I'm about to upgrade from an Golf VR6 Syncro to either an s4, rs2 or an s6. Can you give me any advice on best buy, reliability etc.
Thanks
S4 v RS2
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BlackShadow
- 2nd Gear
- Posts: 210
- Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2003 9:52 pm
- Location: Sevenoaks
Hi Ivorl, 
The S6 doesn't seem to be so popular on this site. Most of the talk seems to be about its depreciation, which does appear to be rather horrendous. However, despite this I did look at one before plumping for an S4. Depreciation can be your gain, and somebody else's loss.
It is obviously a bigger car than the other two (especially the Avant) if you need the space, and has ample performance. However, it is a normally aspirated V8 which is not so good for fuel consumption, and there is very little after market tuning available for it, as far as I know. This later point could well be important down the line. You may not think you will want to tune it, but trust me it will tempting after 6 to 12 months. Who needs a new car when the old one can be refreshed. Can't really comment on its reliability.
The S4's depreciation is not quite as bad as the S6s though prices have dropped a bit recently. Though you can get good high mileage S4s for 12-13k these days, cheaper than S6s. The S4s bi-turbo engine is very tweakable. A chip for under a grand raises power from 265 bhp to 310-320 bhp, and there is a host of other mods after that. It is a far better base to start tuning work with than the S6.
S4s are reliable and durable on the whole. My car is going through 80,000 miles at the moment and it only suffers from minor glitches really. It doesn't feel at all like an old car. The bigger and expensive reliability bug appears to be blown turbos. There's a lot of info on this website about this, so I leave you to use the search engine. Replacing blown turbos them with standard turbos seems to be £3k ish. Better to get larger ones.
I'm not an expert on RS2s at all. It is a car from a different generation, but a classic. Good base for tuning, and the depreciation (given its iconic status) is much better than the above two. I'll leave somebody else to comment fruther if they want.
Hope this helps.
The S6 doesn't seem to be so popular on this site. Most of the talk seems to be about its depreciation, which does appear to be rather horrendous. However, despite this I did look at one before plumping for an S4. Depreciation can be your gain, and somebody else's loss.
It is obviously a bigger car than the other two (especially the Avant) if you need the space, and has ample performance. However, it is a normally aspirated V8 which is not so good for fuel consumption, and there is very little after market tuning available for it, as far as I know. This later point could well be important down the line. You may not think you will want to tune it, but trust me it will tempting after 6 to 12 months. Who needs a new car when the old one can be refreshed. Can't really comment on its reliability.
The S4's depreciation is not quite as bad as the S6s though prices have dropped a bit recently. Though you can get good high mileage S4s for 12-13k these days, cheaper than S6s. The S4s bi-turbo engine is very tweakable. A chip for under a grand raises power from 265 bhp to 310-320 bhp, and there is a host of other mods after that. It is a far better base to start tuning work with than the S6.
S4s are reliable and durable on the whole. My car is going through 80,000 miles at the moment and it only suffers from minor glitches really. It doesn't feel at all like an old car. The bigger and expensive reliability bug appears to be blown turbos. There's a lot of info on this website about this, so I leave you to use the search engine. Replacing blown turbos them with standard turbos seems to be £3k ish. Better to get larger ones.
I'm not an expert on RS2s at all. It is a car from a different generation, but a classic. Good base for tuning, and the depreciation (given its iconic status) is much better than the above two. I'll leave somebody else to comment fruther if they want.
Hope this helps.
Silver S4 Saloon
MTM Stage 4 (385 bhp), Mov'it Front Brakes, RS4 Rear Brakes, H&R Coilovers, Tanoga Shortshifter.
MTM Stage 4 (385 bhp), Mov'it Front Brakes, RS4 Rear Brakes, H&R Coilovers, Tanoga Shortshifter.
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