RE: Chris Harris video: Bentley Conti vs Audi S4
Discussion
Chris -
Good film as always...
But..
PLEASE can you persuade whoever mixes the sound to ditch that incredibly irritating tinny low-volume music that runs under the whole thing?
Especially when you are talking.
It has exactly the same effect as sitting next to someone on the train with their earphones turned up to full. It's actually starting to put me off watching.
Good film as always...
But..
PLEASE can you persuade whoever mixes the sound to ditch that incredibly irritating tinny low-volume music that runs under the whole thing?
Especially when you are talking.
It has exactly the same effect as sitting next to someone on the train with their earphones turned up to full. It's actually starting to put me off watching.
Good video Chris I really enjoy your take on this, the problem for me is I just seem to dislike VAG products even more because they struggle to give you much character & are just really accomplished vehicles which isn't a bad thing obviously, but they just don't seem to excite me personally.
I suppose VAG products always do what they say on the tin but for me they don't get under your skin.
I suppose VAG products always do what they say on the tin but for me they don't get under your skin.
Good video, that. Loved the slow-mo corner shot of the Bentley.
B8 S4 is definitely on my list for the future; I do love a good Q-car! Not much realistic chance of comparing it with the Bentley, though....
Is it such a surprise that the "best" (subjective) Audi is so far removed from the cheapest Bentley model, though? To me this just goes to show that the Conti's not a "proper" Bentley, really.
It's an intriguing question, albeit fairly irrelevant to most of us!
B8 S4 is definitely on my list for the future; I do love a good Q-car! Not much realistic chance of comparing it with the Bentley, though....
Is it such a surprise that the "best" (subjective) Audi is so far removed from the cheapest Bentley model, though? To me this just goes to show that the Conti's not a "proper" Bentley, really.
It's an intriguing question, albeit fairly irrelevant to most of us!
Recently changed my 2010 S4 for a C63 AMG PPP, and I miss the multi media package and gearbox on the S4, and the fact that it doesn't have thousands of pounds worth of bloody annoying technology that keeps patronising me.
My recollections of the Bentley (albeit not this model) were:
- It sounds like a cow with James Herriot's arm up its backside;
- It understeers if you fill the boot with a tonne of floor tiles (I tried it)
- It has hundreds of buttons to press, I half expected it check my prostate.
I'm not sure there is anything more common between an Audi S4 and Bentley than there is between any modern mainstream car not aimed at a particular car fanatic niche and it's counterparts. What I suspect is that mid-priced cars are now so good that they feel an awful lot like cars that cost £100ks more. The C63 for example reminds me of a Ferrari 550 more than anything else (it's an engine performance and tyre wear thing), and that gap closing is, I would suggest, also an interesting question.
My recollections of the Bentley (albeit not this model) were:
- It sounds like a cow with James Herriot's arm up its backside;
- It understeers if you fill the boot with a tonne of floor tiles (I tried it)
- It has hundreds of buttons to press, I half expected it check my prostate.
I'm not sure there is anything more common between an Audi S4 and Bentley than there is between any modern mainstream car not aimed at a particular car fanatic niche and it's counterparts. What I suspect is that mid-priced cars are now so good that they feel an awful lot like cars that cost £100ks more. The C63 for example reminds me of a Ferrari 550 more than anything else (it's an engine performance and tyre wear thing), and that gap closing is, I would suggest, also an interesting question.
It is with some degree of irony, that my 'new' S4 estate turned up yesterday. Within 50yards, knew this was a great car and that was without fiddling with all the permutations.
If money were no object, I would probably also consider a Bentley GT, in the same way that I "wouldn't" a Ferrari. The 4WD and Britishness aside (or Germanicism...), I do firmly believe that cars definitely have an image associated with them and you probably know instinctively whether you slot into that brand (or what it aspires to be) or not and that, in the case of this article, the Bentley Boys would deem Audi owners to be aspirational purchasers of their product, so why not engineer in a degree of comfort/familiarity.
Whilst I appreciate that a commonly held view is that Audi drivers are all w@nkers (in the same way that BMW drivers were a decade or so ago). The S4 is definitely a great way to get about the UK in all-weather, in safety, with an appropriate amount of luggage. The Bentley undoubtedly is too.
Both are probably happy to be driven by partners who aren't necessarily so into cars as well. MrsE wouldn't even consider driving the TVR.
Good write MrH !
If money were no object, I would probably also consider a Bentley GT, in the same way that I "wouldn't" a Ferrari. The 4WD and Britishness aside (or Germanicism...), I do firmly believe that cars definitely have an image associated with them and you probably know instinctively whether you slot into that brand (or what it aspires to be) or not and that, in the case of this article, the Bentley Boys would deem Audi owners to be aspirational purchasers of their product, so why not engineer in a degree of comfort/familiarity.
Whilst I appreciate that a commonly held view is that Audi drivers are all w@nkers (in the same way that BMW drivers were a decade or so ago). The S4 is definitely a great way to get about the UK in all-weather, in safety, with an appropriate amount of luggage. The Bentley undoubtedly is too.
Both are probably happy to be driven by partners who aren't necessarily so into cars as well. MrsE wouldn't even consider driving the TVR.
Good write MrH !
Davey S2 said:
Usget said:
I really like that S4, especially the fact that it looks like a 2.0 TDI, give or take. Makes a cracking noise, too.
+1 Would make a lovely everyday car.Edited by Justman on Thursday 14th March 11:47
Baryonyx said:
someday said:
The high level brake light on those Bentleys is stupidly long. Lights up like a council house at Christmas.
That has always been one of my favourite things about the Continental. It's so clean from the rear. The integrated tail lights work well and the high level brake light is so distinctive. One of my favourite things about the Continental, and I'm pleased that they look so good from behind as that's usually where you'll be seeing them from, provided they can find a road wide enough to overtake on.Look at the rear lights of the Fiat Barchetta. A feature, but subtle and not in your face brashness. The facelift rear lenses on the Bentley are now like those stretchy rings some people wear in their ear lobes.
I don't doubt the Conti has been improved under the skin but one benefit of going used, and old and bankruptcy threatening is the better looks of the original. Sometimes things are right the first time around.
A convertible one went past my house a few years ago and I thought 'A4 Cabriolet' partially due to the colour of the body and the hood. It wasn't until almost out of eyeshot I realised it was a Bentley.
How did I manage to miss that massive 3rd brakelight when it was on Top Gear rallying? I also thought the squiqqly script engine badges on the front wing were a bit naff too. It's a Bentley, having a badge denoting the engine is not the cheaper and possibly better V8 one is a bit like GL and Ghia badges? It's a Bentley Quattro, it costs lots, costs lots of fuel to run and shifts, does it really need badges telling others what motor it has?
Edited by carinaman on Thursday 14th March 12:17
Why it's such a suprise they feel, ergonomically, so simular? Why wouldn't VAG, having spent a considerable sum of money to arrive at what they consider the ergonomic ideal, apply it to everything they produce? If they make any particular car a bit different, then by definition they're deliberately making it worse.
Don't really see an S4 and the bent being at opposite ends of the spectrum either.. both file under "heavy cars made to perform well and be comfortable." It's like comparing a £30 bottle of wine with a £120 bottle. Both will be refined... Try a 1.0 skoda fabia, that's the £7 plonk.
Don't really see an S4 and the bent being at opposite ends of the spectrum either.. both file under "heavy cars made to perform well and be comfortable." It's like comparing a £30 bottle of wine with a £120 bottle. Both will be refined... Try a 1.0 skoda fabia, that's the £7 plonk.
With manufactures vertical horizontal cross platforming its inevitable as it always has been more groups under a single umbrella just amplifies the common.
Much like ergonomics there is little choice for being different in terms of control placements reach feel without being stupid like Mercedes key placement on SL whereby you can turn car off by accident with your knee it doesn't always work to be different.
Much like ergonomics there is little choice for being different in terms of control placements reach feel without being stupid like Mercedes key placement on SL whereby you can turn car off by accident with your knee it doesn't always work to be different.
Light n Hairy said:
The genericised nature of VAG cars is something which has been around for years- why bring it up as an 'intriguing' point now CH?
From zero to hero, from Lupo to Murcielago, there is a language of flat-panelled, fairy-lit digitalness that rules the exteriors, accompanied by a darkened hellishness within.
It seems a lot more than the result of the arrival of standardisation, parts-sharing or quality control. It feels like some kind of 'way of being' has invaded all VAG cars, maybe morphing them into some kind of super-manufacturer one day with no pretensions to having different brands. The key on the Veyron is the same flick-out job as a humble A6, just with a measure of quilted redness to it to tart it up.
To defend it all using seemingly benign reasons is easy: quality and market success have their self-evident narratives. Good, inoffensive and sometimes striking angular designs, having nonetheless something samey about them. But in all that convergence, something is being sapped away from the motley, haphazard crew of companies that VAG swallowed up in its amoebic, exponential growth cycle the last 20 years. Something that surely didn't need to happen as perceptibly as it has done, if the brands needed to survive?
Borgswagen. We were fed up of spending money on different logos.
Borgswagen 1.0 to 89.4, from £9,000 to £1.4m, and everything in between being a gradient of imperceptible changes, a set of chinese whispers in design that leave one feeling as if Derren Brown has taken over the (inevitably universally-fonted) satnav.
From zero to hero, from Lupo to Murcielago, there is a language of flat-panelled, fairy-lit digitalness that rules the exteriors, accompanied by a darkened hellishness within.
It seems a lot more than the result of the arrival of standardisation, parts-sharing or quality control. It feels like some kind of 'way of being' has invaded all VAG cars, maybe morphing them into some kind of super-manufacturer one day with no pretensions to having different brands. The key on the Veyron is the same flick-out job as a humble A6, just with a measure of quilted redness to it to tart it up.
To defend it all using seemingly benign reasons is easy: quality and market success have their self-evident narratives. Good, inoffensive and sometimes striking angular designs, having nonetheless something samey about them. But in all that convergence, something is being sapped away from the motley, haphazard crew of companies that VAG swallowed up in its amoebic, exponential growth cycle the last 20 years. Something that surely didn't need to happen as perceptibly as it has done, if the brands needed to survive?
Borgswagen. We were fed up of spending money on different logos.
Borgswagen 1.0 to 89.4, from £9,000 to £1.4m, and everything in between being a gradient of imperceptible changes, a set of chinese whispers in design that leave one feeling as if Derren Brown has taken over the (inevitably universally-fonted) satnav.
Good post.Will Porsche be able to retain their 'character' or have they always been Borgswagens due to their Beetle roots?
VAGness permeates everywhere?
That 2WD manual Gallardo looks like a great motor though, but someone nearby had a black manual R8 for a while. The R8 channels the Miura to my eyes. How to choose between an R8 and a Gallardo? It's just the brand on the bottle or packet of cigarettes isn't it? I find myself drawn to both.
VAGness means they have every niche covered and it's one way of securing market share and domination and maximum part sharing profitabilty?
Is an RS2 really that much more than an S2, 100/C6 C4 S4/S6? Commonality of parts providing much the same in various wrappers and different strengths has been with us for a while? Perhaps as Monkey is hinting at that too much of that and it all seems the same, it's all Borgswagen as Light n Hairy said.
I quite like both these Borgswagens.
A Bentley Borgswagen means the Bentley badge is still with us and we have more choice?
I love the Bentley glasshouse. It's a bit Aston to my eyes and better than that A5 coupe with the awkward rear side glass.
Edited by carinaman on Thursday 14th March 13:23
From Wikipedia:
At the heart of the B8 S4 powertrain is an all-new, all aluminium-alloy 3.0 litre TFSI supercharged V6 engine (parts code prefix: 06E, identification code: CAKA),[3] and like the rest of the B8 model range, now with Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI). This petrol engine displaces 2,998 cubic centimetres (182.9 cu in), and it produces a power output of 245 kilowatts (333 PS; 329 bhp) from 5,500 to 7,000 revolutions per minute (rpm). Torque is rated at 440 newton metres (325 lbf·ft) from 2,900 to 5,300 rpm. This high power output is achieved by utilising forced induction – and specifically, an all-new Eaton 'Twin Vortices Series' (TVS) Roots-type positive displacement compressor.[18][19] This new supercharger features twin four-lobe rotors, which are axially-twisted 160 degrees. It is mounted on top of the engine, within the 'Vee', pumping air directly into the inlet manifold, and incorporates two separate water-cooled intercoolers. This new design of supercharger is said to reduce the noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) of the engine.
'V6S' would infer multiple V6s?
'V6E' would be a reminder of Formel E?
'V6T' means Torque rather than Powaahhhhh?
CAKA? I'm wondering if any B8 owners call theirs CarCar or Caka?
At the heart of the B8 S4 powertrain is an all-new, all aluminium-alloy 3.0 litre TFSI supercharged V6 engine (parts code prefix: 06E, identification code: CAKA),[3] and like the rest of the B8 model range, now with Fuel Stratified Injection (FSI). This petrol engine displaces 2,998 cubic centimetres (182.9 cu in), and it produces a power output of 245 kilowatts (333 PS; 329 bhp) from 5,500 to 7,000 revolutions per minute (rpm). Torque is rated at 440 newton metres (325 lbf·ft) from 2,900 to 5,300 rpm. This high power output is achieved by utilising forced induction – and specifically, an all-new Eaton 'Twin Vortices Series' (TVS) Roots-type positive displacement compressor.[18][19] This new supercharger features twin four-lobe rotors, which are axially-twisted 160 degrees. It is mounted on top of the engine, within the 'Vee', pumping air directly into the inlet manifold, and incorporates two separate water-cooled intercoolers. This new design of supercharger is said to reduce the noise, vibration, and harshness (NVH) of the engine.
'V6S' would infer multiple V6s?
'V6E' would be a reminder of Formel E?
'V6T' means Torque rather than Powaahhhhh?
CAKA? I'm wondering if any B8 owners call theirs CarCar or Caka?
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff