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View Full Version : Possible Bad News followed by possible Good News



tailpipe
October 3rd, 2004, 18:00
According to a mole inside Audi UK, the next RS4 is much further away from being released than people think. Audi UK doesn't really know but thinks that the launch is anthing up to 2 years away. It certainly doesn't anticipate a launch before November 2005. Which is a pity, because if the RS6 boards here are anything to go by, there is quite a lot of pent up demand for the next RS4. While I sincerely hope that Audi UK is wrong, I think their failure to release any news at alll about new model avaialbility contrasts starkly with BMW's more open approach.

But all may not be lost.

According to the latest edition of Auto Expres, AUdi has admitted that it is developing an A5 Coupe and Convertible models based on the Nuvolari concept. Based on the B7 platform, these models are planned to sit between the A4 and A6 series. The top of the range S5 models will have the new 4.2 V-8 FSI engine, which we know is capable of genrating somewhere in the region of 400 bhp. There will also be the option of a DSG gearbox. If this is correct, and we know for sure that both engine and gearbox are in the pipeline, we can expect the performance of the S4 Saloon and Avant models to be substantially beefed-up.

A revised S4 with better ride and handling, more power, and the DSG won't make the RS4 redundant, but should at least compensate us for its late arrival. Better still, if the S4 has a V-8 naturally aspirated FSI engine, then the RS4 would need bi-turbos to deliver a meaningful greater amount of horses, say 480 bhp.

Now, that would be worth worth waiting for.

This is pure speculation on my part, but half the fun of this forum, in the absence of official news, is trying to second-guess exactly what Audi will do! In the meantime, don't hold your breath...