New S4

Author
Discussion

philipleslie67

Original Poster:

237 posts

259 months

Tuesday 20th May 2003
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I am planning to change my car to a "family" sports saloon...has anybody heard any reports of the new V8 S4?

Fat Audi 80

2,403 posts

258 months

Tuesday 20th May 2003
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Beat an M3 round the track buy one second on Top gear on Sunday. I would buy one over a Bimmer anyday... Mint.

philipleslie67

Original Poster:

237 posts

259 months

Wednesday 21st May 2003
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Thanks..saw the programme and having owned an M3 I would agree. Not so wild but more usable plus 4 doors.

plotloss

67,280 posts

277 months

Wednesday 21st May 2003
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Its an astounding motor, a massive improvement over the old one. Sure, its not RS6 but its a hugely capable car thats more than adept at carrying 4 people in relative comfort at decent speed across huge distances.

The new V8 is exceptionally smooth and purposeful at the same time, less of a kick in the head more of a push from behind by an armoured gauntlett in a velvet glove.

In summary, its alright!

biturbo

57 posts

261 months

Wednesday 21st May 2003
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but don't you just like that 'kick in the head' feeling better

plotloss

67,280 posts

277 months

Thursday 22nd May 2003
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biturbo said: but don't you just like that 'kick in the head' feeling better


Having had an RS2 - yes!

John W

28 posts

269 months

Friday 23rd May 2003
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I test drove one on Wednesday, and returning with the wife tomorrow for her to have a go.
Hopefully she'll like it

It is a superb car, and seems a bit better ballanced than the old S4, which I found a bit wollowy around the bends and when pushing on a bit (I've not owned one, just driven one). It also has quite a short throw gearbox, which was the other popular complaint against the old S4.
No idea how the brakes will stand up to abuse on the new one though.

Currently there do not seem to be any tuning options available though, and I bet whatever arrive will be more expensive than a simple chip boost like on the old S4
Also, VW don't sell a tow-bar for them for some reason...

Cheers,
John.

John W

28 posts

269 months

Friday 23rd May 2003
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PlotLoss, I had a ride in a chipped RS2 a week or so ago at North Weald.
Lovely car.

How do you find the brakes though ?
The guy cooked his inside 5 laps of a small test track we were using. Its possible it needed new pads/fluid anyway, but since I've not owned one I thought I'd ask

Cheers,
John.

ChristineC

111 posts

258 months

Friday 23rd May 2003
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Doing a similar thing to you Philip. Thinking of replacing the sensible car (the Scoob) to the S4. Glad to hear it gets good reviews. Will drive one soon!

C

philipleslie67

Original Poster:

237 posts

259 months

Tuesday 27th May 2003
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Ordering S4 Avant today....Have decided on the Met. Dolphin Grey as this looks great in sunshine and dosn't attract too much attention. I shall not bother with too many extras except the BOSE upgrade as this system sounded great in my TT and the park assist thingy for my dear wife. They say delivery will be 10 weeks but that probably means 14. I'll post pics as soon as I have the new toy.

philipleslie67

Original Poster:

237 posts

259 months

Thursday 5th June 2003
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Bit miffed today..have been told by dealer not to expec the S4 until end of September instead of July? Perhaps they forgot to buy the instructions on how to build it....d'oh.

philipleslie67

Original Poster:

237 posts

259 months

Saturday 4th October 2003
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Delivery on Wednesday....

Finally they have confirmed that the S4 will be ready for collection. I'll let my good lady do the running in before I get my hands on it!

Yertis

18,677 posts

273 months

Monday 6th October 2003
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philipleslie67 said:
Delivery on Wednesday....

Finally they have confirmed that the S4 will be ready for collection. I'll let my good lady do the running in before I get my hands on it!


Keep us abreast of the S4V8 experience - I'm test driving one on Saturday and I'm curious to see how a normally aspirated Audi S-car feels when I've gotten so used to turbocharged Audis. Like others have written, you get to enjoy that kick-in-the-back.

barter

246 posts

291 months

Thursday 9th October 2003
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Yertis said:
Keep us abreast of the S4V8 experience
I'll second that. Test drove one on Monday and have fallen in love with it. Only problem is the dealer sold the car 15 minutes after my test drive. Now deciding whether I can wait till late Feb 04 for a new one or go for an ex-demo.

fat arnie

1,656 posts

270 months

Friday 24th October 2003
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GAtwick Audi gave me a go in thier demo.

I have a MTM S4 Biturbo with full Milkek exhaust. I used to think it sounded rather nice until I heard the V8 S4 - for a stock estate car it sounds the dogs danglies.

The new S4 also has a better chassis and gearchange than the V6 S4, in terms of steering feedback is is slightly improved but still not a drivers car.

My s4 is reconed to be about the smae power as the new S4, but the new S4 feels quite lethargic in comparison. Good value at £37k though....

barter

246 posts

291 months

Friday 24th October 2003
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I also drove the Gatwick Audi's S4 Avant....they sold it 15 mins after I got out of it to go speak to my bank manager!

barter

246 posts

291 months

Sunday 26th October 2003
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Anyone with an S4 had any problems with the clutch? Been reading the www.rs6.com forums in which a few people have had failed clutches within an alarmingly short period of time (300 miles!).

On a brighter note, I picked my S4 up from the dealer yesterday and, having driven it for a massive 30 miles, I am very impressed. Lovely power delivery and very sure footed. Definitely filling the gap between selling the TVR and while I build my Ultima. Managed to get a new one within 7 days as I stumbled upon a cancelled order just before it arrived at the dealer.

Andrew Richmond

1,514 posts

260 months

Monday 27th October 2003
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Done 7k miles in mine now with only a faulty knock sensor at 2.5k miles to complain about. The car is a lot faster (the old S4 was the same once over 5k miles)now it is properly run in and has only drunk 2 litres of oil so far.

I believe that some of the very early cars had clutch failure at <1k miles but my car was built in late May and is fine.

yertis

18,677 posts

273 months

Tuesday 4th November 2003
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I'm pretty used to driving quattros and found S4V8 STILL not as balanced, stable or sharp as the ur-quattro. Missed the turbo-kick-in-the-back. I could live with all of that (it is still a cracking piece of kit with a lovely noise) but for the fact that there is no legroom in the back. So I'll just keep saving for a s/hand RS6.

Andrew Richmond

1,514 posts

260 months

Tuesday 4th November 2003
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I thought that A4 legroom is fine in the back but the A6 is a lot better if you can live with Audi autoboxes!? I just hope that they give the UK the manual gearbox option in the new S6 so that I can upgrade. Audi autos are pants....