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I am looking at selling my 57plate S3 for one of the following:

S4 B6
S4 B7
RS4 B5
S6 B6
RS6 B6

I have looked at insurance costs, power, fuel and initial purchase price. Based on Parkers Website, I have plumbed in the figures and this is what I have:

RS6 B6 443bhp, 4.5 to 60, 487.70 INS, 16k PURCHASE, 1127.52 FUEL
RS6 B5 380bhp, 4.7 to 60, 487.70 INS, 16.5k PURCHASE, 1290.60 FUEL
S4 B7 344bhp, 5.4 to 60, 502.40 INS, 18k PURCHASE, 1127.52 FUEL
S4 B6 339bhp, 5.6 to 60, 491.90 INS, 15k PURCHASE, 1226.86 FUEL
S6 B6 335bhp, 6.6 to 60, 499.25 INS, 13k PURCHASE, 1290.60 FUEL


The Insurance costs are all through admiral and were done on a price comparison website. The COST is examples that i have found and FUEL is based on 1.08p per litre covering 5000miles per year on the mpg which parkers give.

1. Firstly, the mpg figures I would presume were when the car was new. They all all around the 19-20mpg mark, but is this accurate? or are the figures alot lower in real life?

2. What are these cars like to live with daily? I would prefer the avant version.

3. I basically want a V8 which looks really tidy for under 18k

I have checked out Pistonheads and autotrader, but knowhere else yet, so any links would be appreciated.

Many thanks for taking the time to reply with your experiences and I look forward to getting one of these!!

Lee

1. the mpg figures are realistic, you may get more on a longer run. The computer in my S4 says 24mpg for the long term average (my wallet doesn't believe it though!).
2. Always makes me smile when I drive it, love the engine noise. The ride can be firm but coming from an S3 it is probably not too different. All the mentioned vehicles will eat tyres quite quickly i.e. 10k miles for a set of four depending on brand and driving style.
3. If you want a V8 then the RS4 is out as twin turbo V6, the B6/7 S4 engines are the same but the S6/RS6 engines are different RS6 is turbo charged. The V6 is very tunable but the V8's more difficult and expensive in comparison.

One thing you may not have considered is manual v auto(tip), the RS4 is only manual gearbox, the RS6 is only auto, the S4 can be either, not sure about S6 suspect auto only. Your budget will get you a nice B6 or high mileage B7 S4, you may find an RS6 for this kind of money. A decent B5 RS4 is probably above this level but condition/history is everything.

My view would be either a B6 or B7 S4 for the following reasons.

Reasonably new, no DRC suspension, more discrete than RS's, cheaper to run and generally less of a target. Finally always get a decent warranty, any major repairs on these cars will be expensive. Check the link RS4 v S4 engine for a picture of one of the S4 V8 engines out of the car.

Hope this helps.

Pete

Many thanks for the reply, very informative. I am strongly looking at both your choices, the S4 b6 or S4 B7. I can only find 1 B7 for the money at moment tho.

What is DRC Suspension? Does the Auto have paddles like the DSG gearboxes?

What things should I look for when looking at one

DRC is the fancy suspension system used on the RS6 and RS4 (B7) that has been a significant topic of conversation on this site. I do not know much about the auto gearboxes, I just wanted a manual and ignored all the automatics. Always haggle on the price, I got £1500 off my S4 even before the credit crunch and Gordon's punative car tax changes came into force. These big engined cars are sticking to forecourts like sh*t to a blanket