S4 solo test Drive - my thoughts

[Geordie Amanda]

I had a solo test drive of a S4 today, courtesy of the very nice people at Warrington Audi. I am actually in the market for either an A4 3.0tdi or a BMW 330D and wanted to test a car with Drive Select and a Sports Diff, my reasoning being the Audi doest handle quite as sweetly as the BMW but these clever systems close the gap considerably. Obviously traction in slippy weather is way better in the Audi. Anyhoo, I thought I’d share my thoughts on the car as a current BMW owner and therefore a non Audi owner (although I have owned cars from the other 3 mainstream VAG manufacturers).

The car looked quite menacing in it’s very dark grey livery, possibly a bit more a ‘man’s colour’ if you’ll excuse the slightly sexist remark. Climbing in and giving her the Thunk test on the door, I was pleasantly surprised and quickly found a comfortable driving position, the Sports seats being a very nice place to spend time. A slight drawback of Audi seats I have found is the side bolsters on the back rest are a bit too broad for me and although the S4’s seats are slightly more gripping, they are slight a little too wide across the back for me, causing me to jiggle about a tiny bit when hooning about (is hooning a real word?). In contrast, BMW Sport seats are quite snug and fit me a lot better, but that apart the Audi seats are very comfortable and the steering wheel adjust very nicely for my driving position. The famed offset pedals for some reason did not bother me at all, perhaps I am slight deformed? Anyway I found the controls very easy to figure out as they are pretty familiar to anyone who has owned a VAG car in the last 10 years and although the whole thing is a bit ‘busy’ to look at, I found all the relevant buttons and controls pretty much first time. Most of the controls felt very nice to the touch, although the rotary controls in general felt a bit lightweight and cheap. In contrast the steering wheel felt great and the gear change was very positive and had a nice high up position, close to the steering wheel for quick movement of your hand back and forth. The last car I drove that felt quite as good in this respect, was my old X 1/9. So I am in, comfy, adjusted and set, just one thing to do……………….press the fob thingie.

Very nice vruuuum on start up (and cool duel sweep of the speedo and rev counter needles), it’s muted, but slightly chesty, a complicated sound that I reckoned wasn’t going to be too much of a chore to drive. Into first, the gentle clutch took up the strain and I was off. I was genuinely impressed how smooth the whole thing felt, this was most likely because I was in the ‘comfy’ mode on the Drive Select and even though the car was on 19” wheels it felt pretty relaxing, certainly not as rock hard as many BMWs. The steering is spectacularly light when manoeuvring though and doesn’t really weight up till you are going at a decent speed, great for town, but a bit odd for the motorway I was now on. Also, although the horizontal ridges of the road surface caused the ‘marching-band bass drum’ sound, not too much of the usual shudder came into the car, but it did feel quite ‘floaty’. Time for Auto I reckoned. Sure enough the ride firmed up and the floaty sensation felt less, plus the steering felt a lot more positive and weighty. I couldn’t swear to it, but I wondered if the throttle was a tad more urgent. Well that seemed a great setting I thought, but of course there is the one that begs to be pressed on a S4, time to engage Dynamic mode Yup, the suspension firms up all right, the expansion joints make a bigger thump and you feel them a little more, nothing too bad, but it showed the system was doing something. The steering becomes very direct indeed and feels very weighty, much more so than my BMW, but the thing I wasn’t expecting was the throttle response was a lot more instantaneous. I have driven supercharged cars before and love the instant ‘power on’ feeling. In Comfort mode the throttle felt a little bit more like a good turbo diesel with it’s gentler initial acceleration, but with the Dynamic mode activated, when you jump on the throttle, the engine bites immediately…….great! It is really noticeable and I am led to believe that if you have the DSG gearbox, the gear changes also follow this general pattern. It was also nice to hear the supercharger whine at last and to be honest, I would have liked a little more as having driven silly things like Ford’s F150 Lightning, I love the noise (I should add I had worked at Bauer Millets in Manchester previously, a place where they sell such insanely daft vehicles).

At long last I found a bit of clear twisty road and thought it would be rude not to try a little spirited driving. Bearing in mind the car was very new and only had around 600 miles on the clock I wasn’t going to thrash it, but to be honest with the supercharged engine, you don’t have to. In dynamic mode the car corners very flatly and has great initial turn in, once you enter the corner the car is very stable and for the first time I think I felt the clever diff doing it’s thing. It was a medium quick bend that I thought would cause the car to understeer, especially as the roads had just received a bit of a soaking, but as the car turned in it stayed on line and if anything felt like it was trying to hug the inside of my chosen path. Perhaps it is the Diff, perhaps it is the dynamic steering (possibly a bit of both) but in any event it is hugely confidence inspiring, especially in a largish and reasonably heavy car. It certainly didn’t feel like a nose heavy 4x4 and it resisted understeer extremely well indeed. My old original model 4x4 Scooby Impreza (back in the mid 90s), understeered like a small cottage on a land slip by comparison. The brakes are nicely weighted and seem a bit firmer on the S4 than I remember the standard A4s were, much more like the ones on my BMW in fact and certainly go about the ‘stopping thing’ with a minimum of fuss. A small fly in the ointment is the torque steer, while pressing on over a bumpy B road, you have to keep a firm hold of the wheel and it is a little bit of hard work I you are in Dynamic mode and have arms like mine (they are made from blanched spaghetti I think). Oh and the fuel economy…………….. “if you have to ask what mpg it does, you can’t afford it” is about on the mark I believe. I managed highish 20s on the motorway and a lot less the rest of the time.

So to sum up my thoughts.

Love that engine, perhaps a little bit too civilised, but grunty, smooth and has more instantaneous urge than chavs going to collect their GIros.

All the major controls feel like they are connected to something metal and substantial, unlike many Japanese cars imho.

The ride quality is fine and the handling is very grippy and flat. I don’t want to draw the infamous ‘a BMW is better’ argument out of anyone, but I think I should say I still believe the BMW feels a better handling car, not by too much though. As for traction and grip through the corner, the S4 is magnificent and cross county you would need a very fast RWD car to keep up……………and that’s just in the dry. So on the whole I guess the ride/handling balance competition between the BMW and the Audi is a Draw overall.

Interior fit and finish is very nice overall, there are a few areas of harder plastics and I don’t like the Aluminium bits of trim as they feel plastic, but many things feel very solid and weighty.

I should also say I like the boot and the drop down ‘curry hooks’ are great for picking up your Friday night supper without spilling Chicken Tikka Bhuna all over your RAC Road map.

The only problem is I have now done some figures with my dealer on an S-Line 3.0Tdi (obviously now with the Drive Select and Sports Diff) and we are £2,000 apart in figures. I can’t see me finding this especially as the cheap finance deal might end next week. I am guessing the dealer can find another £1,000 but that means he will be discounting £3K so far and I would need him to discount a total of £4K for me to get the car I want. Mainly this is because Audi have set the GFV of their PCPs very low indeed (I also do about 20K a year). Any dealers in the North West reading this, give me a shout and I’m yours I can recommend Warrington Audi for not only trusting me to go solo in their new S4, but also for their help and friendliness so far and anyone wanting an Audi from around those shores could do a lot worse than to go and see them (especially Mark who is dealing with me). It was also nice to be taken seriously, as often Salesmen seem to thing that if you are female, you don't a gudgeon pin from a vanity mirror (can you tell I used to sell cars )

[Geordie Amanda]

Sorry if the post was a bit long, I got carried away

[ScottyUK]

Excellent review with no need to apologise at all

Many of the comments fit my S-line with Dynamic suspension....and yes the throttle response does change between comfort and dynamic. I have a manual but in the auto the shift points etc also change.

Since you're a high mileage driver the 3.0TDi obviously makes a lot more sense despite the S4 "only" being about £800 more (less once the inclusive Light Pack cost etc are deducted).

I wonder how long before Audi actually made a diesel S model. I guess they'll have to win Le Mans again before that happens.

I'm surprised you're struggling on the price. Have you been around the online car brokers. They'll find the best price and then of course you take that to your local dealer and they'd be stupid to say no. If they do then you buy from elsewhere then of course use your local dealer for servicing and warranty issues just the same as if you'd bought from there.

I have a contact at a dealer who puts through a lot of the broker orders and he'd obviously happy to do it without the broker being involved. He's way down south but if you don't have much luck then maybe he can help.....but try the online guys first for pricing.

Good luck. I hope you manage to escape from the dark side and into an Audi.

[RickT]

Great Review!!

Placing the order today ??

[troc]

Nicely reviewed

I should have written some form of review but I'm too busy having fun with mine!

[Geordie Amanda]

I'm surprised you're struggling on the price. Have you been around the online car brokers. They'll find the best price and then of course you take that to your local dealer and they'd be stupid to say no. If they do then you buy from elsewhere then of course use your local dealer for servicing and warranty issues just the same as if you'd bought from there.

I have a contact at a dealer who puts through a lot of the broker orders and he'd obviously happy to do it without the broker being involved. He's way down south but if you don't have much luck then maybe he can help.....but try the online guys first for pricing.

Good luck. I hope you manage to escape from the dark side and into an Audi.

Funnily enough having sold cars for a living (well I managed to last 2 years ) I haggle hard using a little bit of inside information and normally get approximately the Drivethedeal price for my cars. This time, Audi dealers are playing extreme hardball. I think It might be because the cheap finance offer runs out next week so we are all playing a game of ‘see who blinks first’. Normally I win, but perhaps not this time Next week I will try a take it or leave it approach wth the local dealers and see if they want a little bit of business. I do like to buy locally and develop a rapport with a dealer as I no doubt will be going back for a little bit of initial warranty tweaking. I do always service my car at the dealer I bought it from to show a little it of loyalty, but it’s impossible to use that as a bargaining tool any more as dealers don’t take you at you word these days (quite understandably imho).

[Geordie Amanda]

Great Review!!

Placing the order today ??

If you can lend me a few grand then I will ring them this afternoon

[Geordie Amanda]

Actually, does anyone know of a Manchester/North West based dealer that might do me a large discount on a 3.0tdi S-Line A4?

[porty]

A good comprehensive review. I too came to Audi from the 'dark side' of BMW and I can say that my Audi is a lot better than the BMW 335i saloon that I used to own.

[Jason.S]

A little off topic but i have just done a deal on a used S4 (albeit a 55 plate) and the dealer would not budge on price!

He did however, throw in 12mnths RFL, 3 years gap, tyre and "supermarket dent/scratch" insurance and a full tank of fuel.

Oh and a cuddly Audi teddy bear