B8 S4 Ownership

[Dr G]

Maybe, yes; I don't know if the RS4 one fits. I've never seen it done.

Milltek with oval trims and standard valance:

[FUBAR]

I visited the Miltek stand at Goodwood yesterday. Salesman was trying to push me to their 4 pipe setup as he thought the ovals didnt fill the cutouts properly, however the quad tailpipes were bloody massive! I cant believe a pair would fit in the cutout without touching the bodywork. The ovals above ^^^ look fine. Major sticking point was the £1600 odd to buy a full system!

Put a resonated one on my previous S4 and was a little underwhelmed by the noise (I guess an effect of driving a Cerbera on the weekends ). If I went again I'd have to go full non-resonated chav mode

[Adrian E]

I'm tempted by an AWE Touring exhaust, but the prices are similarly eye-watering

[Dr_Rick]

So, if you were in the mood, family of 4 needs a wagon of some type. I have options on:

09-plate S4 Avant: B&O, Tech pack, DVD satnav, black Milano leather (heated), pano roof, damping control, dynamic steering, ADS, sports diff, DAB, elec folding mirrors, 32k miles, indies selling, just had a gearbox service, 2 owners inc Porsche Mayfair as the first one, Full Audi SH except the last one as an indie. Low £20ks

or,

61-plate S5 Sportback Black Edition: 20" 7-twin spoke alloys, Acoustic & optical parking system plus, AMI / MMI-plus, Advanced Key, autodimming heated / folding door mirrors with memory, auto dimming rear mirror, B&O, Carbon Atlas inlays, 44k miles, Audi Approved, unknown owners so far. Mid £20ks.

THe above are just what I can glean as 'upgrades'. I'm stuck between the two to be honest.

[mrdanbartlett]

Im sure there are 45k cars on AT with good spec for under £19k now. I think the 'low £20k's' and 'mid 20k's' is a bit vague.

[Dr_Rick]

mrdanbartlett said:

Im sure there are 45k cars on AT with good spec for under £19k now. I think the 'low £20k's' and 'mid 20k's' is a bit vague.

OK, £22k and £26k

[silentbrown]

Dr_Rick said:

So, if you were in the mood, family of 4 needs a wagon of some type.

I'd go with the Avant

Low miles, good spec with sports diff. (shame only DVD nav, but even the S5 won't have full postcode entry)

The Avant looks 'right' to me, ditto the two-door S5, but the sportback just seems an awkward compromise. I'm not sure if the S5 supersports seats actually take up more rear legroom, but they certainly make the rear feel a little cramped.

Only concern for me would be the pano roof, as at 6'3" every cm of headroom counts...

(And fast Audi estates are always cool. Mine arrives Monday...)

[Dr_Rick]

silentbrown said:

I'd go with the Avant

Low miles, good spec with sports diff. (shame only DVD nav, but even the S5 won't have full postcode entry)

The Avant looks 'right' to me, ditto the two-door S5, but the sportback just seems an awkward compromise. I'm not sure if the S5 supersports seats actually take up more rear legroom, but they certainly make the rear feel a little cramped.

Only concern for me would be the pano roof, as at 6'3" every cm of headroom counts...

(And fast Audi estates are always cool. Mine arrives Monday...)

Thankfully at 5'10", headroom shouldn't be a problem, either pano for the s4, or supersports for the S5. I suppose the only query on the seats would be visibility from the back for the kids. The S5 has the lunar silver, just not sure whether its inserts, or complete coverage.

[Adrian E]

My 5 yr old doesn't have a problem with the back of the Sportback - my wife is 5ft8" and sits in the back on long journeys with him and doesn't complain when sat behind me. Enough headroom for me in the back too and I'm same height as my wife.

As for S4 avant vs S5 sportback it depends on exact spec and condition. Sportback tends to hold its value a bit better due to being a much rarer model and priced about £4k higher than the S4 to start with, due to standard Super Sports in leather.

Pano roof on the Avant is nice to have and DVD nav is OK. B&O would be a must for me

[Dr_Rick]

Adrian E said:

My 5 yr old doesn't have a problem with the back of the Sportback - my wife is 5ft8" and sits in the back on long journeys with him and doesn't complain when sat behind me. Enough headroom for me in the back too and I'm same height as my wife.

As for S4 avant vs S5 sportback it depends on exact spec and condition. Sportback tends to hold its value a bit better due to being a much rarer model and priced about £4k higher than the S4 to start with, due to standard Super Sports in leather.

Pano roof on the Avant is nice to have and DVD nav is OK. B&O would be a must for me

See both have B&O so that's not a factor, S4 has pano roof, but S5 had tilt and slide which I think is a standard size sunroof.

I haven't seen the S5 yet as its not been photographed and it yet to be delivered. The absolute spec is better on the S4, and lower miles, good history, just 2yrs older.

[Adrian E]

Dr_Rick said:

See both have B&O so that's not a factor, S4 has pano roof, but S5 had tilt and slide which I think is a standard size sunroof.

I haven't seen the S5 yet as its not been photographed and it yet to be delivered. The absolute spec is better on the S4, and lower miles, good history, just 2yrs older.

Sounds like the S5 doesn't have any of the drive select options on it, either from the ad or Audi web site, if any are important to you. The S5 only has a standard size sunroof as an option - ours has it and as it's phantom black it's quite handy. Be interesting to see if the S5 is a facelift with rectangular fogs - I suspect it'll be a round fog version like ours. In which case even though the age is much different they're identical electronically bar the nav difference. HDD nav is nice, but I wouldn't rule out DVD if the rest of the spec is what you want

[Dr_Rick]

Adrian E said:

Sounds like the S5 doesn't have any of the drive select options on it, either from the ad or Audi web site, if any are important to you. The S5 only has a standard size sunroof as an option - ours has it and as it's phantom black it's quite handy. Be interesting to see if the S5 is a facelift with rectangular fogs - I suspect it'll be a round fog version like ours. In which case even though the age is much different they're identical electronically bar the nav difference. HDD nav is nice, but I wouldn't rule out DVD if the rest of the spec is what you want

Given I had a failed testdrive visit due to it needing some finishing off on a service, I might ask if they'll swap on some Peeler wheels from another car they have. Only downside is a complete set of new boots on the existing rims. Plus there's a windscreen chip on the passenger side that goes right through that I'd like looked at.

[mrdanbartlett]

Guys, washing the car and the 'T' from V6T has fallen off! Oddly the foam bit is still there. Anyone had this?

[theboyfold]

Does the S4 have launch control?

[Dr G]

mrdanbartlett said:

Guys, washing the car and the 'T' from V6T has fallen off! Oddly the foam bit is still there. Anyone had this?

Yup, the stickers on the back are fairly spindly and easy to loosen if knocked whilst cleaning.

[Dr G]

theboyfold said:

Does the S4 have launch control?

Late cars do as standard and I think a couple of tuners offer maps that add it to earlier examples.

[theboyfold]

Dr G said:

Late cars do as standard and I think a couple of tuners offer maps that add it to earlier examples.

Thanks, I'll read up about it when mine arrives

[fastgerman]

fastgerman said:

B9 looks pretty similar but imagine the interior will have the standard 'stick an iPad screen in the middle' look.

B9 looks the same....

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-germancars/new-...

Except for stick on dash screen

[DoubleSix]

It may look the same but it's a completely different architecture. Huge weight savings on the next gen.

[fastgerman]

B7 is still the best RS4
B8 will remain the best S4 :-)