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FatBoy
January 29th, 2003, 21:47
As some of you may know, I've just bought a beautiful black RS4 with only 2,700 miles on it. I beleive the car to be completely standard and the mileage has been certified.
As a newcomer to the RS4, I have a coupel of questions:
When I first start the car, the engine sounds rather noisey for about a second. I suspect that it is tappit rattle until the oil pressure reaches working pressure. The oil is at the correct level. Is this normal or is it something I should get checked?
Secondly, when accelerating in the lower gears, :incar: it is rather juddery during on/off throttle transitions when changing gears i.e when lifting off the throttle the car seems to judder. Again is this normal and if so, when a chip upgrade resolve it ?
Thanks
Paul

scoop
January 30th, 2003, 07:34
Well, I'd say both points are perfectly fine for an RS4 if I understand your post correctly. Especially the part about the acceleration in lower gears. That is partially resolved by a chip upgrade, but it'll partially stay for the sake of the turbo chargers and the sorta low displacement. A 1.8T is even more nervous in first gear, so it improves with a higher displacement :D

FatBoy
January 30th, 2003, 09:48
Thanks Scoop. I suspected as much, because there was no trace of it with the RS6.
I am enjoying the '4 though, it's much more of a "drivers" car than the '6. Now, having owned both, albeit for a short time, I'm inclined to think that maybe the RS6 is almost too competant. You can jump straight into it, never having driven it before and make it go very, very fast, whereas the RS4 is going to need some familiarity to get the best out of it and will ultimately prove to be the more rewarding for that reason.
On a different subject, The RS4 currently wears Pirelli P-Zero's and they seem extremely nervous, especially on white lines and longitudinal grooves i.e. grooves that go in the same direction as that of the car. Is this a "feature" of the car or the tyres ?
Cheers
Paul

scoop
January 30th, 2003, 14:58
Well, yeah. Having driven both myself, the RS4 is definitely more demanding on the driver. Both cars have their very own characters so it's difficult to directly compare them one by one.

I'll try to keep my RS4 for as long as I can once the RS6 gets here because I'm tempted to say that it'll be a pleasure to jump into the RS4 if the RS6 feels too 'perfect' on a given day and jump the other way 'round if the RS4 feels too 'rough'.

Regarding the tires, the RS4 is pretty nervous on street bumps and ground waves by nature. Tires won't change much there. Out of experience, you have the best model of tires fitted. The P Zero goes best with the RS4 from what I can tell. I originally picked it up with Michelin, changed to Pirelli P7000 and finally got a set of P Zero Rosso since the other types didn't really provide the results I expected.

I also don't think the RS4 handles 19" alloys well. So, in case you think about an alloy upgrade, you have been warned :D