Well, I turned up at 9am for what I thought was going to be a slightly extended test drive with the Salesman. Had a quick look around the car with him, and then to my suprise, he passed me the keys and said, 'can you be back by 4pm?' Superb!!!!
First impressions as I made my way from the showroom and out of town, was that I found the car very difficult to drive smoothly, plus immediately felt uneasy with the accelerator pedal. I agree with others comments on the engine note too; at low speeds it sounds quite muted.
As I came out of the town, I had the choice of Long straight dual carraigeway, or tight snaking B-road. 'B-Road' it was!!!
Took it steady for the first few miles, popping past a few cars, and slowly began to become accustomed to the gearchange accelerator pedal response. The road cleared for a few miles so started to push harder into corners and powering harder out each time; to my suprise found the car very neutral, and didn't really notice any uncomfortable understeer (which I have read others have found) - in fact in a few instances it felt like the rear was twitching on the accelerator - just right. Also, the V8 did sound a lot sweeter at speed.
5 miles later, I hit a main A road and tried a few acceleration tests in each gear. In 4th/5th and 6th, it pulled very smoothly from 50mph upwards - possibility a little slower than expected, however to be honest I was very pleased with it.
Got home and took a proper look round the car. Wife loved it (result), however found one problem with the kids/babies; With the current baby seats, I have to pull the seat forward to avoid squishing feet - this suprised me, however wouldn't be a problem to get alternative seats I guess. Apart from that, the interior was very well screwed together, as I have come to expect from AUDI, and I adored the all leather sports seats.
Back on the road, went for a cruise through town - thought the suspension may be a bit harsh in this environment, however not so; felt no worse than the wifes A2 and hell of lot better than friends 968CS.
Forgot to say, however up until this point in the day I had had a smile on my face from ear to ear.
Rest of the afternoon, was basically a repeat of the morning, with one re-fuel stop, and a final blast back to the dealer.
OK, there are many positives with this car, however the negatives;
1) Even though it felt stable on the twisty bits, I never really felt completely in control. In fact this was the main reason it has taken 2 days for me to post - thinking time - I actually felt a little uncomfortable, and the fun was replaced with fear at some points during the drive.
2) Fuel economy. I wasn't driving the car slowly at any point really, however £20 only got me 75 miles - ouch!!!
3) Even after a days drive, still found myself unable to master the clutch, and began to feel like I'd just past my test again. Had to really concentrate to get a smooth change from 1st to 3rd. Note: At speed this was a clear advantage, however not sure I like the compromise)
These negative points unfortunately may be key factors to my decision on the S4. Was offered another test drive if needs be, and I may just do that; next time let the wife drive, and take it a bit steadier to see if it could be an comfortable everyday car too.
Cheers
Kaine
P.S. Sorry if the above doesn't make complete sense - written it as I thought about it.
