Without wishing to sound too bleak about it, there's an unstoppable trend in the automotive industry that ought to concern us all. Downsizing, combined with the rise of the turbocharger and the drawn-out demise of the manual transmission has virtually signalled the end for the venerable combination of atmospheric petrol motor and DIY gears. Granted, the march of technology means we've not really suffered a downfall in quality - but we're all about choice at PH, and beyond the prospect of a new Ford Mustang, what other possibilities now exist?
As a consequence, many fairly ordinary cars have now become rather more appealing, often for what lies under the bonnet. Less than 15 years ago it was possible to buy either a VW Golf or an Alfa 147 with a pair of different 3.2-litre (!) V6s. A Rover 75 had a 4.6-litre V8 for a period. There was a Subaru Legacy with a 3.0-litre flat-six. And, of course, there were a pair of Audi RS4s with different power outputs of 4.2-litre V8 engine.
Now of course the RS4 will hog all the attention when it comes to remembering fast Audis, and rightly so - because it proved they could actually be quite good. This story is not going to contest that - the B7 RS4 is a better car than its S4 contemporary you see here - but then an RS4 isn't £4k now, is it?
Perversely, what held the S4 back dynamically just a few years back - having that honking great V8 so far forward in the chassis - is now a big part of the appeal. Sure, it's a bit nose heavy and lacks the agility of the newer cars with Sport Differentials, but no-one looking at this type of vehicle is after the last word in handling flair. You'd probably just get an M3 if that were the case, and spend a lot more money.
What this S4 offers for half the price of a new supermini is a thunderous V8 (breathing through a Milltek exhaust, too), a six-speed manual gearbox (very rare in these) and the sort of minimalist, eye-pleasing design that Audi has been doing so well for more than 20 years now. In grey with the standard wheels, it's the definition of unassuming when you bear in mind it makes 350hp.
Sure, for just £4k it's not going to be the best S4 in the world - some may shirk at more than 100,000 miles, and bits of it will feel tired. That being said, it's just been serviced, boasts new discs and pads all round and looks straight enough from the pics. Plus, as a relatively early B7 S4, the road tax is cheaper than on the later versions. And, well, it's sort of the only manual V8 S4 saloon currently on PH...
So what we have is a rare, stylish, fast saloon with the kind of driver focused powertrain we're not going to see again in new cars. And it costs £4,000. An S4 is never going to set the world alight, but for a reminder of the halcyon,V8-filled days of, er, 2004, it looks like just the ticket.
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