side one has minor damage from the previous owner and the dealer wont fix it. He tells me they are not repareble and you have to by the complete mirror not just the chrome finish backing. Is that the case overseas. Or can you blokes source the covers without buying the whole mirror.

Thanks for your help

The scooby felt very cheap and nasty after driving the s4 for over an 1hr.
I got used to the strong clutch though and when i jumped back into the scooby i found that i couldnt engage the clutch smoothly with its lighter clutch.
The road noise in my scooby is by far greater aswell as the exhaust throb which is definitely missing from the v6.
I did notice that the s4 had a slight resistance through the steering wheel when changing direction , like when your moving the car side to side in your lane as if you were trying to warm up the tyres in a warmup lap on the track. The scooby has no resistance and is almost instant in its response when you move the wheel.
The brakes are strong but do not compare to the AP ones i had ftted to the rex. Hopefully I can get the calipers to fit on the S4.
Suspension needs a definate improvement as it has does 65,000 km and it definetely on the floaty side.
What has worked you guys as a good street setup that doesnt turn into a rattling mess on our bumpy roads in melbourne.

Dippy, speaking of door mirrors the left hand side one has minor damage from the previous owner and the dealer wont fix it. He tells me they are not repareble and you have to by the complete mirror not just the chrome finish backing. Is that the case overseas. Or can you blokes source the covers without buying the whole mirror.

Thanks for your help

That is the 'official' Audi response, and the units are around £350 in the UK. However it is BS. The covers are definitely available from aftermarket suppliers separately. I'm sorry I can't give you any infor about suppliers, but I'm sure there were posts about them somewhere on this site. If you do a search on "mirrors" I'm sure you'll find them.

I find my A4 has that resistance spot in the steering sometimes, I'm not too sure what it is though.

Interesting name BTW, are you a clubber or a chemist

chemist

ahh right