Potential Audi S4 Order

[ashleyman]

Hi guys,

I've currently got a Golf R which I've had for the past 2 years. Fantastic car and drives exceptionally well but I'm getting a bit bored. I recently saw a B9 Audi S4 which looked and sounded fantastic, so here I am!

I've yet to go and look at an S4 in person but I'm just wondering if anyone else has made the same jump from a Golf R to S4.

The things I really like about the Golf R are its handling capabilities, it's fun to drive round country roads and roundabouts and sticks to the road like glue. I use the ACC all the time and hill hold assist is something I now couldn't live without.

On the Golf R ACC is standard. The cruise control with the radar that can adjust the cars speed to traffic ahead. Is that standard on the S4 or do I need to add an option?

I don't have the upgraded DynAudio on my Golf and do kinda regret not getting it but can't say I'm disappointed with the sound quality. How's the standard sound system in the S4?

I never use in-car nav systems and usually opt to use Waze on my phone so not bothered about the NAV upgrade, although I would like Apple Car Play in the S4.

I don't know what to do about colour, I really liked Daytona Grey but I still regret not getting my R in silver so thinking floret silver might be a nice colour to get. Other things I was thinking of opting for was the V spoke alloys, sunroof, virtual cockpit, privacy glass, hill hold and folding heated mirrors. Plus ACC if I need to add it as an option.

Keyless entry and heated seats are the only 2 other things I'd be tempted for and they're standard!

I'm looking at car brokers and I've had 2 CarWow quotes with about £7k off list which is a good start!

Any advice would be great!

 

[Nham68]

Hi guys,

I've currently got a Golf R which I've had for the past 2 years. Fantastic car and drives exceptionally well but I'm getting a bit bored. I recently saw a B9 Audi S4 which looked and sounded fantastic, so here I am!

I've yet to go and look at an S4 in person but I'm just wondering if anyone else has made the same jump from a Golf R to S4.

The things I really like about the Golf R are its handling capabilities, it's fun to drive round country roads and roundabouts and sticks to the road like glue. I use the ACC all the time and hill hold assist is something I now couldn't live without.

On the Golf R ACC is standard. The cruise control with the radar that can adjust the cars speed to traffic ahead. Is that standard on the S4 or do I need to add an option?

I don't have the upgraded DynAudio on my Golf and do kinda regret not getting it but can't say I'm disappointed with the sound quality. How's the standard sound system in the S4?

I never use in-car nav systems and usually opt to use Waze on my phone so not bothered about the NAV upgrade, although I would like Apple Car Play in the S4.

I don't know what to do about colour, I really liked Daytona Grey but I still regret not getting my R in silver so thinking floret silver might be a nice colour to get. Other things I was thinking of opting for was the V spoke alloys, sunroof, virtual cockpit, privacy glass, hill hold and folding heated mirrors. Plus ACC if I need to add it as an option.

Keyless entry and heated seats are the only 2 other things I'd be tempted for and they're standard!

I'm looking at car brokers and I've had 2 CarWow quotes with about £7k off list which is a good start!

Any advice would be great!

ACC is optional on S4.. its part of drive assist pack I think. It’s brilliant, I use it all the time... the other safety features are nice too, and traffic jam assist is awesome !
The car comes with google maps as standard, and you have it in both main display and virtual cockpit .. it’s awesome. VC is a must have in my view..No way to use Wayz as not supported on Apple car play yet ..
I have als the adaptive suspension .. car is very smooth on our crap roads..

one major diff vs golf, the interior . The S4 and the seats is just such a sublime space to be in.... you don’t need any optional extras here.. I have memory seats but not really necessary...
sunroof is expensive .. I’d say depends on color of interior, I have magma red interior, and no sunroof .. it’s nice and light .

One thing I didn’t get that I regret .. .extended storage. The B9 is a bit light on places to put stuff... no cubby holes,

I’d also go for extended lighting ... it’s cheap, not much more than 100, yet adds so much to car ambience and night time colors..


You’ll love it whatever you get ....

 

[kennyboy993]

Do it. S4 is a different proposition to the golf R.

Not owned a golf r to be fair though a few recent fast golfs.

S4 drivetrain, luxury proposition and refinement quite different - is a great car.


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[bendean]

I'm in pretty much the same situation. Had my Golf R Estate for nearly 2 years but get bored pretty easily. Have an S4 Avant on order hopefully being delivered in November.
I love the Golf, and the truth is in terms of handling and ability it would easily outshine the S4 but I do quite a lot of mileage and wanted a step up in cabin quality, after all in the UK we spend most of our time sat in stationary traffic anyway.

I must be the complete opposite of you, I hate ACC and never use the hill hold assist! But you are correct neither of these are standard options on the S4.

Also not standard which I find annoying are folding mirrors. I don't really understand folding mirrors as they don't seem to make the car much narrower but they are a great indicator of whether you have remembered to lock the car! Needless to save I saved my money and didn't tick this option on the S4.

I don't have SatNav in the Golf but use Android Auto through my phone. I believe this is standard in the S4 but in any case navigation is standard and because of the Audi Connect subscription you get all of the Google Earth stuff anyway I think.

I don't think keyless entry is standard. Keyless starting is but not entry as far as I can remember.

Like you I went through CarWoW and got a 16% discount from Maidstone Audi.

 

[kennyboy993]

Keyless entry not standard.

Smartphone connect standard eg Apple CarPlay


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[Daggerit]

Keyless entry not standard.

Smartphone connect standard eg Apple CarPlay


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Indeed.

And I’ll vote for the Floret Silver, but I’m a bit biased!

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[ashleyman]

Thanks for the replies everyone. @Daggerit I saw your photo on the Photos thread! Looks awesome, especially with the black pack and privacy glass!

I've looked on all of the broker sites I can think of, Drive The Deal, Broadspeed, Orange Wheels & Car Wow, Car Wow are the cheapest by about £1000. My local dealer (Epsom Audi) is actually one of the cheapest so I've requested a call back. We'll see if their customer service has improved as it was awful when comparing the S3 vs Golf R!!

Anyway, I'm not 100% set on any options just yet, I just know that I'd need ACC & privacy glass for me, hill hold and keyless to keep the wife happy and the rest is optional.

Folding/heated mirrors is a funny one, I never had them before the Golf, but I've got used to them now. I have to park my car on the road and we have a hail & ride bus that comes down every half hour so it makes sense as when my car is parked outside the road is quite narrow.

Keyless Go is standard but it looks like you have to add the Comfort & Sound pack to get the full keyless experience.

To get ACC I think I need the Driver Assistance Pack.

Someone mentioned cubby holes, the only thing I'd need to hide is potentially a pedal box, other than that my car is usually empty except for me, my phone and maybe a backpack. Tend to keep my cars quite empty of personal possessions.

Have been looking at the configurator this morning and quite like this. Did a quick 2 minute photoshop to visualise the privacy glass. Quite liking the standard alloys which would save some money to put towards other things.

 

[kennyboy993]

Indeed.

And I’ll vote for the Floret Silver, but I’m a bit biased!

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Good taste sir. Must get my pics up - silver, red leather


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[NeilHD]

I tried Epsom as well. They were good to start with, took us out for a test drive (albeit in a 250bhp Avant, not a 150bhp saloon like I was after), but when it came to the pricing it all went a bit weird. Their valuation for my current car was a bit low, and left £1000 outstanding on the old finance. For some reason, this pushed the monthly on the PCP up by over £100 per month. Seemed like a mistake to me but they weren't interested in double-checking, even when I followed up by email suggesting it was wrong. Their loss.

I ended up at Wimbledon Audi for the same price (also via Carwow). They were just as helpful (I didn't do a test-drive though), offered £500 more for my current car (it was a Hyundai and they had a Hyundai dealer in the group who would take it) and didn't mess up the pricing.

That said, Epsom is better for test driving because you've got some decent roads around there. Wimbledon you won't get about 10mph!

I would mention that the guy I dealt with at Wimbledon who does the CarWow stuff is on Jury service for 2 weeks (starting this week). I know this because pretty much the last thing he did before going off for it was hand over my car on Saturday afternoon! So if they don't respond via CarWow that could be why...

 

[ashleyman]

I tried Epsom as well. They were good to start with, took us out for a test drive (albeit in a 250bhp Avant, not a 150bhp saloon like I was after), but when it came to the pricing it all went a bit weird. Their valuation for my current car was a bit low, and left £1000 outstanding on the old finance. For some reason, this pushed the monthly on the PCP up by over £100 per month. Seemed like a mistake to me but they weren't interested in double-checking, even when I followed up by email suggesting it was wrong. Their loss.

I ended up at Wimbledon Audi for the same price (also via Carwow). They were just as helpful (I didn't do a test-drive though), offered £500 more for my current car (it was a Hyundai and they had a Hyundai dealer in the group who would take it) and didn't mess up the pricing.

That said, Epsom is better for test driving because you've got some decent roads around there. Wimbledon you won't get about 10mph!

I would mention that the guy I dealt with at Wimbledon who does the CarWow stuff is on Jury service for 2 weeks (starting this week). I know this because pretty much the last thing he did before going off for it was hand over my car on Saturday afternoon! So if they don't respond via CarWow that could be why...

Sounds a little like my previous experience. Being told you can't afford it when they haven't even told you how much it would cost is never a good first impression! Oh well, I don't think that salesman works at that dealer anymore...

Epsom Audi emailed me back via Carwow to say there bloke is off today and someone will call me tomorrow. Wimbledon quoted (that bits automated) but haven't responded when I asked for a test drive so that's probably why. As it is, I put a call in to Crawley Audi and I've asked for a test drive with them. They are not a Carwow dealer but it's more rural so the roads should be better and I know the area quite well. I did say to the girl I want to drove the car properly and she was fine with that.

I know for a fact I'm in positive equity on the Golf to the tune of about £1500, so it'll be interesting what they offer for it.

My Golf although tweaked will be hard to beat so I'm excited to drive the S4 and see how it handles compared with the Golf. The interior does look incredible!

I know these cars are quite fresh but has anyone got any information on service plans or costs? I paid for a 2 year service plan on my R which is quite nice to know it's all paid up in advance.

 

[Gary_LB]

I collected my S4 last week and used Carwow and Coast2Coast in order to drive the deal.

The interior quality is fantastic and the performance is impressive (I switched from BMWs) you may find the S4 not quite as dynamic as a smaller car but it is still fun to drive and more than makes up for this in a far more composed ride.

 

[cuke2u]

Light and vision pack I think has the VC, matrix headlamps and the extended interior lighting...

 

[Gary_LB]

Light and vision pack I think has the VC, matrix headlamps and the extended interior lighting...

Yes, it does

 

[ashleyman]

Just thought I'd update this.

I've driven an S4 and I really enjoyed it. It was more mature compared to the Golf R and the interior is a very very nice place to be.

The sense of speed in the S4 is very different to the Golf, it feels much smoother and is a rocket ship! Everything about the Audi interior and tech is better. The only thing is the handling on fast roads, you can tell the S4 is a big car. BUT the ride was better and it felt more composed and comfortable at all speeds which I liked. I'm sure it's in there somewhere, but I could not find consumption data at all. I could see the bar that moves in real time but not the actual figures from the drive. Therefore I couldn't see if it was any better or worse than the R. My Golf seems to average between 24 in town and 27-31 on the motorway at 70.

I had 2 test drives booked, the first dealer offered a stock car with a lot of discount and the following:
S4 Saloon, Navarre Blue, Grey Leather, Virtual Cockpit, Black Styling Pack, Comfort & Sound Pack, Privacy Glass, 19’ 5 V Spoke Alloys, Red Brake Calipers.

That’s going to cost me £3300 down (2.5k from me, £800 from Golf) and that’ll be £463.98 a month for 10k miles.

That’s a lot of money for a car! They could do me a factory order but it worked out more expensive if I waited for that as my PX would go down.

My ideal spec was Florret Silver, Standard wheels, Sunroof, Privacy Glass, Folding Mirrors, Virtual Cockpit, ACC & Hill Hold.

The second dealer I test drove with said that would be £2500 down and £486 for 10k miles without my Golf PX. (He needed time to get a price on the Golf)

Not entirely sure what to do, I’m trying to get the second dealer to price up my Golf so I have a realistic comparison. I get the feeling the stock car is a good deal because they want to move it from PDI lot to make way for new stock. I use the ACC all the time in the Golf so I’m not sure how I’d feel about not having it in the S4.

The S4 is a better car, but it’s quite a big increase per month especially when you factor in the monthly portion of VED, Insurance and all that other stuff.

S4
£430 - PCP
£37.50 - VED
£120 - Insurance
£130 - Basic Fuel Bill
£717.50 - without any extra fuel spend on other journeys.

Golf R
£342 - PCP
£15.40 VED
£120 - Insurance
£130 - Basic Fuel Bill
£607.70- without any extra fuel spend on other journeys.

Insurance on the R is set to drop to £850 a year on next renewal so should be more like £71 a month. From March onwards our per month car cost would be something like £558.40 per month.

The sensible option is stay with the Golf R for another year until it's PCP is up. Although I've got to go to Liverpool on Friday and I know what I'd rather do the journey in!!!!!

 

[NeilHD]

£120 p/m for insurance??!

 

[ashleyman]

£120 p/m for insurance??!

My insurance on the S4 looks like it'll be £1200 a year. So £120 per month. I currently pay £1200 on the Golf R, mostly thanks to being 27 with 3 points and my wife is 25 and only been driving for 2 years!

 

[gregjd]

I'm in a similar boat.. I have a Golf R (5 door DSG) on lease due to go back in March. I've today ordered an S4 Avant again on a lease to be delivered for when the Golf goes back. As it's a lease I've held off the options and just gone for the Light & Vision pack as I definitely wanted the Virtual Cockpit and the extended interior lighting and matrix led's look cool. Other than that it's Brilliant Black with Black Leather. I fancied the Navarra Blue but couldn't justify the cost.. if Nardo Grey or even one of the nice Audi greens had been an option I'd have gone for it.. I'm not too keen on the standard alloys but I don't like the cheaper option either.. the 1,200 upgrade ones are a bit pricey for the same diameter alloys so boggo standard alloys it is Will enjoy my last few months in the Golf which has been a great car but looking forward to my first Audi!