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At last I've got my arse in gear and sorted out a test drive. [img]images/graemlins/cool.gif[/img]
I'm having my car serviced on Saturday and they had no courtesy cars left, so I'm going to use their demo S4 [img]images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
Fear the rumble.

Report to follow.....

Looking forward to your report mate. Everyone who knows me is, I fear, getting a little sick of hearing my on-going dilemma of whether to stump up 25k odd and plumb for the new model, or keep my trusty B5, save a load of money, but sacrifice the newer registration.

Is the B6 really any quicker/better to drive? Come on pal, shed some light......! [img]images/graemlins/nodder.gif[/img]

Interesting day....
I'm still thinking how I want to word it [img]images/graemlins/nodder.gif[/img]

OK. Here goes.

I walked out of the showroom and there it was, a brand new S4 Avant in Nogaro Blue (have I ever mentioned what a nice colour it is [img]images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]). We had a quick walk around it, but it was quick only because it was chucking it down. The looks are understated, but it gives does give you a stealthly weapon.

Climbed into the seat and familiarised myself with the interior. I went to a launch party for the B6 A4 so I know what to expect, but the S4 looked somehow classier than a standard A4. Perhaps it was the blue alcantara on the seats or maybe just the S4 decals on the three spoke steering wheel and gauges. I also notice that the headlight switch has an 'auto' setting that senses dark light and switches the lights on automatically.

It had the extremely comfortable Recaro seats which have great support for your backside in corners. Why were they an option on the old car?

I turned the key in the ignition.

Rumble.

But not as loud as I had imagined it. Apparently there is a valve in the exhaust that opens over a certain number of revs which allows the full sound to come out. "I'll have to try that later, I said".

I pulled the car off the forecourt and onto the road. The first thing I noticed is that the accelerator pedal was very 'floppy' therefore it had little feedback from the engine on the amount of power it was giving you.

We negotiated some local traffic and roundabouts before I spotted the NSL sign in the distance. I was mentally rubbing my hands together. Level with the sign I made sure I was in third and slammed the pedal to the floor.

Everyone so far has spoken about the linear power delivery of the normally aspirated V8 engine. It is a different style to what I have become used to. I had a mad few minutes of using the brakes and then accelerating again. I found that the car was really singing only when you push the rev counter up to the 7k rpm redline and when you change up, the revs only drop to 5500. What I particularly noticed was that the sound of the engine had not got much louder - I thought that V8 sound would really come through, but it is so much more muffled than the 4.2 in the RS6.

I then turned onto a country road and boy was it uneven. The new S4 did not particularly like it, but I know that the B5 S4/RS4 would have liked it less. Anyway it flattened out and there were straight stretches of road with some tight 2nd gear corners thrown in for good measure.

Nailed it down the straights, approaching the corners the brakes are really powerful (much more so than my S4) and going around the tyres were struggling for grip. ESP came on, but it was raining heavily and there was plenty of standing water.

I turned onto the main road again and what happens? Yes, you guessed it, a lorry had turned out in front of me. It was not in the way for too long though and by the time I passed him I was still only in third gear, so I went for forth and continued.

I also did some 6th gear acceleration tests from 50/60 mph although these were rather curtailed because of the appalling weather, but the S4 did not have the guts at this level of revs compared to my old S4, so every time you want to overtake someone or if you were on a motorway you would have to drop a cog or two. I do not mind this if it is on a country road, but if I am cruising I do not want to keep changing gears.

The car is not slow by any means of the imagination, but it doesn't feel quick. It has not got that 'thrust you back in the seat' feeling that makes you grin from ear to ear.

It is a lovely handling car with an improved interior, and the V8 is an impressive engine, but not quite what it could be. First, I thought about what the AmD modifications would do for the car, then I wondered what Quattro GmbH could do as standard - especially with turbos.

In what seemed like an instant I returned to the dealership with one thought in my mind. Put in an order for the new B6 RS4.

Who did you order with in the end? St Albans?

Robert.

The car is not slow by any means of the imagination, but it doesn't feel quick. It has not got that 'thrust you back in the seat' feeling that makes you grin from ear to ear.

I had a test drive of an S4 saloon the other week and my thoughts are pretty much the same as yours. Lovely car, great interior, but slightly disappointed with the performance (bearing in mind I'm coming from a 270hp Leon Cupra R) It just didn't feel quick enough to me. Still in a quandry what to get next.... Am taking the A3 3.2 out next week so will see if thats more to my liking. [img]images/graemlins/1syellow1.gif[/img]

Who did you order with in the end? St Albans?

Robert.

Nope. Aylesbury. More on this later too. [img]images/graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

Good write up.

What would be your take on stock B5 Vs B6? Did it feel worthy of an extra, what, 20 grand?

The car is not slow by any means of the imagination, but it doesn't feel quick. It has not got that 'thrust you back in the seat' feeling that makes you grin from ear to ear.

Yeah I kinda imagined you might say that, though I remember thinking exactly the same the day I test drove my current B5, having come from an E36 M3, even though statistically the B5 S4 and E36 M3 are very similar. [img]images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img] Down to Audi's obsessiveness with refinement no doubt...

But not as loud as I had imagined it. Apparently there is a valve in the exhaust that opens over a certain number of revs which allows the full sound to come out.

LOL - a comment from a petrolhead! I think in reality it is a valve which CLOSES at LOW revs in order to make the exhaust QUIETER in built-up areas etc.

Thanks for the report. I still haven't driven the car and am not inclined to bother after these sorts of opinions. But like you I am more enthused with the possibility of the B6 RS4 as clearly the B6 S4 is a great platform on which to base it.

Unlike you however I am not going to place an order - I probably won't be able to afford one anyway [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Yeah I'd agree with the above and if you jump from a chipped S4 to a B6 then as you can imagine the power was even more disppointing. It's the main reason why I bought an RS4 instead of a brand new S4. As I liked every other thing about it but the lack torque and that kick in the back ear to ear power experience put me right off it.