Your opinon please

[steveos3]

Hi all,
As a very satisified 51 facelift S3 driver , i'm now thinking of changing it for a B6 54 S4, but i don't want to change it and be disapointed after the S3 has been has been faultless for the last 4 years and great to drive. So my question is to you guys that have an S4, and those that have possibly owned an S3 before, will an S4 be as great to drive as an S3, what do you like about your S4, what should i be looking out for when looking to buy an S4, and are they that thirsty on fuel? The S3 gives me 30ish Mpg.
Hopefully looking at a B6 this weekend, its taken a while to find one that ticks all the boxes.

Your opinons please

Steveos3

 

[s-line stu]

Hi Steve,

I'm not an owner of an S4 but did look on 'what cars' site at the comparison chart. They don't list your S3, only the current model, so I used the old shape 225 TT as the benchmark as I guess it would be similar to the S3.

http://www.whatcar.co.uk/car-comparison.aspx?M=3&U=1&ED=4424&ED2=29727&ED3=0

As you will see it's around 9-10mpg worse than your S3 but I guess the performance is no doubt quite different with the V8 and probably feels faster than the figures suggest in the real world. (Performance comparison is the link on the top right).

I hope this is useful.

Stu

 

[steveos3]

Thank you Stu, info has been useful, i was hoping MPG was going to be a little more!!!
If anyone else can confirm these figures when driving an S4 i would greatful.

 

[quattrojames]

Read this thread on S4 mpg, I don't think you will achieve anywhere near the mpg you get from your S3 with the S4!

LINK 1

And this general S3 vs S4 comparison:

LINK 2

 

[s-line stu]

Steve,

Just a thought but how about a 3.2 FSI Quattro S-Line as a compromise. I know it hasn't got quite the same appeal as an 'S' but you could probably get a newer one like this B7:

http://www.fontain.co.uk/vehicle-de...nsmission=&intMin=&intMax=&RSpage=1&ID=774417

It's not quite as economical as the S3 but it's better than the S4 and the performance is better than the S3 - I expect being the V6 it's got a more instant throttle response than the S3 as well:

http://www.whatcar.co.uk/car-comparison.aspx?M=3&U=1&ED=4424&ED2=29727&ED3=46535

Stu

 

[MattS5]

This has been done to death, as the links above will all confirm, however, its you as an individual that has to make the decison ast the end of the day.

I decided to change from my 02 plate S3 because I wanted 4 doors and more boot space (had 1 small child at the time and the boot was useles on the S3)

I like the S4 because:

- It gave the same sure footed-ness (in all conditions) as the S3 did. Important when you've got young kids in the car
- The interior is a very nice place to be
- handling is reasonable bearing in mind I spend 95% of my time driving it at around 70% of its ability
- I've taken it on track, but it really isn't the best for that sort of activity. When I go to the Ring I always hire track prepped rentals instead, and find it less worrying
- The V8 gives a great soundtrack
- Its pretty understated in terms of looks
- Its effortless to drive if you weant it to be, bags of torque so slap it in 4th an 20 mph and leave it there till you're well over the national imit
- They are pretty rare on the road (I've had mine 18 months and still only seen 2 more in Norwich all that time)
- Insurance is £200 cheaper per year than my modified S3 was (remap and exhaust)
- Servicing is cheaper than the S3

Downside is less MPG, used to average around 27 in the S3, now its around 20 in the S4.

But it ticks all the boxes I need and with my mortage falling in excess of £400 in the past 4 months., I really cant complain about fuel consumption can I ?

 

[steveos3]

Thanks Matt, thats kinda answered all my query's thanks. I also enjoy the drive of the S3 and was hoping the S4 delievers a similar drive, thanks for your alternatives Stu but i have searched for a decent S4 for some time now and kinda got my heart set on one. I like the wolf in sheeps clothing appeal they have.