B9 Audi RS4 Carbon Edition

[RS Grant]

georgejoshington said:

Out of interest what's the tax on these? Quick check I just did says £180 for 12 months but surely not...

I believe that's correct, I didn't pay a huge amount of attention to the tax when I was collecting the car and hurriedly signed up to the DD for tax at the dealership before I failed to beat the M25 traffic.

I know that for the first 5 years you have to pay the extra £390 per year tax on top of the actual/normal £180 per year tax because the car was >£40,000 list price when it was new.

[RS Grant]

andy43 said:

Nice car mister. Wheels absolutely make it. Don’t even think about painting them black!

Absolutely no chance of that.. I can't abide black wheels.

I also won't be changing the alu-trim to black either, which I know is popular, but I really like the spec of the car as it stands.

The only thing I can see me doing just now is possibly fitting some wheel spacers to bring the wheels out a touch as they look a little too tucked in the arches to my eye.

[T_S_M]

RS Grant said:

T_S_M said:

That is LOVELY! The colour looks great with the silver trim and wheels. Much better than the usual Nardo Grey too!

How does the performance compare to the F80?

My F80 was a non-Competition LCI model and a 6spd manual, so may not reflect a true auto-to-auto comparison.

Given the age of my F80, the power delivery was 'sudden' and pretty brutal. I wouldn't have liked the car as much as I did if it had been DCT gearbox. With traction control off, the sharp DCT kickdown and gearchange ferocity screwed up to the maximum it's little wonder a lot of people climbed trees or ended up in ditches/armco and forced BMW to dial the power delivery down with the later/Competition cars.

The RS4 is much smoother power delivery; you can still be travelling very fast very quickly but there feels like a lot more control to it. That's probably partly/mainly due to the 4WD system I guess, the F80 would flick the rear out at will with the traction control in MDM or fully disengaged. I've obviously not had the car for long and this may be a sweeping statement, but I can see why people who like the rowdy M-cars and AMG stuff get bored if they switch to the RS-cars.

In a straight fight between the F80 and the RS4, rolling from 30-40mph onwards, I'd think the BMW would pull away a touch... but it's a good chunk lighter and only slightly down on power.

But it's the usability of the RS4 which is the big appeal to me because I plan to use this car every day and (aside from freak winter periods) want a car with 12 month ability in Scotland and that's not something the F80 would ever get close to managing. Had BMW made an F81 M3 Touring, then I might have been tempted to give it a crack on winter tyres... but they didn't... and while I've softened to the front of the G81 M3 Tourings a little, in my world £90k-£100k is absolutely wild money for a daily driver.

I completely understand what you mean about the power delivery in the F80. I had a non-comp M4 (DCT) and after 2 weeks of ownership that ended up coming to an early death The power delivery really is on/off in those.

[theicemario]

RS Grant said:

Absolutely no chance of that.. I can't abide black wheels.

I also won't be changing the alu-trim to black either, which I know is popular, but I really like the spec of the car as it stands.

Faith in humanity restored

[RS Grant]

T_S_M said:

I completely understand what you mean about the power delivery in the F80. I had a non-comp M4 (DCT) and after 2 weeks of ownership that ended up coming to an early death The power delivery really is on/off in those.

Ouch!! Mine was an LCI and I believe BMW made some changes to the suspension over the pre-LCI cars.. but it retained the same sledgehammer power delivery, which I loved. I feel like it was a lot more controllable in a manual car too and, personally, I found it a lot more engaging and fun than a DCT too.

[RS Grant]

Got the V5 document through from the DVLA in record time.. so wasted no time getting my registration on the car when I got home last night, aided by my Ring floodlight camera.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

[cerb4.5lee]

RS Grant said:

T_S_M said:

I completely understand what you mean about the power delivery in the F80. I had a non-comp M4 (DCT) and after 2 weeks of ownership that ended up coming to an early death The power delivery really is on/off in those.

Ouch!! Mine was an LCI and I believe BMW made some changes to the suspension over the pre-LCI cars.. but it retained the same sledgehammer power delivery, which I loved. I feel like it was a lot more controllable in a manual car too and, personally, I found it a lot more engaging and fun than a DCT too.

I wouldn't mind a manual in my F82 M4 regarding controlling it a bit better as well. I have to put my big boy pants on with the DCT when I stamp on it, and just hope that I'm good enough/quick enough to catch whatever it decides to do! I found my manual E92 M3 really controllable in comparison.

[cerb4.5lee]

RS Grant said:

Got the V5 document through from the DVLA in record time.. so wasted no time getting my registration on the car when I got home last night, aided by my Ring floodlight camera.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

That is such a sexy number plate Grant!

[Court_S]

RS Grant said:

It's a colourful driveway for sure!! ...although depending on which car I'm in at the time, I may have to avoid certain areas of Glasgow.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the remaining cars yet. As you know, I'm very unsure about the E90, which is now due for collection after the bumper has been resprayed... and the S3 certainly fulfils the 'fun' brief for me given the little handling upgrades I've made and the fact it has a manual gearbox.

That being said, if I'm to reach my '2-car only' target and given the breadth of the RS4s talents.. I'm wondering if I maybe should look to have something a little more sporty tucked away; finally getting into my first flat 6 from Stuttgart would be the obvious choice, although I really miss my old S2000 too.

That sounds like a plan since there’s quite a lot of cross over (on paper at least).

I proper sports car would be a good counter point to the RS4’s abilities.

[Mannginger]

Wonderful looking thing, the blue really pops int he pics. Also kudos to whomever hoovered that boot!

[AC43]

RS Grant said:

andy43 said:

Nice car mister. Wheels absolutely make it. Don’t even think about painting them black!

Absolutely no chance of that.. I can't abide black wheels.

I also won't be changing the alu-trim to black either, which I know is popular, but I really like the spec of the car as it stands.

Happy to hear that. I really hate the everything-must-be-black trend of the last few years. Love the look of yours just the way it is.

[FMOB]

Colour is fab, had a b6 S4 in that colour.

Wheels, I think they are horrendous. If you aren't skipping them, painting black maybe less offensive. A lot of modern wheels are horrific and that is before you see what is on an EV.

[andy43]

Oh.
I like the wheels just the way they are. IE not black.

[RS Grant]

cerb4.5lee said:

RS Grant said:

T_S_M said:

I completely understand what you mean about the power delivery in the F80. I had a non-comp M4 (DCT) and after 2 weeks of ownership that ended up coming to an early death The power delivery really is on/off in those.

Ouch!! Mine was an LCI and I believe BMW made some changes to the suspension over the pre-LCI cars.. but it retained the same sledgehammer power delivery, which I loved. I feel like it was a lot more controllable in a manual car too and, personally, I found it a lot more engaging and fun than a DCT too.

I wouldn't mind a manual in my F82 M4 regarding controlling it a bit better as well. I have to put my big boy pants on with the DCT when I stamp on it, and just hope that I'm good enough/quick enough to catch whatever it decides to do! I found my manual E92 M3 really controllable in comparison.

I would say that although it was more controllable having the manual gearbox and a clutch pedal, the F80 could still be quite hairy. It was extremely rowdy on the OE fitment Continentals but once it was switched to the MPS4S, the difference was night and day. I changed all tyres for the new owner who wanted Continental SC7s but I didn't get a chance to wear them in and only drove the car ~40 miles home from the dealer, so I can't comment on how good or otherwise they were on it. They do seem to get good reviews though so I'd expect similar/better grip levels to the Michelins.

[RS Grant]

cerb4.5lee said:

RS Grant said:

Got the V5 document through from the DVLA in record time.. so wasted no time getting my registration on the car when I got home last night, aided by my Ring floodlight camera.

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

That is such a sexy number plate Grant!

Thanks Lee... nice way to mark my 40th year.

I actually watched the plate going through at the DVLA auction a few years ago but wasn't in a position buy at the time. I couldn't believe that it was up for sale again so soon when I saw it in the summertime and I wasn't gonna miss out a second time.

[RS Grant]

Court_S said:

That sounds like a plan since there’s quite a lot of cross over (on paper at least).

I proper sports car would be a good counter point to the RS4’s abilities.

I've got an update to share on the E90 thread shortly and... *cough*I'm tempted to keep it now*cough*.

[RS Grant]

Mannginger said:

Wonderful looking thing, the blue really pops int he pics. Also kudos to whomever hoovered that boot!

Haha, all credit to the detailer at the dealer who I bought the car from... I have neither the skill nor the patience to stripe the carpet in a car.

[RS Grant]

FMOB said:

Colour is fab, had a b6 S4 in that colour.

Wheels, I think they are horrendous. If you aren't skipping them, painting black maybe less offensive. A lot of modern wheels are horrific and that is before you see what is on an EV.

Don't sit on the fence mate, tell me what you really think about the wheels..?!

I must say, when I first saw them, I thought they looked a bit like the wheels you get on the small 'Hot Wheels' toy cars. But in person, I really like them... and they're pretty cool, having been milled from a solid billet.

That being said, I assume given the finish, that a British winter or two will see them start to go a bit milky.. so I'm currently keeping a passive eye out for wheels to run through winter/salty months instead.

[RS Grant]

RS Grant said:

I've been looking at boot mats/liners. I've had good service and longevity from Boot Buddy solid liners before, so I'm tempted to go that way again.

Does the Hatch Bag fit snugly with heavy duty/strong velcro? I've only used cheaper liners with fairly average velcro fastenings before which became a bit of a PITA after a while, when the dog(s) jumped in and pulled the velcro away from the carpet/trim so the liner flopped down... which is the main reason that we switched to the solid Boot Buddy system.

Have decided to pull le trigger on another Boot Buddy liner, with the extra mat and bumper protector.

Downside is the time it takes to get to me, so in the meantime I'm using an Impreza boot liner which I've had lying around for more years than I'd care to admit...

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

Not that Barney cares:

Untitled by Grant F, on Flickr

I knew it would come in handy one day... who says that hoarding doesn't pay off?!

[FMOB]

RS Grant said:

FMOB said:

Colour is fab, had a b6 S4 in that colour.

Wheels, I think they are horrendous. If you aren't skipping them, painting black maybe less offensive. A lot of modern wheels are horrific and that is before you see what is on an EV.

Don't sit on the fence mate, tell me what you really think about the wheels..?!

I must say, when I first saw them, I thought they looked a bit like the wheels you get on the small 'Hot Wheels' toy cars. But in person, I really like them... and they're pretty cool, having been milled from a solid billet.

That being said, I assume given the finish, that a British winter or two will see them start to go a bit milky.. so I'm currently keeping a passive eye out for wheels to run through winter/salty months instead.

If you like them that is all that matters, I prefer simpler and less fussy wheels. The ones you have look like the CAD designer was trying to get every different machining method on the drawing for a school project or winning the office competition for who could use the most tools in the CNC machine on a single part.