Reviews
Gallery 1
Audi’s launch of the all-new B9 version of its A4 last year, was, visually speaking, a bit of a let-down.
In fact, the new car looked so much like the old car, plenty of punters had trouble telling the difference. But it seems subtlety is the new buzz-word over at Audi, because the just-released S4 version of the B9 is equally understated. Here is a car that is much, much more about ruthless efficiency than headline grabbing looks. It’s not unattractive, but it is more wallflower than party animal.
Until you sink the clog, that is, because it’s then that you realise this is one of the all-time great stealth bombers. And that, in 2017 when being caught speeding can easily get you into more trouble than selling drugs, counts for a fair bit. The wagon version is even stealthier (and my personal pick).
The `hot-side-in’ architecture requires some serious heat management but it does give the exhaust gasses a better shot at the turbine’s blades and allows for quicker cat light-off.
Clever bits include an on-demand cooling system for faster warm-up times and an overall reduction of 14kg versus the old engine. The important numbers are 260kW and 500Nm, spookily similar to the new BMW B58 three-litre mill.
Audi has chased weight hard, and settled on lighter, aluminium brake calipers, magnesium in the seats and various high-tech steel components to pull a full 75 kg out of the deal (although the sedan is still 1630kg). And that’s despite the new car being bigger in every direction. The driver assistance stuff is utterly comprehensive and while crashing an S4 won’t be impossible, you will need to be committed.
Less intuitive is the sat-nav system which uses a mouse-wheel rather than a touch-screen which seems a bit clunky in 2017. On top of that, the nav screen offers up the next three directions, but you need to read them from bottom to top to get them in the right order. Very strange.
The adaptive damper are worth their weight in gold, however, and take the car from composed-but-comfy to rather-sporty-really in the flick of a slightly awkwardly placed switch (it’s in the right place for left-hand-drive). The new engine kicks butt, too, but in a fairly retrained way (if that makes any sense).
If that sounds a bit weird for a car that costs a hundred bucks short of six figures ($102,900 for the Avant wagon) consider that Audi had to leave itself somewhere to go with the RS4 when it arrives. Also, there’s also a school of thought that says a no fuss exterior and nincompoop-proof driveline and handling is where all cars should be.
SPECS Engine: 2995cc V6, DOHC, 24v, turbo Power: 260kW @ 5400-6400rpm Torque: 500Nm @ 1370-4500rpm Weight: 1630kg/ 0-100km/h 4.9sec (claim) Price: $99,900 ($102,900 Avant)
