Country Road Blasts..
Posted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 12:32 am
After having my RS4 for approx 2.5 months now, i have racked up about 2200 miles, unfortunately due to work commitments i have been driving about in our A8 or C220 CDI back and forth from the office so haven't had chance to drive it everyday, but whenever i get the chance i dust off the cobwebs and take it for a blast.
Tonight after finishing a business dinner quite early, 10pm ish, and seeing as though the roads were near enough dead, being the end of a bank hol, i took the RS4 for a quick country blast.. Through Earlswood and Lapworth, it really takes your breath away, flying through the national speed limit roads in third gear.. wow it never seems to end, and the grunt and low down torque when in a higher gear, makes it seem like an auto, i.e. leave it in 5th and it will still go from 40-70 quicker then most cars dropping down into 4th! Really enjoyed the drive, seems summer is quickly drawing to an end, as the roads were quite damp tonight, but the 4wd is truely inspiring, and the turn in is so precise and predictable. Sometimes i have felt the 60% split to the rear slip, but im not brave enough or skilled enough i don't think to play along and let the back end slide, always end up coming off the throttle and bringing it back to line.
Did my IAM test through these roads some years ago, so know them quite well, and where all the villages are etc, but it was a totally new experience doing it in the RS4, truely moving brisky and for the first time i have loved having the adaptive xenons, moving round the bends.. its an awesome piece of machinery and mine is really starting to open up!
Had some issues with a notchy gear change before as well, but presumed it was my coming from an Auto more then the car, but despite me now getting used to the manual change again, i still get a notchy change from 1st to 2nd, the rest are very slick though, but like simple1 said, i sometimes have a bit of resistance going into first from neautral, hopefully this will loosen up too with more miles under the belt.
Am really thinking, i have truely spoiled myself with this car, i usually get bored of cars quite quick and rarely keep them more then 12 months max, but with this car, im struggling to think of something else that would tick the right boxes and give me so much in 1 package. Bit of a bigger fuel tank would be nice, but people driving M6, and M5 Bmws are also moaning about the size of their tanks and not getting a whole lot of range out of a full tank of the black stuff.. I think im fortunate to be running a couple of oil burners for this point, as i do most of my more economy needed driving in the other cars, but i don't know if i would like to run it every day, due to my mileage through work.
Is nice to come home to it in the evening though and take it out, and on the long bank hols like tonight. Can't wait for my next installment! Anyone else know of any fantastic roads where it doesn't need excess speed to have a good time in the RS4? I don't think tonight i breached any speed limits, and the car still literally took my breath away and left me with a real adrenaline buzz. Worth every penny in my book! Averaged 24mpg too, so not a bad run!
Tonight after finishing a business dinner quite early, 10pm ish, and seeing as though the roads were near enough dead, being the end of a bank hol, i took the RS4 for a quick country blast.. Through Earlswood and Lapworth, it really takes your breath away, flying through the national speed limit roads in third gear.. wow it never seems to end, and the grunt and low down torque when in a higher gear, makes it seem like an auto, i.e. leave it in 5th and it will still go from 40-70 quicker then most cars dropping down into 4th! Really enjoyed the drive, seems summer is quickly drawing to an end, as the roads were quite damp tonight, but the 4wd is truely inspiring, and the turn in is so precise and predictable. Sometimes i have felt the 60% split to the rear slip, but im not brave enough or skilled enough i don't think to play along and let the back end slide, always end up coming off the throttle and bringing it back to line.
Did my IAM test through these roads some years ago, so know them quite well, and where all the villages are etc, but it was a totally new experience doing it in the RS4, truely moving brisky and for the first time i have loved having the adaptive xenons, moving round the bends.. its an awesome piece of machinery and mine is really starting to open up!
Had some issues with a notchy gear change before as well, but presumed it was my coming from an Auto more then the car, but despite me now getting used to the manual change again, i still get a notchy change from 1st to 2nd, the rest are very slick though, but like simple1 said, i sometimes have a bit of resistance going into first from neautral, hopefully this will loosen up too with more miles under the belt.
Am really thinking, i have truely spoiled myself with this car, i usually get bored of cars quite quick and rarely keep them more then 12 months max, but with this car, im struggling to think of something else that would tick the right boxes and give me so much in 1 package. Bit of a bigger fuel tank would be nice, but people driving M6, and M5 Bmws are also moaning about the size of their tanks and not getting a whole lot of range out of a full tank of the black stuff.. I think im fortunate to be running a couple of oil burners for this point, as i do most of my more economy needed driving in the other cars, but i don't know if i would like to run it every day, due to my mileage through work.
Is nice to come home to it in the evening though and take it out, and on the long bank hols like tonight. Can't wait for my next installment! Anyone else know of any fantastic roads where it doesn't need excess speed to have a good time in the RS4? I don't think tonight i breached any speed limits, and the car still literally took my breath away and left me with a real adrenaline buzz. Worth every penny in my book! Averaged 24mpg too, so not a bad run!
