Hi there
OK I re-visited the RS4 again today and had a much better test drive even though it was pooring with rain.
I took out a sprint blue RS4 saloon, so on the looks side of things this is a car I would buy because it looks good and again the interior was just sheer quality.
Upon starting the car, I made sure to hit the S button straight away. Anyway lets get straight to the driving experience. I put more focus into the steering this time to see if I was maybe been a tad harsh in my previous judgement and I would say I was maybe a little harsh. The steering does have some feel and it is reasonably precise and kinda quick. Its still lacking in feel and precision of the Mustang but its not quite as bad as I originally thought.
So this time I had a good 45 minutes in the car driving the routes I wanted to drive and goto. It was pooring it down but the car never had a single issue putting any of the power down right upto the 8000rpm redline.
2nd gear in this car is just amazing, floor it from 3000rpm and 8000rpm comes up in a matter of seconds, up into third and a second or two later your at warp speed. The speedo gives me the impression the car is quicker than it is, which I am a little confused about because on a rolling start the old M5 is just as quick but the RS4 to drive seems quicker, anyway guess that leaves the question is the RS4 tunable to get a little bit more without having to spend thousands?
This time handling wise this car behaved much better it felt sure footed all the time on the road and it was great to be able to corner at pretty high speeds in the what were very wet conditions. Also the V8 did sound fantastic.
So now I do think better of the RS4, its a real pleasure to drive because on one hand its a very capable road warrior and on the other hand it can commute you too and from work in great comfort, but just at warp speed.
I would like more steering feel and slightly quicker steering along with a bit more communication from the car as to when your about to run out of grip and get slingshot off the road.
Then it was my go in the S5, another sprint blue. Now this car I love the looks and the interior, well its the sexiest interior yet, even more so over the BMW Z4M Coupe so already I was liking it more than the RS4 based on its looks and interior.
To drive the car has really light steering at low speeds, far too light in fact but it does weighten up with speed and its about the same speed as the RS4's along with similar level of feel, maybe a tad less. However this car did feel more nimble, a little more chuckable which is odd because I don't think it weighs much less than the RS4 but it certainly did feel a little lighter on its feet.
Now unlike the RS4 2nd gear in the S5 is not shall we say as fun, however it would appear 3rd gear is the S5 trumps card because it pulls just as hard as 2nd more or less but you get a much wider range. The car is also no slouch, its certainly has less grunt low down but past 4000rpm it pulls well and does not seem hugely slower than the RS4 at speeds sub 100mph. Inside the car the V8 engine does not sound that great, not very V8 at all, infact more V6. However from the outside the sound that comes from the four rear tailpipes is rather amazing and does indeed sound very V8 and muscular.
So to sum this up I basically want an RS5. If Audi in 12-18months do release an RS5 with circa 450 horses with slightly better suspension and improved steering I think I shall definetely consider buying one.
Now would I buy an RS4, well after todays drive not 100% sure because the Audi is none stop screaming quality from every crevice. I would like a little more grunt and some extra steering feel but apart from that its a damn good car. I do preferre Coupe style cars and where possible something more rarer but I think its fair to say the RS4 does stand out from your traditional A4 especially in RS only colours.
The RS4 is extremely good of the mark, no need for any revs just floor it from idle in 1st and it just goes, real quick and very smooth. In comparison the EVO is very slow if you try similar because instead you obviously need to drop the clutch at high revs which is something I don't like doing.
Now as I was rather impressed with my Audi test drives I went straight to the Mitsubishi dealer and got a test drive in the older EVO 8 GSR, this one however had an ecutek in place and was running at 358BHP and had 20,000 on the clock so I could basically thrash it.
Now we know the EVO is no match for the Audi when it comes to build quality and interior etc. etc. so lets not go there. The ride quality is firm and not as good as the Audi's.
When it comes to power this car did have some lag below 3000rpm, in fact it was quite annoying because the Audi's been V8's don't have this. Obviously the EVO 9 I drove was much better below 3000rpm which is no doubt due to the introduction of Mivec on the EVO 9 range, so if I did buy an EVO it would have to be a 9 because to be frank the lag on the others is a pain in the ass.
Now the steering on the EVO is fantastic, its as quick as the Mustang and gives just as much feedback. Performance wise, off the mark this car seemed a little slow, again due to lag but when boost came online it was a case of hold on very tight, crazy damn car. On a roll from say 60mph-110mph I'd say this was just as quick as the RS4 which I was quite surprised by because it was indeed rather quick. So the EVO is certainly more of a drivers car and fun to drive quick in all weather.
Then I set off in the Mustang, many big tail slides and lots of sideway roundabout stuff, thats the beuty of RWD it can be fun at all speeds.
Still I am left pining for an RS5, considering the quality of the RS4 and the fact if the dealer does me a good price I should not loose anything on depreciation due to RS4 production has now stopped so in theory a safe car to buy. Then I think that if I enjoyed an EVO 8 and a EVO 9 which I drove gently does that mean I'd find an EVO 9 GT with 400 horses an absolute hoot to drive.
I never thought that buying another car would be so damn difficult. Because then there is the other contenders such as the Z06, Porsches and even the M3 CSL. Its a hard life trying all this different machinery out
but definetely confusing as which one to buy.
