Suzuka grey B8.5 RS4 avant

[Carlos24]

So I had the cayenne V8D for just about 15 months and whilst it was an excellent car I found I wasn’t taking it out for a drive or driving it just for the joy of driving and as I count this as a hobby this just wouldn’t do.

So I got to thinking about what kind of cars could replace it, it really had to be an estate or something with a big boot. SUV was out as the Cayenne handled as good as an SUV can and it still wasn’t hitting the spot. I’d looked at F10 M5’s and Audi S8’s and they just wouldn’t have been liveable with when we have a 2 year old and a 6 year old as well as a Labrador that occasionally ends up in my car.

We went away for just under a week in wales and this was what the boot of the Cayenne looked like as a guide




After this trip I went to look at a black RS4 that was only on 34k miles and was well priced. It was at a car supermarket and when I got there I was genuinely shocked with the terrible state of the car, it was covered in scratches and car park dings and looked like many dogs had been in and out of the boot causing quite bad damage to the lip of the boot. I did drive the car and mechanically it drove very nicely (despite the evidence of a family of mice setting up in the engine bay) despite all the problems I had a price in my head and if they would move on price I would have bought it. They didn’t move on price so I walked away and the search restarted! The test drive had confirmed that I definitely wanted this engine in my life so I was searching with a bit more purpose.


I found my car for sale in Luton approx 180miles from my house so struck a deal and if it was as described said I would buy it. The car was more or less as described and the deal was completed, the car is Suzuka grey on 20’s with the adjustable DRC suspension, pano roof, adaptive cruise and lane assist (annoying) as well as various other options like Bang and Olufsen stereo etc.

So some pictures:

Last post of the cayenne



Standard picture at a services on the way home













Impressive MPG I thought






The colour is awesome but also really hard to photograph accurately (with an iPhone at least) it looks white, grey and even silver in direct sunlight but it always looks good. I’m not 100% on the wheels in black I think silver would probably be better but I love the arches and the mean looks.

There are a couple of stone chips that need touching in but overall it’s in great condition for its age (2015 car). I am going to have to look into fitting CarPlay I think as I got used to it after fitting it in the cayenne and my E63 before that and I can see me getting an exhaust at some point in the future but time will tell! It sounds epic and it feels like it revs forever with the rev limiter at 8500rpm.

Hopefully this is of interest to someone and I will keep it upto date.

Edited by Carlos24 on Tuesday 16th April 18:17

[Mad Maximus]

Pics not working?

[Carlos24]

Yeah I posted and ghosted to be honest so didn’t look but I used the uploaded on the website so not sure why they wouldn’t be working?



Just uploaded another in this reply and it didn’t work either for some reason?

[killysprint]

I picked one up yesterday, and I looked at the same same black car you discuss and discounted it for the sales reasons as you did.

I was originally looking for a black car, but when I saw the one I bought, it was too good to miss.
1 owner + demo, Misano red, great service history 34k miles, car is immaculate. Previous owner was in his 70's, a top guy, had had a v10 rs6 and 2 x b7 rs4 previous to this.

Wheel colour has been lightened to match the other matt silver trim, and I think it suits the car well.
Has an OK spec, sports pack, heated seats, phone prep, B&O, matt trim pack and most importantly doesn't have a sunroof, which I'm not keen on, and robs headroom.

Drove the 100 or miles back home yesterday, was impressed at its motorway cruise, fuel consumption is to be expected, but it'll do a couple of thousand miles a year so not a hardship. Will be interesting how I get on with it. first impressions though are good!!

Edited by killysprint on Tuesday 16th April 13:04

[Carlos24]

killysprint said:

I picked one up yesterday, and I looked at the same same black car you discuss and discounted it for the sales reasons as you did.

I was originally looking for a black car, but when I saw the one I bought, it was too good to miss.
1 owner + demo, Misano red, great service history 34k miles, car is immaculate. Previous owner was in his 70's, a top guy, had had a v10 rs6 and 2 x b7 rs4 previous to this.

Wheel colour has been lightened to match the other matt silver trim, and I think it suits the car well.
Has an OK spec, sports pack, heated seats, phone prep, B&O, matt trim pack and most importantly doesn't have a sunroof, which I'm not keen on, and robs headroom.

Drove the 100 or miles back home yesterday, was impressed at its motorway cruise, fuel consumption is to be expected, but it'll do a couple of thousand miles a year so not a hardship. Will be interesting how I get on with it. first impressions though are good!!

Edited by killysprint on Tuesday 16th April 13:04

That’s a lovely looking one, I was going to look at a misano red one that sold in Blackpool before I got there. I was pretty impressed with the 28.6mpg I got on the way back with the adaptive cruise set to 70 ish.

Also why are you pics working and not mine haha!

Edited by Carlos24 on Tuesday 16th April 14:11

[Carlos24]

I’ve hosted the picture elsewhere so they should hopefully be working now.

[JAMSXR]

Congrats, lovely motor.

[RammyMP]

Lovely car! I looked at a Suzuka grey TTS about 10 years ago, it’s a very underrated colour, in some light it looks white, in some grey and then silver. It’s a very rare colour.

[Carlos24]

Cheers guys I’m really chuffed with it and the induction and exhaust noise is mega when I’m not busy staring at it! I will hopefully get the chance to give it a proper clean this weekend as I always feel you don’t know a car properly till you’ve cleaned it.

[edDug_1000]

That is a really nice looking car - I agree about the wheels, maybe anthracite would complement the body colour...
28.6 MPG is mega, best I ever got from my E46 M3 was 25, even on a motorway run.

Looking forward to hearing what ownership is like, always preferd these over the slightly unweildly RS6.

[Carlos24]

edDug_1000 said:

That is a really nice looking car - I agree about the wheels, maybe anthracite would complement the body colour...
28.6 MPG is mega, best I ever got from my E46 M3 was 25, even on a motorway run.

Looking forward to hearing what ownership is like, always preferd these over the slightly unweildly RS6.

Yeah they wheels will get done at some point in the future I think, I was really surprised with 28.6mpg to be fair! It’s considerably worse if you’re showing your mate your new car for example.

I always really like the look of this shape as well, I think they might be peak swollen arch for the A4 platform! I must admit I love the look of the RS6 of the same vintage but I had the E63 estate and tuned it to 750hp… I am weak so I know I would do the same again if I got an RS6! This being NA prevents me from that as to be honest you just end up with a car that’s too quick for the road! My thinking was that this is still a fast car but not so quick you can’t enjoy it if that makes sense.

[Carlos24]

Surprises me how different the colour looks all the time, this morning it looked white when I parked up.



I’ve got the half alcantara ‘base’ seats but I actually like them compared to leather as I find they hold you a bit better.



Some of the little RS touches are cool



I’ve also been looking at best ways to integrate CarPlay to the car, I’m between using a roadtop box like the one I fitted in my E63 which will retain the use of the screen but means I have to control with the Audi MMI wheel like this

https://amzn.eu/d/4BtdGLV

Or perhaps a replacement screen that looks more like the B9 screen and would bring touch screen etc so probably better functionality but a harder install like this


https://amzn.eu/d/g8jKgcX

[Carlos24]

I got the car clean and got my plate fitted in the last week

Edited by Carlos24 on Saturday 27th April 00:03

[Carlos24]

I ended up going for a CarPlay unit using the original screen instead of one of the larger screen replacement units. I went for one of the Chinese units made by roadtop (this was the same brand as the one I fitted in my E63)from Amazon, it was about £250 or so and arrived the next day. Fitment was the easiest of any of these that I’ve fitted, using Audi stereo keys pull the stereo splice the unit in with the various connectors between the stereo and the screen and then hide the box down below the head unit.


It worked first time as advertised and has worked correctly everytime I’ve got in the car since.











I’ve also got to drive the car a bit harder on some roads that I know and I can’t understand all the reviews etc. I saw when it was new about the steering being lifeless and the car being inert, I also read some reviews that said you had to work the car hard to get the full performance out of it etc. I see that as the best thing about it to be fair! Revving to 8.5k feels crazy in a big V8.

[Ruskie]

Lovely car, ultimate load lugger.

[Carlos24]

Ruskie said:

Lovely car, ultimate load lugger.

Cheers mate it really is!

[TheDoggingFather]

There's a couple locally to me, they look really tough, not OTT like the RS6, but properly tough.

[Carlos24]

Yeah they are such a muscular looking car, I work with someone who has an S4 of a similar vintage and I couldn’t believe how much wider and meaner mine looked.

I still think mine definitely needs an exhaust for a bit more volume but I don’t want to spoil the duality that it has at the minute but I do wish it had more V8 rumble / scream when you wanted it to be noisy.

I’m looking at maybe getting a scorpion system as I can’t justify the price of a capristo system I don’t think and the milltek non-res system seems like it will be too loud with drone at motorway speeds which is a no go with 2 kids in the back.

I’ve also debated on maybe doing a resonator delete or potentially some fab mafia downpipes that delete two small resonators before the main centre one but I am not sure this will make enough of a difference to warrant the price that they cost.

[georgejoshington]

Carlos24 said:

I still think mine definitely needs an exhaust for a bit more volume but I don’t want to spoil the duality that it has at the minute but I do wish it had more V8 rumble / scream when you wanted it to be noisy.

I’m looking at maybe getting a scorpion system as I can’t justify the price of a capristo system I don’t think and the milltek non-res system seems like it will be too loud with drone at motorway speeds which is a no go with 2 kids in the back.

I’ve also debated on maybe doing a resonator delete or potentially some fab mafia downpipes that delete two small resonators before the main centre one but I am not sure this will make enough of a difference to warrant the price that they cost.

I've had the same thought plenty of times with my B8 - I had a Milltek on a MK5 Golf R32 and the drone at motorway speeds was total turn-off.

One thing I've considered is modding the existing exhaust - this is a good long video of a modded one which the owner claims is perfectly tolerable with the valves closed.

[CKY]

Carlos24 said:

I’ve also got to drive the car a bit harder on some roads that I know and I can’t understand all the reviews etc. I saw when it was new about the steering being lifeless and the car being inert, I also read some reviews that said you had to work the car hard to get the full performance out of it etc. I see that as the best thing about it to be fair! Revving to 8.5k feels crazy in a big V8.

Agreed about the engine being a beauty, but speaking to the criticism of the steering - a friend of mine purchased one of these when they were released, and compared to the B7 wagon that had gone before I didn't really gel with it; the issue for me with the steering was from memory the fact it was a variable ratio rack for some strange reason, which meant over a 20 mile spirited drive it just felt unnerving and didn't give you much in terms of confidence or 'feel'. No doubt usage/doing miles would breed familiarity, so perhaps it's something you'd grow used to, but my friend unceremoniously got rid of his after a couple of months. Best of luck with your ownership and looking forward to seeing you how get on with it.