I finally found some time in my busy schedule to test drive the new RS4 this afternoon as my local Audi dealer has their demonstrator available for sale. Popped in on the off chance and they were very accommodating and happy to let me have a run in the car for a good few miles. Excellent service from Audi and a good customer experience.
The car was pretty much identical to this one, though I believe this one has the 20" wheels on and the one I drove was running the standard 19's, which to me were more than enough and looked really good on the car. The car was the same colour as this one too. The car was loaded up with the various Adaptive suspension and Steering options as well as a few other bits and bobs. I am considering another car so wanted to check out the new version of the RS4.
First impressions were interesting and again seem to support some of the findings I have read from the test reports on the car.
1) I don't like the auto box (DSG thingy) as on more than one occasion it kept me waiting as it decided what gear I really wanted. Now I think much of this was down to me not really setting it up correctly and perhaps being in the wrong mode, but for comparison I actually prefer the auto sports box on my 5 series and that is an old fashioned auto not a dual clutch affair. The issue was also that the box is so slick when it changes and so quiet that sometimes it isnt easy to feel the change so you lose visibility of what gear you are in as the car doesn't really seem to transmit that to the seat of your pants, unless you drop 3 cogs or more.
2) It seemed to have 4 suspension settings from soft to dynamic (read rock your nutts off) and none of them were as compliant as my B7 RS4. Put simply the car doesn't deal with bumpy roads as well as the B7 and in dynamic mode is simply too stiff and I suspect therefore slower cross country. The real clever bit of the B7 RS4 was when you took it down a country lane, pot holed in wet conditions at 'some' speed and how well it tracked straight and put the power down. In the short time I drove the B8 I never felt it was as good as the B7 and I think the Adaptive stuff was the main reason. Not impressed but once again think more time in the car and more fiddling might help.
3) Engine is still a work of art and pulls hard and strong up to I think 8200rpm but really 5K - 7K is all you need. It reminded me that I miss power more than I thought it would and the ability to cover ground is incredible, but then that is what the RS4 excels at. Overtaking ability, if you sort the box out is epic and it sounds fantastic. The sport exhaust doesn't work on a button (from what I could tell) but the baffles open when you select sport mode via the gearbox. It does a nice heel toe thingy when you change down and has the now common Audi blop noise for the pipes when you change gear.
4) I found the dashboard too complicated but then that's purely down to being unfamiliar and constantly found myself asking where things were and where I needed to look to see what the computers were doing to gears, suspension, sports exhaust and my microwave curry.
5) Quality again has gone down and I don't think Audi have this bit to themselves anymore, not least having sat in the 640D coupe thingy today which is frankly awesome. There is a plastic flap with holes for various Sim cards (you can turn it into a wireless hotspot, I **** you not) and that felt very cheap and tacky.
6) Steering was OK but not on Porsche levels and feels very false.
I am fairly confident this car is not as special as the B7 RS4 was when it arrived. It is a technical tour de force with millions of options you can spec but I think in that Audi has forgot what made the B7 so clever and accomplished. I can't really tell how fast it is compared to the B7 but I suspect there is little if anything in it. It felt quick but I stepped out of a lard burning buss of a BMW so it would.
It got lots of attention including a Golf that was keen to stay with me cross country and took to tailgating me. Think road runner and wile e coyote just as he thinks he's caught the road runner, when said bird looks around, beeps and vanishes at 3000 times the speed. Need to digest the experience really as it was a lot to take in as I only had time for a 30 minute drive. It still has amazing traction and you can sink the throttle at any point, say on an island and it will simply deal with it, that bit is still brilliant and the quattro bit works really well.
I think it looks magnificent and goes well but to me it's like most modern cars. Tech and tuned noise over feel and experience. Not special enough, but by modern standards still brilliant if that's your thing.
The car was pretty much identical to this one, though I believe this one has the 20" wheels on and the one I drove was running the standard 19's, which to me were more than enough and looked really good on the car. The car was the same colour as this one too. The car was loaded up with the various Adaptive suspension and Steering options as well as a few other bits and bobs. I am considering another car so wanted to check out the new version of the RS4.
First impressions were interesting and again seem to support some of the findings I have read from the test reports on the car.
1) I don't like the auto box (DSG thingy) as on more than one occasion it kept me waiting as it decided what gear I really wanted. Now I think much of this was down to me not really setting it up correctly and perhaps being in the wrong mode, but for comparison I actually prefer the auto sports box on my 5 series and that is an old fashioned auto not a dual clutch affair. The issue was also that the box is so slick when it changes and so quiet that sometimes it isnt easy to feel the change so you lose visibility of what gear you are in as the car doesn't really seem to transmit that to the seat of your pants, unless you drop 3 cogs or more.
2) It seemed to have 4 suspension settings from soft to dynamic (read rock your nutts off) and none of them were as compliant as my B7 RS4. Put simply the car doesn't deal with bumpy roads as well as the B7 and in dynamic mode is simply too stiff and I suspect therefore slower cross country. The real clever bit of the B7 RS4 was when you took it down a country lane, pot holed in wet conditions at 'some' speed and how well it tracked straight and put the power down. In the short time I drove the B8 I never felt it was as good as the B7 and I think the Adaptive stuff was the main reason. Not impressed but once again think more time in the car and more fiddling might help.
3) Engine is still a work of art and pulls hard and strong up to I think 8200rpm but really 5K - 7K is all you need. It reminded me that I miss power more than I thought it would and the ability to cover ground is incredible, but then that is what the RS4 excels at. Overtaking ability, if you sort the box out is epic and it sounds fantastic. The sport exhaust doesn't work on a button (from what I could tell) but the baffles open when you select sport mode via the gearbox. It does a nice heel toe thingy when you change down and has the now common Audi blop noise for the pipes when you change gear.
4) I found the dashboard too complicated but then that's purely down to being unfamiliar and constantly found myself asking where things were and where I needed to look to see what the computers were doing to gears, suspension, sports exhaust and my microwave curry.
5) Quality again has gone down and I don't think Audi have this bit to themselves anymore, not least having sat in the 640D coupe thingy today which is frankly awesome. There is a plastic flap with holes for various Sim cards (you can turn it into a wireless hotspot, I **** you not) and that felt very cheap and tacky.
6) Steering was OK but not on Porsche levels and feels very false.
I am fairly confident this car is not as special as the B7 RS4 was when it arrived. It is a technical tour de force with millions of options you can spec but I think in that Audi has forgot what made the B7 so clever and accomplished. I can't really tell how fast it is compared to the B7 but I suspect there is little if anything in it. It felt quick but I stepped out of a lard burning buss of a BMW so it would.
It got lots of attention including a Golf that was keen to stay with me cross country and took to tailgating me. Think road runner and wile e coyote just as he thinks he's caught the road runner, when said bird looks around, beeps and vanishes at 3000 times the speed. Need to digest the experience really as it was a lot to take in as I only had time for a 30 minute drive. It still has amazing traction and you can sink the throttle at any point, say on an island and it will simply deal with it, that bit is still brilliant and the quattro bit works really well.
I think it looks magnificent and goes well but to me it's like most modern cars. Tech and tuned noise over feel and experience. Not special enough, but by modern standards still brilliant if that's your thing.
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