Abt Audi RS4-S | Spotted
An iconic colour scheme and over 500hp makes this RS4 more special than most
A first drive of the Audi RS4 Competition is coming soon. It sounds like quite an exciting car, at least by the standards of a B9-era RS4 that has never quite met expectations. The installation of coilover suspension, super sticky Pirelli tyres and lighter wheels, plus the removal of some sound insulation, promise an Audi Avant with the edge so conspicuously lacking from the standard car.
But there are some drawbacks to the Competition, too. There’s no more power for the 2.9-litre twin turbo V6, which seems a bit of a shame for a run-out special edition. Particularly with 450hp looking a bit modest against 500hp+ rivals, and the potential that must be there with two turbos. Plus all 75 UK cars will be black, which always seems an odd choice for an estate. To really sign off the model, we’d say, the RS4 should have more power and a great colour…
Something like this, specifically. It’s an RS4 painted in Audi Exclusive Nogaro Blue, which is such an important paint that Audi once commissioned its own special edition range in the colour. Even more excitingly, this RS4 is an Abt RS4-S, one of those countless Abt special editions that’s been created over the past few years.
While it’s easy to be dismissive of another boosted Audi, the RS4-S looks more interesting than most. While, of course, it does have more power - 530hp, in fact - the Abt car also benefits from adjustable suspension (just like the Competition), forged wheels, new seats, a more vocal exhaust, uprated anti-roll bars and some carbon decoration. The result is an RS4 that grabs the attention like no other; perhaps that’s missing the point of a typically smart, subtle fast Audi Avant - but it looks fantastic from here.
With just 3,000 miles under those Vossen wheels, the RS4-S is effectively new; the seats with embroidered, colour-matched logos look barely sat in. And you can bet it’ll take a while to get a standard RS4 into RS4-S spec now, assuming that a) you can get a brand-new car and b) Abt will undertake the work. There’s probably a new special edition Audi diverting attention away…
An Abt RS4 won’t come cheap, however. This one is for sale at £139,900, which is quite a lot more than even the Competition will cost, though it should be noted that it’s possible to spec a standard car up to £90,000. Add the special paint and hefty options spend (Bang and Olufsen stereo, an Anniversary Package, 360 camera and so on) and the price becomes easier to grasp. But this is still going to need a pretty committed Audi fan to take the plunge at a six-figure sum.
Still, it seems unlikely that any future RS4 will be significantly different to this car. A small twin-turbo V6, evoking the layout of the first B5 model, will surely be switched out for some kind of plug-in hybrid. Or perhaps it might make the leap to EV ahead of its rivals. The days of the conventional RS4 seem numbered, basically; if the Competition doesn’t quite seem a special enough final model, the Abt ought to do the job rather more convincingly.
SPECIFICATION | BT AUDI RS4 S
Engine: 2,894cc, twin turbo V6
Transmission: 8-speed auto, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 530@N/Arpm
Torque (lb ft): 502@N/Arpm
MPG: 29.1 (WLTP, standard car)
CO2: 211g/km
Year registered: 2021
Recorded mileage: 3,000
Price new: from £64,600 (standard car, 2020)
Yours for: £139,900
Don't know why you'd have this over the V8 twin-turbo and nicer/bigger/faster RS6, which even new, is less than this.
Would be too scared to have either on my drive.
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bit misleading, you could get the Vorsprung spec which comes with every option mentioned except fancy paint. £3k will get you custom paints and you've got a new car at £90k OTR - pretty sure you'd get a deal if you asked, no idea why you'd spend £139k on this?
Dealer deserves many wind-up calls.
And in a recent RS4 thread / article on PH, didn’t someone post a YT vid about a remapped B9 engine‘s early demise / need for a rebuild?
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