Ex-Jay Kay Audi RS4 Avant (B5) for sale
Close to new RS5 money, but at least this twin-turbo V6 estate has the right badge on it
Of all the controversies pertaining to the direction some German carmakers have taken with their products of late (BMW’s XM and Merc’s new AMG GT 4-Door Coupe to name a few), Audi calling what should be its new RS4 the RS5 seems relatively trivial. You know what Audi is like, constantly flirting with nomenclature changes, only to hastily reverse them following the inevitable backlash from customers and dealers. Which is exactly what happened when it badged all of its EVs with even numbers and odd for its combustion models, resulting in petrol and diesel A4s being bumped up to A5s. The decision has since been reversed, but it means the RS4 name, for now at least, remains in limbo.
Hard to imagine how Audi would bring it back, either. When BMW controversially started calling the M3 coupes the M4, the former was at least retained for the saloon variants. At least the RS4’s back catalogue is full of hits, most of which are readily available on the classifieds for all kinds of budgets. Surprisingly, the B8 is your cheapest point of entry, with this 2012 car with 74k miles costing just £18,500, while this B7 is only a smidgen more and gets you a six-speed manual with your 4.2-litre V8. The original B5, however, is now firmly in the sights of collectors, with prices spiralling up on low-mile, low-owner examples. And when one of those former owners is Jay Kay, well, you end up with a figure not far off a new RS5.
That’s exactly what we have with the car you see here, which is all yours for £76,900. Naturally, that sort of money should be reserved for the best of the best examples, and this 2001 car does make a solid case for itself. It’s only covered 18,892 miles with service history to back it up, and it’s recently had its underbelly ice blasted so it’s as tidy underneath as it is on top. What’s more, the car was originally gifted to Mr Jamiroquai by Audi UK after it served a brief spell on the firm’s press fleet, so there’s no denying its provenance.
Even when you take Jay Kay out of the equation, the original RS4 still stands out as something special. For instance, the 2.7-litre twin-turbo V6 up front was famously developed and built by Cosworth Technology. The architecture was the same as the 90-degree V6 found in the S4, albeit with an aluminium alloy head, beefier conrods, a larger intake, reworked exhaust system and, of course, a pair of K04 turbos strapped to it. The end result was 380hp and 325lb ft, comfortably more than what the BMW M3 and Mercedes CLK 55 AMG could muster at the time with larger (albeit naturally aspirated) engines.
Of course, with quattro all-wheel drive, it was rapid off the line, hitting 62mph from a standstill in 4.9 seconds, with top speed capped at 155mph. All cars came with a six-speed manual, 360mm front brakes and a sportier suspension setup that, unlike the follow-up RS4, was passively damped. Add to that blistered arches, the Avant silhouette and scarcity, the B5 being the lowest volume production RS4 to date, and it’s little wonder why they’re becoming as popular as they are.
Obviously, you can pick up a B5 for a lot less than this example, with high-milers costing around a third of what this example is up for. Then again, finding one is half the battle, because they’re seldom seen on the classifieds and auctions, and they’re hardly ever in as good condition as this one. The Jay Kay connection surely adds a premium, but at least you know it’s been owned by someone who’s genuinely cared for it. So it’s as box-fresh as they come and still cheaper (if only a little) than a new RS5. Tempting, right?
He chopped in a blob eye WRX wagon (that had been PPP’d).
It came from a time when Audi were a bit more restrained in the looks department of their RS cars, and most of the time it went very much under the radar, especially being an Avus silver car. However, every now and then someone would clock it and get quite excited that it was a proper RS4
It s natural habitat was fast motorways or flowing A-roads, there wasn t too much point trying to hustle it down a back road. But get it up to big numbers on a good open road and it was absolutely rock solid
Decent build quality, but Audi’s shocking parts supply for older cars is a major concern I had
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