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MR USER
October 3rd, 2006, 07:34
I had my car about 6 months now and I drove it around 15k Km.
I noticed that the engine really changed.

The max revs increased of about 300 Rpm.

The power delivery is much smoother at low revs but is getting brutal after 5500/6000 till limiter. I can really feel the extra kick when accelerating (almost like a small turbo!).

The acceleration difference with or without the S button is incredible... It seems another car when is off especially if crusing on the motorway @ 160 kmh and suddenly planting the right foot.

The fuel consumption decreased significantly once passed the 12k km mark.
It is much more fuel efficent at all speeds. E.g. motorway crusing between 140 and 190 kmh witout significant acceleration lets me drive 450 km to the tank (before never above 320). Full tank nailing it (S mode on, show off acceleration every chance I get, rev limiter at all gears except sixt :nana: :vgrumpy: warp crusing speed -I think I get younger by travelling back in time when I do that!!- and no fear of police) , at the beginnig I got 190 km total now I can get around 280/300 Km to the tank.

The oil consuption is still high, I check it every time I do more than 600 km (every weekend) and depending on how hard I drove I can see the consumption increasing. On the other hand when driven nicely it does not require much of its sintetic beer :cheers:

I have not changed my tyres yet (Pirelli P zero Rosso OEM) but is about time to do so. The tyres performed very well indeed so far and had smooth wear out with no strange behaviours or surprises. The grip is excellent on dry or wet conditions but not so good in raining condition (mainly because the thread is worn out, never had rain with new tyres). I noticed a strong understeer when wet and entering a corner hard. much more than in dry condition. I would love the tuner that can set me up the car to be less understeering without making the front too nervous when entering the corner (now is already very sharp... needs adapting).

The suspension are bahaving extremely well (normal setup, NO SS+) the ride is confortable when crusing (have to look out for holes and similar all the time not to crack the rims) although after 3/400 km I can feel many parts of my body being sour (nothing that a short walk and a coffee cannot solve).

The brakes are truly remarkable, I am really demanding on the braking performances and I have to say that they never let me down. Driving down from Milano to Genove on the famous "Serravalle" (for the ones that do not konw it is a stretch of motorway with several 2/3rd gear corners that is about 80/90 km long) I really tested the car. Overall the outcome was excellent and I was not disappointed a sigle bit with it. The brakes got really hot and started fading a little bit, then I soon realised that they just required a bit more pressure to work as fine. (the braking distance with red hot brakes increased a little bit bot no more than 1.5 meters, and to me this is racing performances!!!)

The sound of the ca after driving it for one or 2 hours is just sublime. Every part is warmed up to perfection and the whole machine starts to play its sinfony like a world class orchestra :music: . What a pleasure in the tunnels!!!

THis is my first six month!!! I would love to hear about other owners experiences and feedback!

I wish you all nice drive!

BigRick
October 3rd, 2006, 11:25
Thanks MR USER, nice review (it's like music to my ears!)

I've just crossed the 8000km mark and I can also feel that new push (maybe not as strong as yours) it's unbelievable it's like the ride changes every 1000km. I don't know if it's the ECU or the engine (or maybe both) but I can really feel the difference when reaching 6000rpm (as you say it feels like turbos)

I'm really enjoying the car, every part of it. Be it the engine, the brakes, the nav system (ok switching radio station is a bit confusing), the suspension, the seats (ok mainly the driver's seat :)) that's for the hardware parts... but don't forget the other parts like, the turning heads, the sound, all the car you left behind (waaaay behind :lovl: ) and finally the chit-chat with many peoples interested in that beast.

So, conclusion the :rs4addict rocks... :dig:

Cheers

Ruergard
October 3rd, 2006, 15:24
Great review! Nice to hear that the RS4 is really that good from people who drive it every day! Keep enjoying them! ;)

Benman
October 3rd, 2006, 15:48
nothing that a short walk and a coffee cannot solve...
:applause:


Thanks for the review. Strange the oil consumption hasn't decreased?:vhmmm:

Ben:addict:

MR USER
October 3rd, 2006, 19:37
Ben the oil consumption is directly related to the way you drive car in my case.
If I drive it easy then it does not asks for much (less than in the first 5k km) but if you nail it then you are ready for 1.5 liter every 2000 km.
So far I put in 7/8 liters in my car....

QuattroFun
October 3rd, 2006, 20:48
Great review - thx!

I have driven also about same time and mileage as MR USER.

The engine has indeed flexed up and so far - knock on wood - it has been very happy motoring. The shove - especially in gears 2-4 - is way beyond S4 and also the M3:s I have driven, although the delivery is the strongest at 5000-7000 rpm whereas the M3 is marginally more peaky thereafter. My SS+ is firm around town, but not too harsh IMO and very nice out in the country side as long as I avoid the really worst roads. The handling is overall a nice compromise between agility and security - way beyond the S4 and while not as childishly entertaining in the summer as the M3, much more predictable and in planted way more fun. Looking forward to my first winter with the RS4, which I suspect will be eventful but fun even with 4wd. I have not had any alarming braking lift experiences in the RS4 so far (had some in my S4, though, so it is likely to be prone as well). The leather in the driver's seat has a few wrinkles but does not show too bad wear yet, but the mileage is slowly starting to show up in the suede steering wheel & shifter. A few stone chips, but nothing too bad. The adaptive lights are a must and I would go SS+ again and also the buckets, which I do not find uncomfortable although they are a bit tight at the sides. Black optics satisfying as well. Not so sure about doing the fast wearing suede controls, though.

Audihead
October 4th, 2006, 00:41
Approaching 3,000 MI. Car feels as if it is getting stronger. Did anyone know that it has a transport mode in the computer. It limits the car to 4,000 RPM's and 50 MPH until the dealer turns it off during the PDI phase. So I'm sure there is something in the software that is counting miles and increasing performance incrementally. Oil consumption has decreased in the last 1,000 MI for me. Mileage is also increasing. The brakes have been wonderful. Did @ 7 laps on a short track near home. No fade whatsoever. I will be replacing the P Zero Rosso tires as soon as they wear out. The compound and tread pattern are not a good match for this car's capability. I will be going with Goodyear Eagle F1's. All electronics and other systems performing as expected.:rs4addict

Fab
October 4th, 2006, 07:47
Ben the oil consumption is directly related to the way you drive car in my case.
If I drive it easy then it does not asks for much (less than in the first 5k km) but if you nail it then you are ready for 1.5 liter every 2000 km.
So far I put in 7/8 liters in my car.... Ciao Mr :thumb:

Definitely the oil consumption depends on your driving style :king: I spent the last w-e in the Jura (mountain) with a friend of mine owner of a nice RS4 limousine light grey... We drove all the famous twisty roads around his place and we really pushed hard for two days. My last oil refill was 10 days ago. Since then I drove around 1200km including this great "rally" w-e. Yesterday going back home the oil light came on the dash board, so I stopped to Shell for fuel and had to put 1.2 liter of oil to be back at the top level of the oil stick :wo: this is of course the result of the w-e hehe :revs:

I am around 4300km since I took delivery on August 18th and I also put around 5-6 liters oil so far but this should slowly come down with mileage. I hope so...

My w-e just proved me once more how good is the RS4. plenty of power in any gear, tremedous noise at 8000rpm, great brakes and quattro security. Whow we drove very, very fast with wet roads (the weather was very poor on Sunday) and what an advantage to have a quattro which allows you to floor like mad without taking care of the wet road portions or leaves from the early fall period :thumb:

I will post some pics and a short vid taken with my digital camera when I have more time.

P.S. Although it is very difficult to compare I could easily follow my friend driving his limousine with also proves the avant is not lagging (at all) that much in performance versus the limo.

Ciao

Benman
October 4th, 2006, 17:00
Did anyone know that it has a transport mode in the computer. It limits the car to 4,000 RPM's and 50 MPH until the dealer turns it off during the PDI phase.

That is cool!

So oil consumption depends on driving style? Well, that makes sense.:thumb:

Ben:addict:

KK265
October 4th, 2006, 22:04
Approaching 3,000 MI. Car feels as if it is getting stronger. Did anyone know that it has a transport mode in the computer. It limits the car to 4,000 RPM's and 50 MPH until the dealer turns it off during the PDI phase. :rs4addict

You are right!The first thing i learned at delivery.

IulianUM
October 4th, 2006, 23:24
Agree with all of you , the car feels better day by day .:rs4kiss:
I noted the fuel consumption also , althoug it has just a bit under 8000Km . Now it even drinks less than my former S4 that was a very good car .
Mine doesnīt seems to use so much oil , may be I donīt push it too much .;)

MR USER , do you changed your mind about the R8 ? , I need a more practical car (four seats) and , well , I will wait until the V10 arrives to think on a little brother to the Rs4 , but all the info is wellcome .:thumb:

This is a very special car for me .:rs4addict

MR USER
October 5th, 2006, 06:38
MR USER , do you changed your mind about the R8 ? , I need a more practical car (four seats) and , well , I will wait until the V10 arrives to think on a little brother to the Rs4

I will wait for the V10 as well.... after all having 2 cars with the same powerplant does not make sense to me!!

Audihead
October 6th, 2006, 21:45
I will wait for the V10 as well.... after all having 2 cars with the same powerplant does not make sense to me!!


I know the car is cool, but I have to agree that the R8 with the V8 wouldn't be worth it for the extra 30-40K.:rs4addict