The new Audi S4 V8 is a hugely desirable car so when the opportunity came up for a test drive we couldn’t resist.

Just the fact that someone tried, and succeeded, to fit a large V8 in an A4 makes you wonder, but we can assure you that everything feels just right!



It looks and feels like a very luxury A4, a car that is already famous for being one of the best in its class.





And with the engine on idle there’s a feeling that this car can perform. The warble from the V8 is wonderful and there’s even a valve that opens when you increase the revs. It is hard to resist accelerating, then braking just to relive the acceleration and the singing from the engine again. That’s the kind of message this car sends to us anyway every time the exhaust note becomes more pronounced.





So how does it accelerate? Well, it is very easy to literally jump away quickly in the S4.

The feeling in the clutch and the gearbox is very good and there’s no risk to make silly and embarrassing mistakes. The amount of grip and traction delivered by the S4 makes it untouchable for most cars. There are not many cars around that will do 0 – 200 km/h in less than 20 seconds, especially if you’re looking at an estate. Inside one you are sure to leave most competitors behind.





As usual we tried our best to have fun as well as test the S4 against one of its worst competitors also known as Mr. BMW M3.

We did several tests in straight forward acceleration; also known to many as red-light racing.

For many people the most important sport of them all...



The S4 does very well. Better than we expected and we’re actually a bit surprised, but happy of course. The enemy consisted of a M3 (SMG) and the biggest problem for the BMW is spelled traction. In big contrast to the S4 that has never heard of anything like lack of traction.

However at higher speeds the M3 is faster but we found out that the claimed limit of 250 km/h is higher on the S4 than on the M3. It was a nice discovery to be able to catch up the M3 and indicate a take-over on the highway above 250 km/h. A fact sure to send any M3 owner to the nearest tuner to get rid of the limiter. Compared to cars like the S60R and V70R (we really tried to arrange one) the S4 will be a quicker car. All the tests we’ve seen indicate this but it would have been nice to find out by ourselves.





Compared with the previous S4 the feeling, precision and feedback in the steering is much better. Audi has also worked hard to get rid of the under steering, the V8 is not any heavier than the previous V6 with biturbo and many other things have been improved.



The fact that the S4 Avant goes around Nürburgring in 8.29, just 7 seconds behind an M3 is proof they succeeded. (source Sport Auto)

We can only find one estate that is faster and it’s the Audi RS6 Avant…

Enjoy various pictures of the Audi S4 and the BMW M3.




All pictures by Erik B except pictures of the red S4 saloon by Joakim "Viper89" Skagerlind.