I certainly dont think the s4 is better all rounder than the rs4. I had the b7 I didn't find it felt quick at all, it wasnt the best handling car no real confidence on back roads and I'd never see 30mpg! I would of snapped someone's arm off for the rs!

I agree on the S3 vs RS3. I got an S3 Sportback Black Edition at the end of last year. Getting the same toys in an RS3 would have been £14k more. The engine sounds better on the RS3, but that was about the only difference I could find assuming you spec the S3 correctly. I also wanted a manual so the RS3 was not an option. Believe it or not the S3 is actually cheaper than an equivalent spec Golf R.

Performance wise as others have stated you can easily and for relatively small money tune the S3 to RS3 performance levels. In fact, for under £2k you can get it up to around 360bhp which is RS3 beating. After that tuning gets expensive as you need to start changing all sorts of components. There are a few people on audisportnet who are running a reliable 450bhp, and in total have spent less than the cost of an RS3.

One of the other dads at my daughter's school has a 2010 S4 avant in white AND VERY NICE IT IS TOO - stunning to look at with anthracite wheels

He says he gets about 30 to the gallon on a run and about 23 around town - very good considering he has nearly 350 bhp to play with - he had a V8 S4 before that though, and he does miss the noise but he said overall the V6 is the best car he has had.

Was the Merc E63 wagon PH also? Saw it parked up on the Friday Service next to the S4

Ah awesome, lot of time for Dan - he's taught me a lot of what I know, decent bloke too. Interesting to see how much more BHP you have from the S3 from just a stage one - having driven every single Audi, for me the S3 is the pick of the range - considering selling my A4 and getting one, definitely got to be a manual though.

That A6 Bi-turbo will be a monster! Sounds like Dan's looking after you as well with that kind of deal.

[quote=Dave Hedgehog]interesting, i suspect the S4s low own grunt will be far usable than the RS4s V8 grunt in real world driving

agree but all the electricary nonsense, but luckily you can spec the RS4 without it, to my spec its 61.5k which is not as much as i expected, loaded you can get it to 84k thou!!!

wouldnt agree about the S3 / RS3 thou having just put 4k miles on an S3 it has a real lack of low down grunt, gets totally out of shape on what i would consider moderate braking (feels like each front wheel is going in different directions) the 6 speed DSG is clumsy and dithers occasionally compared to the 7 speed but the amazing thing is the ride is vastly worse getting very close to crashy even thou the S3 rolls like a ship at sea on hard cornering, the 4 pot has very little character as well whilst the i5 wails with soul

trailing throttle oversteer is extremely easy in the S3 thou, very reminiscent of the R32 in placing the car on the road


What other cars did you look at when you got the S3 after the RS? A couple of friends have bought s3s lately and they really do seem to have the market to themselves, aside from the already dated looking 135 coupe.

You are right Alex - Big Dan is a top man

They are a decent lot Crawley Audi

I can thoroughly recommend the the S3 - I had the wife's done at Revo HQ.

The only downside is that you HAVE to run on 98 - 95 will make it pink a bit

As for the Biturbo - look for the youtube video of 'Audi A6 3.0 tdi Avant BiTurbo v BMW M550d'

You will be blown away

Bought my s4 from the Audi Crawley team. Had a good experience with them.

Mine is also specked with the sports diff and I was shocked at how easily driftable the car is on damp roundabouts. Like others have stated it really is an under rated car which puts out closer to 350bhp standard than what's quoted officially by Audi.

The only thing it really lacks is a more aggressive exhaust sound which can be rectified by various aftermarket companies. Milltek and Awe seem to be favourites with s4 owners.

Golfs are insanely expensive! I'm really starting to warm to the S3, I love the way that the A4 looks but the 3 series is more fun to drive for me.

I've been thinking about getting a S4 Avant to replace my wife's Saab and my Golf Ed 30, but I don't know if I want her drifting it through damp roundabouts. Is there a diff setting that doesn't allow that?