B9 RS4 or C8 RS6

[AddyT.]

Hi All,

Changing my SQ5 soon and am stuck on whether to get a B9 RS4 or C8 RS6 - both would be 3 years old or so.

I just wanted to ask if anyone has any experience on having both or indeed why they chose one over the other?

There seems to be a fair bit of talk on the net of the alternator being a “guaranteed” failure on the RS6 and despite it being repaired on an Audi warranty, it looks like it could happen at anytime which could present a dangerous situation depending on where you are at the time, eg on the motorway. Also it seems like the RS4 may be generally more reliable? And the RS6 is potentially seriously more expensive to run?

Always wanted an RS6 and love the noise it makes! Haven’t test driven either yet but that engine would be hard to turn down so have put off testing one for that reason!

Any advice would be really appreciated

[hammo19]

666

[wattsm666]

I have a RS6:

Expensive to service and fuel
Large
Jekyll and Hyde car

I think it is great, I know someone with an RS4 and it is also a great car. But they are very different. Rs6 is a beast but comes with more expense, RS4 is probably the more sensible option in reality

[Samhat]

I’ve had an RS4 b9.5 for 4 years from new. Absolutely love it. Does everything I need, not to big ( rs6 quite a bit bigger for B roads) been very reliable. A real pleasure on every journey. Good noise. Handling and performance. I normally change my car every couple of years but to me the trend in ev’s has stopped the development of interesting new cars. Can’t think of anything better at the moment to be honest. Everything too heavy, electric motors. Too complicated, boring. Not paying the government £5k plus in tax on new vehicle either.

[CLK-GTR]

I went the 6 route. The dual character is the best bit. It can do TDI tourer but on full chat its a brutal thing. The RS4 i looked at was lovely but theyre night and day when prodded. It really depends how much you want that last tenth.

Horror stories abound but I think they were the first cars, and all that were going to fail probably already have. Still. Nothing about them is cheap. I wouldn't go near either of them without a warranty.

[ZX10R NIN]

For me the RS6 would get the nod as long as it's got a warranty on it.

[AddyT.]

Samhat said:

I’ve had an RS4 b9.5 for 4 years from new. Absolutely love it. Does everything I need, not to big ( rs6 quite a bit bigger for B roads) been very reliable. A real pleasure on every journey. Good noise. Handling and performance. I normally change my car every couple of years but to me the trend in ev’s has stopped the development of interesting new cars. Can’t think of anything better at the moment to be honest. Everything too heavy, electric motors. Too complicated, boring. Not paying the government £5k plus in tax on new vehicle either.

Hi Sam, really glad you are so happy with your RS4 and really appreciate your feedback! It looks like a great car and one I’ve had my mind on for quite some time. And totally agree on EV’s! And I was shocked to see the new car tax prices!…absolutely shocking!

[AddyT.]

wattsm666 said:

I have a RS6:

Expensive to service and fuel
Large
Jekyll and Hyde car

I think it is great, I know someone with an RS4 and it is also a great car. But they are very different. Rs6 is a beast but comes with more expense, RS4 is probably the more sensible option in reality

Thank you very much for letting me know and really glad you are so happy with your car! Just in terms of fuel, what is the sort of MPG you get with say local driving and also on longer motorway runs? I do quite a lot of miles so just trying to work out how much fuel would realistically be going in! My SQ5 can be good on the motorway run but only does around 23-25 in local driving and down to 17 if I nail it. I know the RS6 probably drinks more than that but just trying to find out how much more!

[AddyT.]

CLK-GTR said:

I went the 6 route. The dual character is the best bit. It can do TDI tourer but on full chat its a brutal thing. The RS4 i looked at was lovely but theyre night and day when prodded. It really depends how much you want that last tenth.

Horror stories abound but I think they were the first cars, and all that were going to fail probably already have. Still. Nothing about them is cheap. I wouldn't go near either of them without a warranty.

Thank you very much for your feedback! The dual character does sound great! That’s a good point on the alternator failures and negative comments from customers doesnt always give a true reflection on how many haven’t had the issue.

100% would get one from Audi and get their extended warranty like I’ve done with the current car. That last tenth you mention is where the massive temptation is and cars like that really are a dying breed which is why its seeming like it might be a now or never type scenario.

In terms of nothing is cheap which you mentioned, any real things to be aware of or the usual like tyres, servicing, fuel? I have a nasty feeling you might say new brake pads and discs are a small fortune for example!

[RS Grant]

Readers’ Cars Journal

Hopefully that link will work and take you to Page 6 of my RC thread/journal where I’ve put down my thoughts on my B9 RS4 after a year of ownership.

When I was looking for my car, an RS6 was in the mix.. however it was a C7 RS6 rather than C8, but I felt like the C7 was too big (personally) to use on a tight Scottish B-road and a bit big/excessive for my needs.

The C8 is a very big and hefty car, but if you need that space then I think it’s great to have an option which isn’t an SUV. I would assume that the tech is going to be a step on from even a late B9.5 facelift RS4.

I saw on the Facebook RS Owners page that someone had been quoted 4-figures for brake pad renewal on their C8 and along with an alternator replacement, the bill was around £5k.. so if you go down that route, I’d echo the previous comments about making sure you’ve got a cast iron Audi warranty to protect you.

[wattsm666]

AddyT. said:

Thank you very much for letting me know and really glad you are so happy with your car! Just in terms of fuel, what is the sort of MPG you get with say local driving and also on longer motorway runs? I do quite a lot of miles so just trying to work out how much fuel would realistically be going in! My SQ5 can be good on the motorway run but only does around 23-25 in local driving and down to 17 if I nail it. I know the RS6 probably drinks more than that but just trying to find out how much more!

I think the average over 7,000 miles in 20mpg, with a mixture. Will manage 30mpg on motorway runs if driven carefully, but can be below 15mpg on smaller roads without driving hard. I had a c7 rs6 before, which I think was better on fuel.

[nobrakes]

wattsm666 said:

AddyT. said:

Thank you very much for letting me know and really glad you are so happy with your car! Just in terms of fuel, what is the sort of MPG you get with say local driving and also on longer motorway runs? I do quite a lot of miles so just trying to work out how much fuel would realistically be going in! My SQ5 can be good on the motorway run but only does around 23-25 in local driving and down to 17 if I nail it. I know the RS6 probably drinks more than that but just trying to find out how much more!

I think the average over 7,000 miles in 20mpg, with a mixture. Will manage 30mpg on motorway runs if driven carefully, but can be below 15mpg on smaller roads without driving hard. I had a c7 rs6 before, which I think was better on fuel.

^ I doubt you hear the words ‘if driven carefully’ and ‘RS6’ in the same sentence very often.

[AddyT.]

RS Grant said:

Readers’ Cars Journal

Hopefully that link will work and take you to Page 6 of my RC thread/journal where I’ve put down my thoughts on my B9 RS4 after a year of ownership.

When I was looking for my car, an RS6 was in the mix.. however it was a C7 RS6 rather than C8, but I felt like the C7 was too big (personally) to use on a tight Scottish B-road and a bit big/excessive for my needs.

The C8 is a very big and hefty car, but if you need that space then I think it’s great to have an option which isn’t an SUV. I would assume that the tech is going to be a step on from even a late B9.5 facelift RS4.

I saw on the Facebook RS Owners page that someone had been quoted 4-figures for brake pad renewal on their C8 and along with an alternator replacement, the bill was around £5k.. so if you go down that route, I’d echo the previous comments about making sure you’ve got a cast iron Audi warranty to protect you.

Hi Grant,

Thank you very much indeed for sharing your review and it is really appreciated and very helpful! What a lovely car you have there!!

I can see from your review that your MPG is pretty good on a motorway run and not too bad either the rest of the time! Its there or thereabouts what I’m getting now.

Totally with you on DRC. There don’t seem to be loads of cars specced with them but had made my mind up a little while ago mine would have to have it.

That’s some serious money for the RS6 brakes!! If you’ve had the brakes done on your RS4 would be great to know how much it set you back or if you have seen the pricing online as I am struggling to find it! The rear pads and discs were done at Audi a couple of years ago on my SQ5 which was £700 and decent tyres are around £250 a corner. I am guessing an RS4 is probably a bit more than those numbers but obviously not as much as an RS6 would be!

[AddyT.]

wattsm666 said:

AddyT. said:

Thank you very much for letting me know and really glad you are so happy with your car! Just in terms of fuel, what is the sort of MPG you get with say local driving and also on longer motorway runs? I do quite a lot of miles so just trying to work out how much fuel would realistically be going in! My SQ5 can be good on the motorway run but only does around 23-25 in local driving and down to 17 if I nail it. I know the RS6 probably drinks more than that but just trying to find out how much more!

I think the average over 7,000 miles in 20mpg, with a mixture. Will manage 30mpg on motorway runs if driven carefully, but can be below 15mpg on smaller roads without driving hard. I had a c7 rs6 before, which I think was better on fuel.

Thank you ever so much and this is really, really helpful! The motorway MPG is about what I thought but wasn’t expecting you to say 15 on smaller roads without booting it!…crikey!

[AddyT.]

nobrakes said:

wattsm666 said:

AddyT. said:

Thank you very much for letting me know and really glad you are so happy with your car! Just in terms of fuel, what is the sort of MPG you get with say local driving and also on longer motorway runs? I do quite a lot of miles so just trying to work out how much fuel would realistically be going in! My SQ5 can be good on the motorway run but only does around 23-25 in local driving and down to 17 if I nail it. I know the RS6 probably drinks more than that but just trying to find out how much more!

I think the average over 7,000 miles in 20mpg, with a mixture. Will manage 30mpg on motorway runs if driven carefully, but can be below 15mpg on smaller roads without driving hard. I had a c7 rs6 before, which I think was better on fuel.

^ I doubt you hear the words ‘if driven carefully’ and ‘RS6’ in the same sentence very often.

[wattsm666]

AddyT. said:

Thank you ever so much and this is really, really helpful! The motorway MPG is about what I thought but wasn’t expecting you to say 15 on smaller roads without booting it!…crikey!

Thinking about it 15mpg is town driving without booting it. Either way, worse than my c7 rs6

[CLK-GTR]

AddyT. said:

Thank you very much for your feedback! The dual character does sound great! That’s a good point on the alternator failures and negative comments from customers doesnt always give a true reflection on how many haven’t had the issue.

100% would get one from Audi and get their extended warranty like I’ve done with the current car. That last tenth you mention is where the massive temptation is and cars like that really are a dying breed which is why its seeming like it might be a now or never type scenario.

In terms of nothing is cheap which you mentioned, any real things to be aware of or the usual like tyres, servicing, fuel? I have a nasty feeling you might say new brake pads and discs are a small fortune for example!

Tyres - 350 a corner
Fuel - I can get it up to about 32mpg on a motorway run, otherwise it's somewhere between 20 and 25.
Brakes - 4k for new discs and pads, which it will need every 40k or so. Ceramics 10k+ but they should last the life of the car.
Somebody once told me a new engine is 30k worth.

I love it though. No matter how gently you drive it you can always feel there is a monster lurking.

[FMOB]

I would get the RS4, the C8 dashboard is well known for squeaks and creaks, 3 years old is likely to suffer if the dealer hasn't had several goes at fixing it.

Other observation is the light switch in the RS4 is rotary and you decide what it does, the C8 is sequential pushes and defaults to auto on start which I haven't found a way to change.

The C8 is very much software driven, everything is a touchscreen, if you like to be in control I wouldn't chose the C8 but YMMV.

[alscar]

My wife's RS4 is just coming up to 2 years old - if we" had " to only have one car this might well be it.
Fuel consumption varies from high teens to high twenties.
Hers has the RS Sports exhaust so even with the GPF's it can still sound pretty decent although clearly not going to sound as good as the V8 of the 6.
2 year service plan was just over £528 iirc.
We would both have preferred the 6 but the sheer size of it put her off.

[FMOB]

alscar said:

We would both have preferred the 6 but the sheer size of it put her off.

The 6 is BIG and not easy to judge where the corners are hence cameras in the grill, bootlid and both mirrors. If you get the 6 I would suggest using the cameras whenever parking, I made the mistake of not using them only once and now need to repair the wall.