PDA

View Full Version : RS6vs RS4 Encounters anyone ?



johneroberts
December 5th, 2002, 11:14
As there are more around now, anyone encountered a :addict: vs :rs4addict battle on the track yet, there was one at Hockenheim but was not in our group so i couldnt throw the gauntlet down:D
Cheers
jr

Erik
December 10th, 2002, 12:23
The only battle I heard about was at RS4.org, see below:

Afraid? :D

"mikec Posted - 8 November 2002 9:51
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well I've nearly got the full set.
I've an S2, an RS4 and yesterday I took delivery of my RS6.
Ironically, it was delivered to me on the same day that my RS4 finally worked 100% for the first time. Those of you who are regulars to this site will know that the wheels recently (after nearly 2 years of campaigning) got replaced and since I've had my RS4, I've never had the tv or radio working (a new wiring loom had to be made...2 years!!).

The S2 has a 0-60 of 5.8. The RS4 had a 0-60 sub four seconds (i've had a fair old bit done to it) although it appears to have slowed recently even on octane booster and optimax and I estimate it to be closer to 4 seconds now and my other car is a BMW X5 Automatic 4.6 with a 0-60 of 5.7 seconds.

So I picked up the RS6 and lined them all up in the car park at work and got my mini Top Gear team out of the office to sample the 3 white knuckle rides and give their opinions.

Before I started, I had been clearly prejudiced by the fact that of the three RS6's delivered on the same day as mine, one of my close friends, drove his RS6 away and returned it back to the garage. He simply hated the tiptronic gearbox and said it should be manual only. I heard the same thing from another friend who races TVR's, has done the gumball rally and has a GT2 as his own car.

Off we went. S2 not bad. Slid everywhere due to the lack of any traction control or ESP.

RS4...simply toe curling. Revs up to 7300, drop the clutch, burnt plates and rubber everywhere. Sideways around the roundabouts etc etc.
Exciting or what..and the noise of those cats and huge new exhausts. Deafening in the back seats. Instant car sickness.

RS6...absolutely crap (but read on). Heavy. Slow. Silent. No heads turned. It simply looked and felt like an overgrown S8. Like an estate version of a fat directors company fleet car..except a mite quicker than normal. Considering this car has been splattered into every bull based advertising slot on tv, not one person noticed it. With my RS4, people have always (and still do) stop and point. At £60k, I expected at least one 14 year old to turn his head. I even tried the odd over rev to attract a glance but it is just too quiet.

I was so disappointed that within one hour, I decided to do one of two things. Number one - take it back and let some other poor sod in the waiting list be conned or Number two - Get some decent acceleration, power and noise out of this 1000bhp tested engine. Onto the web I went along with a quick call to Kim Collins (who had done some of the RS4 MTM work). All I heard was....well the engine should be fine up to 800-900 bhp but it's that gearbox...it can't cope with more than 690nm of torque. It will simply strip it.

So my friend was right...the one who took it back and said it should have been manual (and it is interesting that Kim tell me in order to go into the 600-700 bhp, MTM are planning to bring out a manual gearbox replacement for it).

The next call was to my old friend, Kevin Rose, the chairman of Audi UK. He and I became acquainted through our campaign to get you lot new wheels. "Oh he loves it said Liz his PA". "He prefers it to the RS4".

So what should I do. Hand it back or uprate it. Kim Collins told me that in order to get at the down pipes and the Cats, it's necessary to have to drop out the engine completely...on a new car.

AND THEN A VERY STRANGE THING HAPPENED....

My business partner asked to go for a spin in the RS6. He drives a BMW M3 but not excessively fast and he hasn't done half the tests and high speed courses that I have. So I said to him...I'll drive the RS4 flat out and you try and keep up in the RS6. Each of us had a co-pilot to puncture the dashboard with their nails on our whiteknuckle challenge. Off we went. Dust everywhere. Black smoke from my tyres. Clutch plates grated on the road. In first gear, the RS6 was nowhere to be seen and then I did a quick shifty into second..and it caught up. Right up. Next was a 3/4 roundabout. We went sideways, controlled four wheel skid. Steer to back end slide. Power on and exit. Mirror check - there he was again right up my arse again. But he can't power slide like I can.

And so it continued. I could not lose him and he did not slide. Not at all.

My conclusion. This RS6 is a very very subtle beast. It's lack of noise and increased refinement...especially in the suspension compensation of the Dynamic ride make it impossible to appreciate just how fast it is. It is very fast and it easily kept up with my 500+ bhp RS4 and this is with a novice driving it who had never been in it before.

My decision. It has a second chance... so it's going off on tuesday to be taken apart. It had better come back noiser, less refined and much much more exciting. After all, there's no point in having a very very fast car if you don't know you're doing it. I want to be scared not deceived.

I'll get an AP22 on it now and then after Kim has had his hands on it.

To be continued..............."