Just picked up a US RS4.

[firewired]

Not to antagonize anyone, just want to share my RS4 experience (as short as it is.) I am a long time BMW driver with assorted models in my past to include two recent E46 M3s as well as some P cars. BMW will definitely be looking at what Audi did right and wrong with the RS4 and how figure how to surpass it when they finally release the E90 M3.

RS4 were released in the U.S. in the last couple of days, and I had the good fortune to be able to buy a grey on black one today. I just wanted to post to say if your local Audi dealer gets on that they will let you test drive you should really do it, even for the hell of it.

Firstly, I honestly liked the car more than I thought I would when I went down to check it out. I was really reluctant about the RS4 due to it's weight, relatively low torque (my 545 is 100 lbs. less and has 15 more lb/ft of torque), and my lack of experience with Audis.


Things I liked about it: I found the cockpit was extremely driver centered, reminding me of the BMWs of the past rather than the current direction BMW seems to be taking in my 545, and the E90. Fit and finish of the materials is outstanding. Performance wise Audi recommends to not surpass 6000 rpm for 600 miles during break in, but even with that I was amazed at the feeling of torque from high gears, and at very low rpms, especially for such a relatively heavy car. I was shocked several times to look down and find myself going well over 100 m.p.h. without even trying to.

The gear box, is silky smooth. The steering is extremely well balanced, it gives you no sense that the engine is way out in front. Clutch was effortless. The brakes are huge 8 piston anti-lock brakes with ventilated drilled rotors from the lamorghini. I obviously haven't tried them on the track, but on the 200 mile drive back from the dealer, the car felt like it read my mind and stopped prior to even applying pressure on the brakes. The way that everything was so well balanced reminds me of the whole package experience I have gotten from my 911s.

Best thing about the RS4: Even without going all the way to 8200 rpm yet is the exhaust note which is something that any autophile will find addicting. There is absolutely no need for a stereo in the RS4, the engine supplies the only soundtrack that you could want.

Biggest surprise: Driving the 200 miles from the dealer I got 24 m.p.g. Love to hear what you all think when you drive one.

[kujo]

Glad you like her.
I was #1 at 2 dealers in So Cal. Had been for over a year.
Just dropped off when ordering begun as I was just done with my experience with Audi.
I had 2 new B6 S4 in one year. Long story......
Just didn't feel Audi deserved my 74K.

It's being saved for a e90 M3 with Euro Delivery, so I can come home and say my M's been flogged around 'Green Hell'.......

Have fun with her..... I was supposed to go over and drive her in Barcelona last year, but my wife's health(miscarriage) cancelled those plans just weeks before....

Enjoy and post pix !!!!

[noflash]

Originally Posted by kujo

It's being saved for a e90 M3 with Euro Delivery, so I can come home and say my M's been flogged around 'Green Hell'.......

Pretty sure they don't do 'M' EDs.

[kujo]

Are you joking ?

Of all the cars they make, they don't offer Euro Delivery on M models ?

WTF ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????

kj

[mrbelk]

Originally Posted by kujo

Are you joking ?

Of all the cars they make, they don't offer Euro Delivery on M models ?

WTF ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????

kj

You can do ED on any car made in Europe, including M cars. Now, the process is a little different, in that there's no ED discount and the car comes out of the dealer's regular allocation, but you can do it.

-MrB

[noflash]

Originally Posted by mrbelk

You can do ED on any car made in Europe, including M cars. Now, the process is a little different, in that there's no ED discount and the car comes out of the dealer's regular allocation, but you can do it.

-MrB

Well it's not advertized on the ED webpages.

[mrbelk]

Originally Posted by noflash

Well it's not advertized on the ED webpages.

Any dealer who is wise in the ways of Euro Delivery will know that you can do ED on an "M." I suspect that it's not advertised on the website because there's no discount and the dealer has to sacrifice one of "his" cars to do it. Normal ED cars come out of a totally separate allocation.

-MrB

[MI6]

Cheers to you mate and the RS4.:rocks:

Just remember to shift quickly when I come to San Antonio to visit you next year in a new M3 sedan with a badboy V8..............

[ase2dais]

thks for your analysis, Can you tell us how much they are goin for ?

EDIT: Forget it! just called local dealer its at $75k ouch!

Originally Posted by firewired

Not to antagonize anyone, just want to share my RS4 experience (as short as it is.) I am a long time BMW driver with assorted models in my past to include two recent E46 M3s as well as some P cars. BMW will definitely be looking at what Audi did right and wrong with the RS4 and how figure how to surpass it when they finally release the E90 M3.

RS4 were released in the U.S. in the last couple of days, and I had the good fortune to be able to buy a grey on black one today. I just wanted to post to say if your local Audi dealer gets on that they will let you test drive you should really do it, even for the hell of it.

Firstly, I honestly liked the car more than I thought I would when I went down to check it out. I was really reluctant about the RS4 due to it's weight, relatively low torque (my 545 is 100 lbs. less and has 15 more lb/ft of torque), and my lack of experience with Audis.


Things I liked about it: I found the cockpit was extremely driver centered, reminding me of the BMWs of the past rather than the current direction BMW seems to be taking in my 545, and the E90. Fit and finish of the materials is outstanding. Performance wise Audi recommends to not surpass 6000 rpm for 600 miles during break in, but even with that I was amazed at the feeling of torque from high gears, and at very low rpms, especially for such a relatively heavy car. I was shocked several times to look down and find myself going well over 100 m.p.h. without even trying to.

The gear box, is silky smooth. The steering is extremely well balanced, it gives you no sense that the engine is way out in front. Clutch was effortless. The brakes are huge 8 piston anti-lock brakes with ventilated drilled rotors from the lamorghini. I obviously haven't tried them on the track, but on the 200 mile drive back from the dealer, the car felt like it read my mind and stopped prior to even applying pressure on the brakes. The way that everything was so well balanced reminds me of the whole package experience I have gotten from my 911s.

Best thing about the RS4: Even without going all the way to 8200 rpm yet is the exhaust note which is something that any autophile will find addicting. There is absolutely no need for a stereo in the RS4, the engine supplies the only soundtrack that you could want.

Biggest surprise: Driving the 200 miles from the dealer I got 24 m.p.g. Love to hear what you all think when you drive one.

[firewired]

RS4 base 66K, loaded 73K (with the gas guzzler included). They are only coming loaded right now. Only dealer I hear charging more than sticker are on the west coast.

[carnuts3]

Originally Posted by firewired

Not to antagonize anyone, just want to share my RS4 experience (as short as it is.) I am a long time BMW driver with assorted models in my past to include two recent E46 M3s as well as some P cars. BMW will definitely be looking at what Audi did right and wrong with the RS4 and how figure how to surpass it when they finally release the E90 M3.

RS4 were released in the U.S. in the last couple of days, and I had the good fortune to be able to buy a grey on black one today. I just wanted to post to say if your local Audi dealer gets on that they will let you test drive you should really do it, even for the hell of it.

Firstly, I honestly liked the car more than I thought I would when I went down to check it out. I was really reluctant about the RS4 due to it's weight, relatively low torque (my 545 is 100 lbs. less and has 15 more lb/ft of torque), and my lack of experience with Audis.


Things I liked about it: I found the cockpit was extremely driver centered, reminding me of the BMWs of the past rather than the current direction BMW seems to be taking in my 545, and the E90. Fit and finish of the materials is outstanding. Performance wise Audi recommends to not surpass 6000 rpm for 600 miles during break in, but even with that I was amazed at the feeling of torque from high gears, and at very low rpms, especially for such a relatively heavy car. I was shocked several times to look down and find myself going well over 100 m.p.h. without even trying to.

The gear box, is silky smooth. The steering is extremely well balanced, it gives you no sense that the engine is way out in front. Clutch was effortless. The brakes are huge 8 piston anti-lock brakes with ventilated drilled rotors from the lamorghini. I obviously haven't tried them on the track, but on the 200 mile drive back from the dealer, the car felt like it read my mind and stopped prior to even applying pressure on the brakes. The way that everything was so well balanced reminds me of the whole package experience I have gotten from my 911s.

Best thing about the RS4: Even without going all the way to 8200 rpm yet is the exhaust note which is something that any autophile will find addicting. There is absolutely no need for a stereo in the RS4, the engine supplies the only soundtrack that you could want.

Biggest surprise: Driving the 200 miles from the dealer I got 24 m.p.g. Love to hear what you all think when you drive one.

Thanks. Your review seems to agree with what I have read about this great car. The only thing you left out was detail on the performance experience. I quess we'll have to wait to hear more after you put more miles on her.

[firewired]

Well through the break-in driving the car for a little over a month and ready to give more detailed experience with the RS4. if BMW is going to set their sights on the RS4 for the next M3 than the next M3 should be amazing.

From a 5 BMW car background with 2 recent E46 M3, a 996 911, I am astounded by the RS4. The car reminds me a lot of the 911 in the sense that it isn't only about numbers, but the all around package. Despite having had the privilege to have driven such amazing cars I can't tell you how happy every-time I am to get behind the wheel of the RS4. I was concerned about so many things about the car prior to delivery from having looked at all the specs before driving it. Prior to delivery, looking at the numbers of the RS4 I was concerned about the weight of the car, what I perceived to be relatively low torque numbers, (My lighter 545 had more torque), the front end bias of the car.

What astounds me is what feels like the cars ability to defy the laws of physics, and the numbers. It reminds me of when I would drive my 911. Sure there were cars that had more horsepower, or torque, but when you drove it you just knew that it was the real deal and had the whole package. The same goes for me when I drive my RS4, I definitely feel like I got value for my money.

The car has an exhaust note which is like an aria, and I haven't been allowed to fully make it sing yet. It speaks to the soul of any car enthusiast.

You may have already heard it, but just listen to this sound from this French Audi Ad:

http://www.audi.fr/actualite/teaserrs4/filmdef/film.htm

The brakes are surreal. I feel like I just begin to think about stopping and I am there, all without any complaint, squeal, or nose dip.

The stick is the stick I had in my 911, that I was always trying to get in my M3s with trying different short shifter kits (UUC motorwerks, etc... you name it.)

Handling - I pull corners and I amazed the car transcends all the weight that I was worried about, and stays completely flat through the bends. I think this might have to from a lot of things to include from the dynamic ride control they brought from the RS6 (http://www.audi.co.uk/audi/uk/en2/to...rol__DRC_.html)

Acceleration - The car has surprising acceleration which I haven't fully gotten a handle on, having just gotten out of break-in a couple of weeks ago. It catches you un-aware. With the 911, or M3 you had a much better sense of the process of acceleration, you could feel it building up. The acceleration in the RS4 isn't the somewhat violent cataclysmic acceleration of a car with a turbo. I would describe it as more of an elastic sensation. You feel like that when you push down on the throttle that you are pushing down on a taut rubber band, and you are being flung out the other side. It pops you up to speed so fast that you had better be ready for the next shift.

Ergonomics - The way that everything is driver centered reminds me of my old BMWs, not like the sitting behind the desk feeling I got sitting in my 545. It also has a fit and finish, attention to every detail that I felt was there in Porsche, but was lacking in most other cars.

My feeling after one month is this is a world class car, that is in the same league with cars which cost much more than it. It definitely raises the bar, and I think we all will be able to reap the rewards of everything that comes down the pipeline that sets their sights on it.

[carnuts3]

Thanks firewired for taking the time to write the great review of your RS4 experience. I have a deposit on a new M3 sedan (if they ever produce it). But after your review of your RS4, I will definitely test drive it along with the M3. It's going to be a tough decision - M3 or RS4. But I'm sure I'm up for it - Can't wait!

[yemenmocha]

Firewired,

Thanks for the reviews. Can't wait to hear more. I also appreciate your well-rounded approach to the review. Too often I just see tech-heads' reviews that are really just an excuse to show how many driving schools the poster has attended.

Aaron

[Last E92 M3]

indeed nice awd V8 but...i've already waited half a year +.
I can wait a little bit more

and yeah, i am a coupe guy

[replicat]

Dude this writeup is scary. I was actually thinking twice about getting one.

[Last E92 M3]

How about pictures?
I am bored and it's 1 in the morning...

[Robbie!]

enjoy it, the rs4 is a pimpmobile, I love it