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Hi Guys

Im looking at the B7 RS4, Ive always wanted one but last year i went for something else as its more what i wanted at the time but the RS4 itch is back only this time its like thrush on the face! I can get a feel for the car on test drives but thats the problem i can't give it full beans! infact its proving difficult to even take the cars out! I dont want to waste private sellers time so sticking with dealers for now but whilst the car feels excellent, ride / steering etc It doesnt feel that fast. I know its quick as figures are there to prove and im also aware these engines need winding up which ive been unable to do so far, So i think im just going to have to take a risk when i get one. Im not a BHP chaser but am partial to a nice bit of grunt

My question is Has anybody come from a more powerful car and have you found the RS4 to be a little less butch than you expected?

Also am i being unfair to expect dealers to let me take the cars down national speed limit roads? last one would let me out the 30 zone!

Pete

RSpete wrote:...itch is back only this time its like thrush on the face!

You should see a doctor about that, sounds nasty.

FON.

Any dealer not allowing you on to a dual carriageway is not worth dealing with.
Doesn't matter if it's a performance car or not, many issues or findings can only be made at higher road speeds.
For example, testing the brakes is only really doable from 70+ - any slower and modern brakes mean that everything is over pretty quickly and hard to sport any faults.

The RS4 is fast but like any NA performance car the power is towards the top end. Sure, it has reasonable to good torque low down (300lb/ft + is none to shabby) but any forced induction (including diesels) car will just have alot more. If you are caught "napping" in the wrong gear then don't expect to win many duels.

The pace comes alive by hanging onto a gear where lesser cars need to shift earlier.

Overall though, whilst FI may give a faster driving experience, there's something very primeval about an engine singing at 8k rpm and you just don't get that with a turbo. Couple that with incredibly throttle response it makes manual heel n toe down changes a joy.

I think the comparisons with the C63 AMG are interesting - similar to what I found from the VXr8. That has a 6.2 V8 and 430odd hph but over 400lb/ft torque.
The result was that is was much easier to go faster as gearing wasn't as critical. I had plenty of back to back tests with neighbour's v10 m5 and whilst the m5 had more hp on the road if it was remotely under 5-6k rpm then the big aussie brute wafted past on a wall of torque whilst the m5 sorted itself out.

Personally horses for courses - I like having a car that I have to work to go fast. I find it more rewarding and ticks the appropraite "buzz" boxes. Works both ways though, as if I am in the wrong gear etc, it's not the cars fault for being slow but mine for doing the wrong things.

'course if it really doint pan out then just get a supercharger and go GTR hunting

Get yourself to the National Meet and you can no doubt have some pax rides. I'll volunteer one for you.

What adsgreen says here is very accurate on the 4. I adored my B7 and did many miles in it but she was of low mileage and less coked up then! She went well and has a nice power band around the 5k mark IIRC. She really does pull up to 8k which is much higher than most V8's do. These cars suffer from firstly not getting anywhere near the 414 BHP announced by Audi and secondly badly "coking" up down in valve and piston areas. This can be rectified and cleaned up but my suggestion is that a lot of the cars you have tested from garages have not been. Its still a good car and a fast one but a twin turbo car is going to give you that thump down low that you dont necessarily get from an NA car and therefore makes it feel a lot quicker. My 6 is far quicker than my 4 but then it should be.... in a straight line. In the bends the 4 wins every day its a superb handling car.

My suggestion is that you buy from a forum member who has the car cleaned and even mapped and treated by MRC or Unit 20 with possibly a miltek which will allow it to breath. You will se a big difference. GL with a buy.

I plan to be there at some point and can can offer a pax ride in one thats had everything done short of a supercharger,they are a bit flat when first driven especially when i came from a near 500hp b5 but you can extract good power and gains from the b7 if you want to spend a bit,power was the only area lacking when i bought the b7 compared to a b5,now i have imo the perfect car.

Best all round car period! There is nothing out there with power, 4 seats, 4 wheel (it snows here)... you can track it, get groceries.... and not be very stealth... Can't think of any care I'd trade my RS4 for... (ok 911 Turbo @ double the price)...

leadfoot wrote:Best all round car period! There is nothing out there with power, 4 seats, 4 wheel (it snows here)... you can track it, get groceries.... and not be very stealth... Can't think of any care I'd trade my RS4 for... (ok 911 Turbo @ double the price)...

It was my thinking - when I was looking 2.5 years ago my budget was sufficent to give a very varied choice of cars. Nothing ticked the boxes except the RS4.
Even now there's very little (I don't do slushmatics so the merc + RS6 out, M3 too small and saloon is "token"...) M5 is close but have to say the S6 is very tempting.

had a 911 turbo and loved every minute, some of my mates (bikers) said it was as close to power to being on their bike, nice to hear, but i'd been pillion on some of the bikes...that really is on the edge....

That said, needed a 'family' car, business not being so hot, the 911 cabrio went and test drove my first RS4 (avant), brought it there and then and cannot for the life of me understand why i hand't brought one so much sooner, awesome and mines totally untouched power mod wise.

Different car in every respect to what i've been used to and i would honestly say, would;t consider getting rid of it at all, still low mileage, under warranty for another two years and one previous, Its here to stay....GET ONE !!!

Coming to the RS4 from a Nissan 350z I was blown away by the RS4's combination of power from a superb engine and handling.

I'm lucky (spoiled?) in also having a 210bhp Caterham and a 380bhp Escort Cosworth and borrowing my wife's MX5 1.8 Sport. Sounds strange, but I had been becoming increasingly disappointed with the RS4 over the last few months to the point I was seriously thinking about selling up. Then I had a decoke done last week by AmD and the love is back. The engine's regained the "zing" from 5,500rpm in the first 3 gears and I'm grinning every time I accelerate hard. I think I'd just forgotten how good it had been and the performance had just gradually been tailing off.

If the ones your test driving don't have a VTEC like second wind from 5,500rpm with a hardening of the intake noise, then something's not right with them and then they just feel a bit flat (albeit still fairly quck). The lack of zing could be carbon build up or the air box flap failing to open (either flap jammed, actuator or solenoid knackered).

Get a passenger ride (or drive) in a known good car and see what you think then.

Dave

Thanks for the great replies. I am familiar with the coking issue and had a feeling this may be the case. I will budget for it aswell.

I currently have a very well set up MK2 Focus RS but its a very different animal, 420bhp and 430 lb/ft with alot of expensive handling upgrades i built it as a play thing really, it cant put its power down but still manages 0-60 in 5 dead but it anything other than dry condtions it may aswell be a 1.6 lol! Ive had some amazing times round Oulton in it but fancy something more mature. Not sure if anyone else has made this mistake but if your not careful you end up modifying a car so you can love it the 6 days of the year your on track and end up getting frustrated with it the remaing 359 days of the year.

Going to see another on Saturday and have already had the thumbs up for a bypass run!

I have had a lot of powerful cars over the years, big normally aspirated engines (amg merc rs4 M5 etc), turbo charged (subaru's evo's audi's lots of ford RS's etc), small high revving (lotus elise exige's etc ), rear wheel drive (M3'S CSL Z4M coupe clio v6 etc) front wheel drive (ford rs etc) four wheel drive (as above) and my RS4 is right up there with the best of them i would go as far as to say it's probably the quickest B road car i have owned it is very quick across country the handling is superb, As for power i think you have to live with the car for some time to fully appreciate it, when you get them up around the 8,000 rpm area and use the gears to keep it up there they are very quick and sound fantastic with a great positive gearbox if anythink they are a bit to quick as you can be doing very silly speeds very quickly and you don't notice till you look down at speedo due to the superb handling and ride quality and you can do all this with the wife and kids in the car (not that you would) and half a ton of lugage in the boot and without it shouting look at me, I had a RS focus my self when they first came out (no mods) and i was never keen on the way it put it's power down steering pulling left then right looking for grip (much better than mk1 though) yours must be a beast with all that power and torque or though i presume it's limated in lower gears but i am quite sure as you where trying to get power down out of the corners the audi would braking for the next corner, Any way these are just my opinions and are not meant to cause offence and i don't think you would be to disappointed in any way with a rs4, Cheers

api330 wrote:I have had a lot of powerful cars over the years, big normally aspirated engines (amg merc rs4 M5 etc), turbo charged (subaru's evo's audi's lots of ford RS's etc), small high revving (lotus elise exige's etc ), rear wheel drive (M3'S CSL Z4M coupe clio v6 etc) front wheel drive (ford rs etc) four wheel drive (as above) and my RS4 is right up there with the best of them i would go as far as to say it's probably the quickest B road car i have owned it is very quick across country the handling is superb, As for power i think you have to live with the car for some time to fully appreciate it, when you get them up around the 8,000 rpm area and use the gears to keep it up there they are very quick and sound fantastic with a great positive gearbox if anythink they are a bit to quick as you can be doing very silly speeds very quickly and you don't notice till you look down at speedo due to the superb handling and ride quality and you can do all this with the wife and kids in the car (not that you would) and half a ton of lugage in the boot and without it shouting look at me, I had a RS focus my self when they first came out (no mods) and i was never keen on the way it put it's power down steering pulling left then right looking for grip (much better than mk1 though) yours must be a beast with all that power and torque or though i presume it's limated in lower gears but i am quite sure as you where trying to get power down out of the corners the audi would braking for the next corner, Any way these are just my opinions and are not meant to cause offence and i don't think you would be to disappointed in any way with a rs4, Cheers

Longest. Sentence. Ever.

My brain hurts. Stop using some many grammatical conjunctions and try slotting in a period or a line break every now and then.

Yes sorry about poor grammar it's not my best point, I just seemed to get a bit carried away I started with two lines,,

My grammar is very poor, so your not alone there I guess, bam you should have been a school teacher maybe english or wait for it!!! rs would have been appropriate