New Audi S4 – One month and 1000km
Background:
I’m a 66 year old former military (Navy) pilot and now semi-retired aerospace research scientist living in Canberra, Australia. Formative years both driving and in aviation were spent in the UK, not committing to emigrate until 1979, I have always enjoyed performance motoring a – first car was a beautiful MGB MkII – performance then = 70kW = a possible 100mph on a good day and a long flat road!
Now in the land of Oz I continue to enthuse about matters motoring though I despair
at the continued erosion of driving behaviours and standards. The latest epidemic of mobile phone users evidenced by wandering all over lanes combined with the apparent need to swing out across the centre of the road prior to turning left just astounds me. Be compliant and caring about your )road) sharing or stay at home!
Through the years in Canberra we have been through the usual phases of no kids = 2 seat/2 door motoring and then family = sensible family haulers comprising Commodores various, a mental XR6 Turbo (significantly modified by Nizpro in Melbourne) to the more recent times with the family shrinking back to just the two of us which gave rise to the last fifteen years of VAGdom .
There’s no clear reason why I was never a great fan of the Benz family: earlier marques tended towards a tank-like design and the recent Benz renaissance has taken them down a completely different and more (too?) youthful path (red seat belts ….really?). BMW have never similarly been ‘rated’ beyond their performance benchmark machines of M5 and M3; I have always viewed BMW lovers as either active or latent hairdressers. So the ‘let’s go German’ automotive desires led us down the VAG path – first VW and then Audi…… a sensible Golf 2.0 TDI (Oettinger tuned), a Golf GTi, an APR stage 3 modified GTi, an APR Stage 1 2.0 TFSI R Line Tiguan (my wife’s beloved family truck) and a brief foray with a Wolfsburg edition R Wagon (ugh!) thence to Audi. Starting in 2013 I owned a SQ5 Tdi (DTUK box modified) followed by an RSQ3 Performance (APR Stage 1) and most recently a lovely Audi S4 with all the ‘stuff’.
So to the S4:
With retirement in-hand it was perhaps time to look for something more age-appropriate than the RSQ3 Performance. Having been in hot hatches and more recently small to medium German SUVs I had forgotten how wonderfully competent European sports sedans can be…the S4 has not disappointed. So after some exploratory trips to the Canberra dealership, a trade-in was discussed and provided by the professional folk at the Canberra Audi Centre – the deal offered was sensational and left little reason to ponder any longer.
It is a Navara Blue S4 with all the fruit; the only exceptions being the sports diff (no real need) and sports seats (****** uncomfortable and no adjustable headrest). The black external highlights, good dark tint, internal carbon inlays and delightful 19” Audi Sport wheels completed the ‘look’ I was after. I have now completed one month of ownership comprising one thousand kilometres, so still not run-in. However, it’s enough time to share an appraisal.
It’s a deceptively long car – longer than the SQ5 and is much, much lower than our past diet of hatches and SUVs. Together with some weight loss and vastly improved weight distribution and almost state of the art suspension components and design has made for, IMHO, terrific handling. It really does sit on the road in an immensely stable manner. Does it aesthetically appear like a slippery rocket – not really. Is it a slippery rocket? – absolutely.
I did make a couple of immediate changes – the Hankooks came off and were replaced by Micheline PS4S – I still wonder if I was being a bit precious over those tyres as the Hankooks rarely have a poor review. I also had the paintwork ceramic coated with the Williams preparation - I am a bit disappointed this time round having had a darn good experience with the RSQ3. Don’t know why but this one seems very easy to leave swirl scratches on and I’m not sure if it is due to the supplier, the materials used this time……… anyway I will leave it as is as the supplier has been completely unhelpful thus far and maybe I’ll get a (more expensive) Opticoat treatment in 5 years time - if it needs it. The final mod is hanging which is the DTUK attitude enhancement device – I have always had good, safe results with these and it is still on the list of things to be considered.
Even as an experienced pilot I have found the virtual cockpit and amazing array of more than 30 safety systems quite time consuming to learn and understand. However, it is a great set up and combined with other good tech e.g. the matrix lighting system, head up display (note to self – need to get some non-polarised sunnies), active lane & traffic assist, Apple CarPlay, the MMI with dedicated data SIM, B&O sound, internal lighting smarts = a very smart, comfortable and capable car. It is good to see these technical developments, albeit aimed at achieving driverless cars decades in the future, being made available to drivers now. It is important, however, to ensure you have the best possible understanding of how and why they operate before employing them in anger; you can have some age advancing moments if heading out unprepared!
The engine is a gem, once off idle, where its broad v design can be a bit lumpy at below 700RPM, it is a veritable unstressed turbine – revving quite freely as a new engine, one feels there is considerable potential for further development. There is certainly lots of heat under that bonnet in an Australian summer, so I am conscious of taking opportunities to let the natural breeze drift through the components after a punt. I thought that I may miss the tough 7 speed DSG from the RSQ3 – truth is I do not miss it for a moment and enjoy the peace of mind that the torque will always be competently handled by the ZF 8 speed. There are plenty of opinions around regarding the ZF box in this Audi – many less than exemplary. To me it is a smart, competent box and once aware of its foibles it is a gem to drive with – e.g. instead of changing down before entering a roundabout (as one would with a manual box), simply knock it into Sport and it will easily cater for all upcoming eventualities = learn, think, adapt and anticipate…… don’t blame the design after all, you chose it!
So there you have it – it’s a delightful limousine one minute and slippery sports car the next and feels at least as quick as the RSQ3 Performance so I believe the published figures are quite conservative – or as I prefer to say – most adequate! Happy motoring forum folk.
Dingah
