Potential RS4 purchase need to be convinced!!

[mbelle]

The fact that you need to be convinced as per your title should answer your question...
If in doubt, leave it... when you find the one... YOU'LL KNOW!

[ARSEY4]

How would the Milltek exhaust devalue the car?

Also is there a quick way of checking shocks?

Many thanks for your comments

Paolo

If its a 4k system I would be wary (Not everyone would be). If its a bespoke system you maybe into power gains which leads to warranty issues and Insurance loading hence devaluing in my opinion as the car is more of a risk to own so the outlay should be less. All in my opinion. I personally would never by a modded RS4 of any kind whilst in was still in warranty and costing over 40k.

[OliF-H]

As said above - if the Milltek system did cost £4k then it's cats/ manifold etc etc - which means you could well run into warranty problems...plus if someone has had the full Milltek system put on then you can be fairly sure it's been mapped

As for the change I also had a grey dsg R32 before the RS4 saloon and yes, in a way, it is like an R32 on steroids. I do think however that it's more than that. The R32 is more of a cruiser, whereas the RS4 feels much more alive - esp on turn in. Also coming from the dsg R32 I hope your clutch control is up to scratch! I found the clutch quite hard to modulate smoothly in the RS4 - particularly when I first got it - it is much easier in a porsche for example.

Finally - I agree with the others - find another one

[tonyoverdrive]

Clutch is a pain in the ass...Bucket seats are poo and it dont feel any faster than my wifes R32 other than that I love Audi and they look Fantastic..would i buy another Mmmm
not in a manual ...Dsg ..Yes

[tonyoverdrive]

If ever they make one...Please....Please...Mr Audi

[Dom81]

Clutch is a pain in the ass...Bucket seats are poo and it dont feel any faster than my wifes R32 other than that I love Audi and they look Fantastic..would i buy another Mmmm
not in a manual ...Dsg ..Yes

What's wrong with the clutch? I've got Recaros, but don't think the buckets are poo - what's up with them?

[PetrolDave]

What's wrong with the clutch? I've got Recaros, but don't think the buckets are poo - what's up with them?

Only early RS4 there was a problem with the clutch not fully engaging on "enthusiastic" starts, plus the clutch is quite havy and can be difficult to engage smoothly.

There's been a lot of discussion about buckets and Recaros on here (and elsewhere) - for some people (not just fat people) the buckets are very painful after only a few miles. The seats are a very personal thing - if tonyoverdrive thinks the buckets are poo then that's his experience and opinion. Personally I found them so uncomfortable that I ordered a car with Recaros, but I wouldn't go so far as to call them poo. Some people have also posted on here problems with the side bolsters on the buckets looking very worn after only a few hundred miles.

[ARSEY4]

There were only 2 things from a driving point of view that I could fault with my car. the clutch was quite difficult to master in that it was either in or out and smooth get aways could be a problem. The other was understeer. At times in the wet it I could carry no speed into a corner so it ended up very slow in. Ironically I could carry more speed into a corner in the wet in my old boxster 987s.
I too tried buckets and found them uncomfortable.

[chrissyr32]

Well,
I went from a MK5 R32 to a E46 M3 then back to a MK5 R32 THEN finally got my RS4!!!

TheR32,s were good cars,sounded ace and dynamically(mk5 golf) the best cars ive ever had,graet day to day comfortable practical q car appeal.
The M3 was a good quick car but, a pain in the arse as a daily driver to jerky and only 2 doors.
However my RS4 has been a revelation Honestly i cant see me ever getting rid of this baby!FAST,COMFORTABLE,4 DOORS,EXCELLENT BUILD QUALITY,STEALTHY,RARE!
You only live once enjoy it while youre here and get one you WONT regret it
THE GOVERMENT MIGHT TRY TO TAX US TO DEATH,BUT WE WILL NEVER,EVER GIVE UP OUR STEALTHY GERMAN WAGONS!! NEVER.

[paolotopaz]

Thanks for all your comments

I know what you mean about the red leather as it's not to everyone's taste but as I had a M3 Carbon Black with Imola Red leather I've always liked this kind of combination.

And from the outside I think the Daytona Grey is probably the best color, Black has always been ny first choice but I think the shape of the RS4 really suits the grey and also gives it a nice discreet look.

In terms of price I'm going to try to get it a cash deal on it fro around 65,000 euro.

The VRT tax in Ireland has just changed to incorporate CO2 so the percentage of the OMSP has risen from 30% to 36%. Hence with the revenue valueing a 2006 RS4 at 89,000 the VRT tax is 32,000 euro!!!!

So take the 32k off the 65k selling price and you have 33k euro/26k sterling pounds!!!

If someone could find a way to get a rebate on the VRT in Irelad if they were to export the UK a 2006 RS4 for £26,000 would be good value!!!!


Moving on to handling issues, is there anyway of tuning the suspension to eliminate understeer and even encourage some mild oversteer?

Having read that front tyres wear out 5000 miles before thhe rears this would point to quite a moderately understeering car?

I rotated the tyres on the R32 after 8000 miles but to be fair the car ha been driven hard without being trashed.

Regarding the manual box and clutch I found both of them to be light and accurate. I love the R32's DSG but having had a manual e46 M3 I find the only way to truly enjoy a high reving engine is to change gears yourself.

Sometimes I find the R32 too easy almost like a video game in the dry, the RS4 obviously was alot more involving without being on a knife edge all the time. Considering Ireland's pathetic roads(I'm in Catalunya at the moment and some of the most amazing mountain B/C-roads can be found here and they are billard smooth) and Ireland's wet climate i think it has to be one of the best performance cars for this country.

I must investigate the exhaust and find out exactly what's ben fitted.

As for the bucket seats, I know normal Recaros are incredibly comfortable havinng had them in the S3 but it's the buckets in the R32 that first got me thinking of getting an RS4 as I love them so much!


Thanks again for your input

Great forum

Paolo

[exadius]

I heard from a dealer that there is a $6000-$7000 rebates in the future for the RS4.

[PetrolDave]

I heard from a dealer that there is a $6000-$7000 rebates in the future for the RS4.

B7 RS4 production has stopped - is that on second hand cars?

[ARSEY4]

Thanks for all your comments

I know what you mean about the red leather as it's not to everyone's taste but as I had a M3 Carbon Black with Imola Red leather I've always liked this kind of combination.

And from the outside I think the Daytona Grey is probably the best color, Black has always been ny first choice but I think the shape of the RS4 really suits the grey and also gives it a nice discreet look.

In terms of price I'm going to try to get it a cash deal on it fro around 65,000 euro.

The VRT tax in Ireland has just changed to incorporate CO2 so the percentage of the OMSP has risen from 30% to 36%. Hence with the revenue valueing a 2006 RS4 at 89,000 the VRT tax is 32,000 euro!!!!

So take the 32k off the 65k selling price and you have 33k euro/26k sterling pounds!!!

If someone could find a way to get a rebate on the VRT in Irelad if they were to export the UK a 2006 RS4 for £26,000 would be good value!!!!


Moving on to handling issues, is there anyway of tuning the suspension to eliminate understeer and even encourage some mild oversteer?

Having read that front tyres wear out 5000 miles before thhe rears this would point to quite a moderately understeering car?

I rotated the tyres on the R32 after 8000 miles but to be fair the car ha been driven hard without being trashed.

Regarding the manual box and clutch I found both of them to be light and accurate. I love the R32's DSG but having had a manual e46 M3 I find the only way to truly enjoy a high reving engine is to change gears yourself.

Sometimes I find the R32 too easy almost like a video game in the dry, the RS4 obviously was alot more involving without being on a knife edge all the time. Considering Ireland's pathetic roads(I'm in Catalunya at the moment and some of the most amazing mountain B/C-roads can be found here and they are billard smooth) and Ireland's wet climate i think it has to be one of the best performance cars for this country.

I must investigate the exhaust and find out exactly what's ben fitted.

As for the bucket seats, I know normal Recaros are incredibly comfortable havinng had them in the S3 but it's the buckets in the R32 that first got me thinking of getting an RS4 as I love them so much!


Thanks again for your input

Great forum

Paolo

I think there would have to be something wrong with the alignment for tyres to wear in 5k. I swapped my fronts to rears and rears to fronts at 8k and when i sold at 12k both front and rears had 3mm of tread left and were even on wear. I did have it 4 wheel aligned at 2k miles as I do with all my cars as I never trust factory to do this.

[chrissyr32]

Clutch is a pain in the ass...Bucket seats are poo and it dont feel any faster than my wifes R32 other than that I love Audi and they look Fantastic..would i buy another Mmmm
not in a manual ...Dsg ..Yes

Are you saying the RS4 dosent feel quicker than a R32??
If so you must be kidding, my RS4 is SO much faster than my 2 prevoius R32,S. My R32 feel slow compared to my rs.
Lazy V6 in the golf.
Mental V8 in the AUDI.
As for the seats,they aint POO far from it they do take a bit of getting used to,but once your in them they are nice and they look the dogs bollocks,

[tonyoverdrive]

no im not kidding..I wouldnt fancy trying to beat my wifes Mk5 R32 dsg at the lights for money....?(even with her driving) yea it will overtake eventually but its not that much quicker.. And the seats are not great for me, I drive around 1000 miles a week but i couldnt do it with the RS4 buckets, just W/ends for that. Otherwise its ok but not the best or worst car i have had...Do you think it really feels like 415 HP cuz i dont and i have had loads of suff inc: 911s, 997, viper, bla, bla, bla, etc etc and some of them should be a similar power to weight ratio but felt much quicker..im just not convinced.