Audi RS4 (B7) | Spotted

Not the best colour perhaps - but in terrific condition and apparently with fate on its side...

By PH Staff / Thursday, 16 July 2026 / Loading comments

You just know OEMs are missing a trick with manual gearboxes when an innovator like Ferrari has gone to the trouble of painstakingly engineering a fake three-pedal solution for the 12Cilindri. Simply put, it was the number one thing that high-end Ferrari buyers requested. And if the people who can buy anything want one, it stands to reason that those of us with much shallower pockets wouldn’t mind the option of DIY gear ratios.

Of course, there are many valid technical reasons why this isn’t occurring. Efficiency for one thing, both in terms of manufacturing (because every additional hardware option adds complexity) and the ever-tightening noose of emissions legislation. Moreover, while many of us claim to favour a manual in our heads, the reality of running a car - especially if you haven’t got the luxury of owning more than one - tends to favour the convenience of an automatic.

It is partly for these reasons that the Ferrari ‘box is a clever piece of theatre. Or that genuine manual transmissions, like the Mustang’s or the 911 T’s, tend to exist only in low-volume niches. So unless you’re enamoured with the idea of owning an MX-5, or patiently waiting for a GR Yaris to turn up, it is to the classifieds you must turn. And thank goodness for them when they spit out ready-made fixes like the B7 RS4.

Combining any V8 with a proper gear lever is a decent recipe for physical pleasure, although when the former is a 4.2-litre naturally aspirated unit that revs beyond 8,000rpm, you really can’t go wrong. Obviously it helped that with the B7, Audi took the revolutionary step of not mounting said V8 a millimetre from the front bumper - but even if it had done, you’d still get the deep, sugary satisfaction that comes with working it hard through six ratios.

In fact, you needn’t work it hard at all. One of the oft-forgotten delights of a manual is that you choose your level of intent - and Audi’s 32-valver will indulge all manner of pottering about the place. Especially when it’s only suffered 32,820 miles of previous use. This one looks as box-fresh as that distance suggests (we’ve seldom seen the RS4’s wingback seats in better nick), having spent the last few years lounging about in a collection.

Its condition helps account for the cost. You can buy a decent-looking B7 for half the £39,950 asking price, even allowing for the fact that this one has the added attraction of KW coilovers in place of the potentially troublesome DRC. But the manual RS4 has increasing scarcity in its favour - not to mention the fact that its maker abandoned its transmission in the subsequent generations - and, given the evidence all around us, its sustained cult following stands every chance of snowballing in the long run-up to 2035. Why wait?

SPECIFICATION | AUDI RS4 (B7)

Engine: 4,163cc V8,
Transmission: Six-speed manual, four-wheel drive
Power (hp): 420@7,800rpm
Torque (lb ft): 317@5,500rpm
MPG: 20.9
CO2: 322g/km
First registered: 2006
Recorded mileage: 32,820
Price new: £50,730
Yours for: £39,950