RE: Audi RS4 saloon returning!

[Wills2]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Me too. I just don't "get" fast versions of humdrum saloons, usually with rock hard ride. But each to their own.

Fairly obviously manufacturers love selling humdrum saloons with big engines! Build costs very little greater than the base model but massively bigger profit! Depreciation tends to be a harsh judge as well.

Thing is most don't have a rock hard ride and combine the practical bits of a mainstream car with stonking shove, taut handling and a nice bit of discretion.

I've tried the 911 for weekend and dull daily but it's just painful to drive a sloppy car everyday, these performance saloons are a perfect solution to many.

[Housey]

Faxo said:

Martin_M said:

I like the look of the 2006 model for under £20k that you linked to but does such a car become a money pit, looked after or not, at this age?

As an Audi tech, I can say we rarely do anything other than routine servicing and wear and tear items on the B7 RS4

As someone who put 100K miles on a B7 RS4 I can say you never worked on mine.

[Guvernator]

Housey said:

Faxo said:

Martin_M said:

I like the look of the 2006 model for under £20k that you linked to but does such a car become a money pit, looked after or not, at this age?

As an Audi tech, I can say we rarely do anything other than routine servicing and wear and tear items on the B7 RS4

As someone who put 100K miles on a B7 RS4 I can say you never worked on mine.

Weren't the B7's known for many high profile and expensive issues including suspension made of chocolate and engines which suffered from coking\loss of power.

[Housey]

Guvernator said:

Housey said:

Faxo said:

Martin_M said:

I like the look of the 2006 model for under £20k that you linked to but does such a car become a money pit, looked after or not, at this age?

As an Audi tech, I can say we rarely do anything other than routine servicing and wear and tear items on the B7 RS4

As someone who put 100K miles on a B7 RS4 I can say you never worked on mine.

Weren't the B7's known for many high profile and expensive issues including suspension made of chocolate and engines which suffered from coking\loss of power.

Yup and the coking issue was something that I was one of the first to encounter due to the mileage. Audi had the car for 6 weeks to evaluate, clean, test, clean and flew people of from Germany to view it and fiddle with it. I also had issues with air valves, exhaust baffles which failed, but I was one of the few who didn't suffer hugely with DSC issues. Mine was 366bhp when first rolling loaded, 388bhp after cleaning on the same road but never felt (or was) as quick as Audi claimed. I had a few runs against E46 M3's and there was nothing in it and at VMAX was 160mph 4 times at the end showing it was well limited. Interestingly a derestricted RS4 Cab which had a performance map was unable to better 162mph and he had no limit. Mine was showing over 170mph at 160mph too.

Putting all that to one side it was a great road car, really good at that stuff of dealing with crappy roads, crappy weather and with power and poise, but it was neither that quick and on track fell apart like a broken thing. Having said all that, I'd still suggest it was the best of the RS4's so far.

[SR06]

Have to admit that have not gone anywhere near Quattro Gmbh since my B7 RS4 on 07, mainly due to me not liking any of the current generation "Sportwagons", or lets face it, estate cars or the slab sided RS5.

Either way, until they shove that engine back or move the front wheels forward, I won't even consider another.

[Scuffers]

SR06 said:

Have to admit that have not gone anywhere near Quattro Gmbh since my B7 RS4 on 07, mainly due to me not liking any of the current generation "Sportwagons", or lets face it, estate cars or the slab sided RS5.

Either way, until they shove that engine back or move the front wheels forward, I won't even consider another.

having run a B8 S5, really struggling to understand your last comment.

Once you put decent tyres on them, I really don't get all the bhing about nose-heavy understeer.

[SR06]

Have to admit that have not gone anywhere near Quattro Gmbh since my B7 RS4 on 07, mainly due to me not liking any of the current generation "Sportwagons", or lets face it, estate cars or the slab sided RS5.

Either way, until they shove that engine back or move the front wheels forward, I won't even consider another.

[Scuffers]

SR06 said:

Have to admit that have not gone anywhere near Quattro Gmbh since my B7 RS4 on 07, mainly due to me not liking any of the current generation "Sportwagons", or lets face it, estate cars or the slab sided RS5.

Either way, until they shove that engine back or move the front wheels forward, I won't even consider another.

I'll ask again, why?

the push-on they used to suffer was mostly resolved with Torsen III, IMHO people are still taring them without any real experience/reference.

Having driven previous S4's (B5 etc) I know all about how they used to handle.

[EricE]

Most Audi RS cars are excellent on the road in everyday conditions but just fall apart on the track.
Car reviewers usually judge the handling by the behaviour on the track, so the cars get a bad reputation for understeer, etc.

I reckon less than 5% of all RS cars sold ever saw a racetrack (but of course not on PH where the rate is well above 90%!).
If you want a quick and safe car that doesn't "get in your way" in everyday life you could do a lot worse than a RS3/4/5/6. If you need something that bridges the gap between daily driver and track toy, look elsewhere.

sh33n said:

Not sure the M3 will be a competitor to this, given the power difference!

The new M3/M4 engines put out a lot more power than quoted. Factor in the drivetrain losses from AWD and the cars should be evenly matched.

Edited by EricE on Saturday 1st August 15:37

[Scuffers]

EricE said:

Most Audi RS cars are excellent on the road in everyday conditions but just fall apart on the track.
Car reviewers usually judge the handling by the behaviour on the track, so the cars get a bad reputation for understeer, etc.

Agreed...

(I simply don't understand why anybody would consider a 4 door sedan as a track-car.)

[Terminator X]

Ozzie Osmond said:

Me too. I just don't "get" fast versions of humdrum saloons, usually with rock hard ride. But each to their own.

Fairly obviously manufacturers love selling humdrum saloons with big engines! Build costs very little greater than the base model but massively bigger profit! Depreciation tends to be a harsh judge as well.

The old RS4 rarely dips below £16k and normally that's because it is leggy or crash damaged. Not bad for nearly 10 years old!

TX.