Hot news! First pics in the World of the new Audi RS4 B7

[Fab]

Hi guys,

I am from Geneva Switzerland and I've been an audi fan for years now. I have been following this forum for few years as well as other French, German and Swiss forums. All of them have their own particularities but I have to admit that this is one of the most interesting one. You feel a lot of people are very well informed and deeply technical on various subjects.

I am very happy to finally be part of the community and look forward to have great time in the forum.

The main reason for me to finally register is that as many of you I have been waiting for the new RS4 release. My S4 is 4 years old know and it is time for me to change. Last March I paid for a reservation ticket (CHF 5'000.--) for the beast at my usual dealer in Geneva and as thinks are much clearer nom I am happy to post about it.

The RS4 will be at the Geneva motor show next week (definitely in the saloon version) and I will be there as usual.

I may meet some of you as I red that some planned to come.

Ciao

Fab

[Fab]

After my introduction I also would like to share my impressions about the car :

The car looks great, very agressive and the main changes as steering weel, rims, mirrors, seats look fantastic and will definitely clearly differentiate the RS4 from the rest of the A4 models.

Concerning the performances I am not disappointed as the numbers (to be confirmed with serious drive tests) are pretty impressive, but I was expecting slightly better. What p.... me a bit is that my brother in law currently drives a RS4 B5 ABT stage1 420hp and as stated in other posts in will probably be ahead in straight line races. Having said that the new car will deliver much more than the old one (sorry for old one) in terms of exclusive look, new technologies, handling, breaking and sounds at 8250 rpm by the way fuel consumption remains ok with a mix of 13.5 l.

Personally I am just waiting for the avant to be released (most probably by year end) to get delivery of it.

I have a couple of questions :

I red in the Audi.de web page that the rims will be available in 18" and 19". I guess the one on the various pics are 19" right with 255/35/19 tires right ?

What about the seats. Are they the only one avaible or a more classic Recaro version will be availble too ? My concern here being confort and heating seats....

Of course price is a big question mark for all of us. What is shure is that I will go for it no matter if I need to spend a bit more than anticipated.

I hope full specs and accessories and options will be disclosed soon.

Ciao

Fab

[quattro]

Hi Fab and welcome. There's already a "Fab5" member here, but another Fab is most welcome

Nice to see people write about their thoughts who have been lurking here before. Just because this place is called RS6.com doesn't mean people who like the RS4 aren't welcome. Three digit internet names are really scarce and since the owner of www.RS4.org deceided to by a Subaru it is waht it is nowadays. More people are certainly welcome to join the discussion.

So let's start...My personal opinions are here

Lovely to get a quattro with oversteer possibilities, and an agressive ESP (for me that's the opposite to "over-safe.") there to help you drive fast rather to stop you. But still there to save your "investment" if you get in trouble. No need to sweat when you push the "€75k button..." like the old RS4.
Start and Sport button is a nice touch. Not sure how cool in everyday life, but since I like buttons it's probably a plus

Adjustable damping control, adjustabel DRC. The DRC fitted to the RS6 made the RS6 go like a GT3 in high speed slalom.
DRC is a non-expensive system developed for motorbikes, and made the RS6 an excellent car to drive. I am sure the new DRC is tweaked to even better standrards, it means it will be up there with the GT3 and CSL.

The V8. V8 will give a lot better low end grunt and torque than the in-line six in the M3. The M3 is a lovely car, but in low rpms you can really feel the lack of power. Anyone who drove the S4 V8 knows what I means.

I hope the seats are more comfortable than the M3 CSL. Love the CSL for what it is and what it accomplishes, but the seats in the CSL are not for me - even short periods. Also, I hope it will be possible to get the seat in the RS4 really low. That is a big problem in the M3 for instance, my head hits the cealing. At least the RS4 seats look more comfortable, less extreme so let's wait and see.

Tuning. I am sure the RS4 can be tuned. EVERY car can be tuned!
I am sure the exhaust note can become really interesting!
I am also sure there are more hp to get, but it will be more difficult and might cost more than a chip. On the other hand every car that I chipped had problems...

Interior. Best in its class. Amazing! Others are FAR behind. Period.
I am sure there will be more comfortable seat available for business people rather than racers.

Exterior. They lost the S4 fenders? Probably the car is much wider than we can see on the pics (no A4 side by side). Love the side mirrors.
The wheels look very light and thank God they didn't use the old S4 or RS4 wheels again, that would have been so boring.
The BRAKES. Amazing! Good stuff!

Options
I hope that quattro GmbH will offer an extensive list of different options like they did with the RS6. Like sports exhaust etc.


Notes on acceleration.(the important one)
The M5 goes to 200 km/h in about 14 secs. Between 16.6 secs (RS4) there's not much room for the M3, and the M3 won't be faster than the M5 I think.
And this is on dry tarmac. Put in some everyday conditions and we'll see.
Most people I know don't even drive their M3, E55, C32 and whatever during winter.

Another important Q we should ask ourselves:
What other modern cars goes 0-200 km/h in 16.6 seconds?
The list is certaily not so long...and cars like the Volvo S60R (turbo) will get far far behind. And the competitors are not so easily tuned either.
Comments on this please!

Tracking the car at Nürburgring (and other exotic places).
I am sure there will be more RS4 mkII than mkI on the Nordschleife, because it will be a great car to drive there.
The old RS4 wasn't as slow as many people think, just not that fun to drive. The car is still heavy, but I think that's how people want it.
Most people don't track the car, but enjoy AC, radio and nice heavy seats rather than a millisecond faster laptime.
I think the lap time will be close to the M5, somewhere around 8:10 by sport auto. Soon we will know.

Conclusion:
Audi has done a great job. It is clear that they want to beat the competition and make the cars faster and more enjoyable to drive.
If you like, they are now ahead of BMW M3. Talk all you like about the next M3 V8 but it is not here yet. Audi lovers have always been used to wait for the next RS model, not the cards have swithed.
Audi beat BMW with the release of the B7 to the E90, and the RS4 is launched pretty much soon after the S4.
They listen to reviews and their customers, and perhaps RS6.com as well?
I am sure Neckarsulm people read here so HELLO and Guten Tag!
The interest seems to be HUGE. Just look at this thread. Soon 10.000 views in 3 days!!!

Dislikes:
Is there an RS4 badge on the side of the car? :trash:
I miss the DSG. But let's wait and see...

[tailpipe]

Sorry not to have posted a response sooner than this, but some of us have to work!!!

Wow!!!! It seems like the new RS4 is going to be everything we hoped it would be. I can't believe it weighs in at under 1600 kgs. Well done, Ingolstadters.

That engine is absolutely gorgeous, what a peach: 8250 rpm, 420 bhp and 0-200 kph in under 17 seconds. Phenomenal.

The interior is exactly what we've all come to expect from Audi. Beautiful and cool.

And to think you can hammer this car on winter roads. Anyome want to bet that this car doesn't lap the ring in under eight minutes?

Clearly, Audi's target with the RS4 Mk II wasn't the M3 CSL but the new M5. I think it'll just beat it in the dry, but totally demolish it in the wet.

So pleased my order went in months ago...

[QuattroFun]

Tailpipe,

Looking forward to your Geneva pics and share your enthusiasm regarding the attempts to make it as sporty as possible but personally think the engine tuning is too peaky as I was afraid of earlier. As a side remark, 3.93kg/bhp * 420bhp =>1650kg i.e. as expected, not below 1600kg.

[quattro]

Originally posted by tailpipe
Anyome want to bet that this car doesn't lap the ring in under eight minutes?

Yes. I am sure it won't. Not in the sport auto test anyway.

Unless Walter Rorhl is driving

[7:53 RS6]

Originally posted by quattro
Yes. I am sure it won't. Not in the sport auto test anyway.

Unless Walter Rorhl is driving

Or it having R-compound on

[Sims]

Originally posted by 8:29 RS6
Or it having R-compound on

Absolutely. I see the RS4 more as a CSL competitor (on the track).

The CSL has Cup tyres, and so should the RS4. I look forward to driving both at the 'Ring.:360:

[7:53 RS6]

Guys leave the 0-100 talk, my main intrest is how do it COMUNICATE whit the driver

To drive it i hope its a big step forward if compered to the old RS4, cant wait to try(im sure things have happend)

The new Golf GTI steering wheel is a trendsetter, love it

Its growing om me but I love Avants.

[5000S old skool]

Im thinking with this new quattro system that is more oversteer biased than understeer. It'll do the ring somewhere in the ballpark of 8:13 - 8:17.

[M&M]

Originally posted by tailpipe
...the new M5. I think it'll just beat it in the dry, but totally demolish it in the wet.

I accept evreyone's comments here but I really don't understand this comment. Maybe I'm stupid or something. How do you figure that it will beat an M5 in the dry?

[tailpipe]

It's a thing called traction, my dear friend.

Without power to front wheels M5 has a tendancy to oversteer on the limit, a characteristic reduced by traction control, that reduces power when wheels start to slip. As a result, RS4 is likely to go into corners faster and come out faster.

But as I said, I think it'll be very close in the dry. I happen to know for sure that the benchmark for RS4 testing was M5 not M3 CSL.

The RS4 has one other advantage over M5, the engine doesn't detonate if pushed to the limit...

[M&M]

With a 12.5:1 compression ratio & FSi I reckon the RS4 will have more detonation problems than an M5. But what do I know?

ANd I think its common knowledge that handling & traction are two separate concepts. I's like to see the RS4 with the fantastic quattro traction do 7:52.

[R8isGreat]

HEre we go again!

Traction and handeling are Very related, because without traction comes understear and overstear. (refuse to say push) Handeling absolutly presupposed that you have traction. Quattro means you have more traction at speed.

Does 13 posts and 10 against the RS4 classify one as a "HATER?"

[5000S old skool]

I just wonder how many Audi guys go to the M5 board and bag on the M5 blowing up..

[Erik]

OK, for the xx time... :eye:

Could we NOT have the discussion of which engine is going to blow up
and leave it until the M5, RS4 etc. have seen the roads for a while and we know about FACTS.

[Klint]

Fo.....Me, that's a stunner.

Thanks for the pics, Erik! Some looks as though you had to bve a real James Bond to snap them...

[Erik]

Another movie from Audi.

Some history and then the RS4

http://mfile.akamai.com/9027/mov/aud..._kurz_300k.mov