Spada
March 2nd, 2006, 04:02
Picked my car up today!!! Ok I've come straight out of a b6s4. Before that an m5, before that i had a tt, and before that a quattro s1...
It looks utterly awesome. Daytona grey btw. It just happened to be parked next to a couple of rs6's and even they looked slightly tame in comparison. (only slightly.)
First cool thing i noticed: The exhausts make this light pattering noise against the air on tickover. The seats are the most comfortable i've ever sat in. I set up my sat nav (a first for me) and was on my way. Drove fairly easily out of town. Tickling the accelerator slightly, it feels if anyhthing slightly less torquey than the s4. This is only at very low revs tho.
But the first roundabout I came to, I poked the accelerator and carved round it and instantly I was grinning. I am telling you this thing feels like it's on rails compared to the s4. I hammered away up the dual-carrageway and NOW i feel the power difference. It pulls like a train! The delivery of the torque is amazing:
With turbos it's like having rockets that practically explode when you reach a certain place in the revs, blasting you forward in a sudden, instant rush. A turbo car on paper might only do 0-60 in 5 secs but it seems to punt you from 30 to 60 in about 1.5 seconds and that = f u n.
Most N/A Engines aren't as fun: It's more like having slower burning rockets that push you forward in a steady predictable way. You get full power nice and early, but there's no sudden explosion waiting for you - no kick in the back.
Having been a real turbo fanboy, I grew to love the way the s4 pulls hard from nothing, and to be fair, it pulls pretty hard all the way through the revs. I would just stick it in 4th at 20mph and feel it tug all the way to 90 in one huge, muscular stride.
In the RS4 however, the the initial torque feels just as heavy as the s4, but as it builds pace the ferocity just seems exponential!! It drives you forward harder and HARDER up to 6000 (you're limited to 6k when running in) and although you can't go to 8250, you're VERY aware of just how long and powerful the reach of this engine is. It really does have such a huge stride it makes the s4 feel like it's legs were cut off at the knees. I just love it! The way it just lays on the power thicker and thicker takes you by surprise and over such an impossibly wide expanse of revs it is just incredible. And to think that there's more than 2000 more revs to be used blows my mind.
So then I get to some twisty country lanes and get a chance to see how it turns: Again, big improvements are instantly noticeable over the s4. The steering is much more direct. The wheel itself is smaller and only very slight adjustments are felt instantly through the seat as the car responds. It feels alot stiffer, but by the same token, I ran over a big pot-hole and felt (and heard) barely anything. Because it stays so much flatter under cornering and acceleration, and yet absorbs bumps so well, it just feels like the suspension is doing much less work, which, in turn makes it feel like it's a car half the weight of the s4.
I love this car. It has the Audi refinement and build quality i've come to love. It is beautiful and has dramatic prescence. It has the good old planted, assured feel and massive traction I would always expect from an Audi, but it's now combined with a composed, firm chassis, direct, communicative steering and a mind-blowingly muscular and responsive engine. Just incredible!...
It looks utterly awesome. Daytona grey btw. It just happened to be parked next to a couple of rs6's and even they looked slightly tame in comparison. (only slightly.)
First cool thing i noticed: The exhausts make this light pattering noise against the air on tickover. The seats are the most comfortable i've ever sat in. I set up my sat nav (a first for me) and was on my way. Drove fairly easily out of town. Tickling the accelerator slightly, it feels if anyhthing slightly less torquey than the s4. This is only at very low revs tho.
But the first roundabout I came to, I poked the accelerator and carved round it and instantly I was grinning. I am telling you this thing feels like it's on rails compared to the s4. I hammered away up the dual-carrageway and NOW i feel the power difference. It pulls like a train! The delivery of the torque is amazing:
With turbos it's like having rockets that practically explode when you reach a certain place in the revs, blasting you forward in a sudden, instant rush. A turbo car on paper might only do 0-60 in 5 secs but it seems to punt you from 30 to 60 in about 1.5 seconds and that = f u n.
Most N/A Engines aren't as fun: It's more like having slower burning rockets that push you forward in a steady predictable way. You get full power nice and early, but there's no sudden explosion waiting for you - no kick in the back.
Having been a real turbo fanboy, I grew to love the way the s4 pulls hard from nothing, and to be fair, it pulls pretty hard all the way through the revs. I would just stick it in 4th at 20mph and feel it tug all the way to 90 in one huge, muscular stride.
In the RS4 however, the the initial torque feels just as heavy as the s4, but as it builds pace the ferocity just seems exponential!! It drives you forward harder and HARDER up to 6000 (you're limited to 6k when running in) and although you can't go to 8250, you're VERY aware of just how long and powerful the reach of this engine is. It really does have such a huge stride it makes the s4 feel like it's legs were cut off at the knees. I just love it! The way it just lays on the power thicker and thicker takes you by surprise and over such an impossibly wide expanse of revs it is just incredible. And to think that there's more than 2000 more revs to be used blows my mind.
So then I get to some twisty country lanes and get a chance to see how it turns: Again, big improvements are instantly noticeable over the s4. The steering is much more direct. The wheel itself is smaller and only very slight adjustments are felt instantly through the seat as the car responds. It feels alot stiffer, but by the same token, I ran over a big pot-hole and felt (and heard) barely anything. Because it stays so much flatter under cornering and acceleration, and yet absorbs bumps so well, it just feels like the suspension is doing much less work, which, in turn makes it feel like it's a car half the weight of the s4.
I love this car. It has the Audi refinement and build quality i've come to love. It is beautiful and has dramatic prescence. It has the good old planted, assured feel and massive traction I would always expect from an Audi, but it's now combined with a composed, firm chassis, direct, communicative steering and a mind-blowingly muscular and responsive engine. Just incredible!...