RS4 Convertible Vs Sedan

[cpchannel]

Posted by pollastre (http://www.rs6.com/forum/member.php?u=2149) under Regrets (http://www.rs6.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10405&page=2) discussion

cpchannel,

I am really interested in your experience. Having driven both the sedan and cabrio versions, you are a very valuable source of information in order to help people like me, who are in a dout between the cabrio and the sedan, to make our minds. Could you please help me with those questions... :

1) Handling.

It was my impression that the cabrio would be somewhat less "sporty" than the sedan (for example, lesser chasis stiffness just to name a known issue with cabrios) and more a "walking Miss Daisy" car (ok, just joking a bit here). Can you confirm if both versions handle equally, or at least, whether you couldn't feel the difference?

2) Raw Performance.

I assume that being 0.1 slower on 0-100 is not even noticeable in daily usage. Your thoughts?

3) External shape.

Yeah, great concern here. The sedan has an absolutely stunning shape, no matter the angle where you look at it from.
Now you know what happens often with cabrios: the convertible top makes the car's shape to be slighly different of what it should be, and sometimes the results are more than noticeable (Carrera Cabrio comes to my mind for example, much less nice to my eyes than the coupe version).

Can you compare the two versions' external shapes, please ? Was Audi able to make the cabrio look like the sedan ?

4) Luggage.

Oh, yes. Whatever. Family car also, anyway! Is the luggage room affected due to the convertible top? Is there less luggage room in the cabrio version compared to the sedan?

5) RS seats. Of course.

Do they look nice with the top down? ;-)


I really appreciate your help with this one, man.... It's simply not easy to find someone who had driven both cars!

thanks for your time!

[cpchannel]

WOW this is a huge question but lets see how we get on.

Firstly i should point out that i am a driver who does not do any racing on tracks or circuits. I do about 20,000 miles a year. I do like fast cars and the whole ride experience.

1) Handling
I have driven the conv. for 3 months and a sedan for 3 days
In that time i noticed NO difference at all except 1 VERY VERY big experience difference - the engine noise in the conv. with roof up or down you can here the growl so much better.

The roads i drive on are twisty country lanes with lots of potential overtaking and i can honestly say i could not tell. Speed is never above 70mph.

2) Raw Performance
Using the lap timing on the dash i can actually get 4.6 in a 0-60 even taking a slight slow reaction gear change (as i am not that smooth) this would make it still under 5 seconds of which i think 4.9 is the official figures. So its bang on with the sedan.

Strange as this may seem but 0-60 with the roof down seems faster, i actually mentioned this to my Audi garage and they said that the testing in the wind tunnel proved this to be the case (i dont know if this is actually true or if the engine noise and the open space just make it feel faster)

3) External shape
I have posted some pixs HERE (http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpchannel/sets/72157594265549551/) for you to see my car.

For me the looks make this car. It sits much lower to the floor than the other 4 series conv. + the arches are flaired so you can spot them a mile away.

The other difference is the back seats especially with the bucket seats but i have to say i have had no real issue. I am a driver who actually sits close to the steering wheel. I would imagine if you had a far away driving style then this would be an issue. But in my 3 months i have only had 3 occasions with people in the back.

4) Luggage
I can get 2 x cases for a 4 day break for 2 adults + push chair in the back. I put the childs stuff on the back seat. I would have done this anyway as it was for a 4 hour journey and you never know what kids want. So for me no issue.

I don't do golf so i can not say if you could get all your putters in !!

There is the question about roof up and down - does it get smaller when the roof is down. Well the answer seems to be no BUT when the electronics of the roof kick in it must use some space then release the space back at the end.

If you open the boot mid operation it stops so you cant actually see what happens.

5) RS seats
Rock solid, great with the hood up or down.

In summary

For my style and needs then this car is perfect. I am sure at 120mph around a very tight turn the sedan is 'better' in technical terms but i bet i would still get around that bend in the blink of an eye + i would have the biggest smile in the world as the sunshine shine through in the english countryside while the V8 sounds like the fire breathing sinister beauty it is :love2:

I hope this helps

[daz]

There is the question about roof up and down - does it get smaller when the roof is down. Well the answer seems to be no BUT when the electronics of the roof kick in it must use some space then release the space back at the end.
There's a lever in the boot (circled in pic below) which adjusts the amount of space available depending on whether you've got the roof up or down. If you've got the "roofbox" in the up position (maximum boot space) you can't lower the roof.

http://www.tyresmoke.net/albums/album289/20060917_BUXTON_16_001.jpg

[cpchannel]

This is true

but it actually makes no difference to the space you get.

I can fill the boot up in which ever position this lever is in

[m3fan]

If you have kids get the sedan. If not then the conv. Either way your a winner.

[cpchannel]

not sure how you can say that. I have 1 x 2 year old and she loves the conv. and her pushchair goes in the boot. I would agree that if you had 2 kids then actually you should get the estate

[pollastre]

Thank you a lot for sharing your thoughts and experiences with both car versions, man.... it seems that they're both just incredible machines! :rs4kiss:

I will make my mind shortly... whatever it takes, I need barely to drive one of these! :D

thanks again !

Pollastre