Celebrating 25 Years of quattro: 2006 S4 25quattro Road Test
It started with a phone call. It ended with a revelation. The middle included both consternation and delight.
The S4 25quattro is the simple-elegant execution of a complex concept. The backdrop for the vehicle is of course celebration of the birth of quattro all-wheel drive 25 years prior. Producing a special series ‘ in this case a limited edition of only 250 vehicles ‘ to commemorate a significant event is a straightforward enough exercise. Complexity creeps into the equation via Audi’s own over-arching understated design philosophy. A square-peg-in-a-round-hole type of problem ensues. More on that later though.
The aforementioned phone call came from Audi of America headquarters and is, without a doubt, the type of call one loves to receive from area code 248. When the press fleet manager politely insists that, ‘we [Audi] want AudiWorld in this car’ calendar-clearing commences immediately. The car, the one and only of its kind currently in the US, showed up a mere one week later.
The first thing we did was get out the old razor blade and scrape off the stickers that another publication thought fitting to affix to the rear pillar windows (Audi ‘ thank us later for this return of dignity). From that point on we drove the S4 25quattro in a multitude of different situations / conditions, photographed it extensively, laughed and cried and eventually had a hard time giving the keys back.
The fantastic paint is applied to a B7 S4 body modified with Audi DTM-inspired body styling. Bumpers, front and rear, have been changed and in both cases present a wider and lower-to-the-ground valenced look. Cosmetic brake ducts ‘ very DTM looking indeed ‘ have also been integrated into the front and rear bumpers. The new bumper covers required the sacrifice of the front fog lights altogether and the S4’s typical quad tipped exhaust in favor of a more traditional dual tip design.Take a walk around the car and a few things clearly stick out. First of all the car is a stunning color called Avus Silver ‘ a grayish-blue shade with unbelievable, sparkling depth. This color was previously used in North America on the anything-but-ubiquitous RS 6’s and TT ALMS edition vehicles (as well as the previous generation RS4 in Europe), meaning it retains its air of exclusivity. Silver S4’s are a dime a dozen, but Avus Silver is no ordinary shade of silver. We appreciated that immediately.
The nose of the car, of the by-now-familiar single grille design, is unique. Not only is the grille finished in an almost-menacing glossy black, but it is adorned with an S4 25quattro exclusive ‘quattro’ badge.
Next on the exterior menu is carbon fiber trim used on both a rear trunk spoiler and on the front lower nose of the car. In the case of the rear spoiler it retains, at least when viewed from behind the car, a functional, OEM look. That is to say it appears to be in sync with the car as opposed to being a bolt on (and perhaps ill-conceived) boy racer item. When viewed looking straight down from above the contrast of the carbon fiber with the aforementioned Avus Silver paint is perfectly orchestrated. The same may be said about the S4 25quattro’s chin where the carbon fiber is deployed on a not-too-busy front spoiler in a classy rather than clumsy manner. We are not normally fans of carbon fiber on the exterior of a vehicle, but in this case Audi’s execution was spot on.
Audi will also offer a variable-fade four rings emblem decals which, at the owner’s discretion, can be applied by the dealer to the lower passenger doors of the S4 25quattro. Our vehicle did not include the decals, but that said we are typically in favor of less, not more, badging on Audis. The perspective at AudiWorld is that the higher performance the Audi, the less need there is for any badges at all (i.e. let the performance speak for itself, while leaving everybody around you wondering). The day an RS4 lands in our garage full time we will de-badge the entire care immediately! It nearly goes without saying that Audi’s recent adoption of V8 badges on the S4 (and now V10 badging on the newly shown S8) is passe in our book.
Rounding out the exterior look of the S4 25quattro is of course the wheels, which, in continuing with the trend of borrowing from the DTM racecar look, are inspired by the OZ race wheels used on the A4 DTM vehicles. Sized 18′ and a full 15-spokes, the wheels are in our opinion one of the small cracks in the vehicle’s overall presentation. Put simply, they are just not aggressive enough looking to act as a fitting foundation for this car. The thin spokes give the vehicle a thin start from the ground up and we believe this is one spot where Audi missed an opportunity to seriously beef things up. We will concede, however, that wheels are and will always be an intensely personal experience, and thus results / opinions may vary.
However, we are confused by more than just the wheels, therefore bringing us full circle on the previously mentioned ‘square peg in a round hole’ comment. Audi could have definitely used the S4 25quattro as an excuse to conceive and produce something truly visually aggressive on the exterior. While the car, with its bodywork, is undeniably different from a stock B7 S4, it is not from our point of view a huge departure from Audi’s rigorously understated design. Some may argue that this is beauty of Audi ‘ Bauhaus design at its best ‘ but we instead see a car that is screaming to be more but is an obvious reflection of Audi’s inability to get out of its own way and do something really aggressive and hot.
This impression is also carried forward into the interior of the S4 25quattro which retains all of the amazing qualities of all contemporary Audi interiors, but fails to significantly differentiate in any meaningful way. Yes there is RS4-sourced carbon fiber, ‘quattro’ embossed seats and a unique shift knob indicating the limited (1 of 250) nature of the car. At the same time, what’s missing is anything which actually builds upon Audi’s awesome interior execution but takes it to another level in recognition of such a limited release car. We would have liked to have seen a more intense color scheme, perhaps, or maybe a differentiated dash look for example (lighting, gauge coloring, etc.)
A hint of negativity in the air we decided to go and spend some more time driving the damn thing in order to produce more clues, yet results were once again mixed.
There is little doubt that Audi continues to improve and refine its vehicles each generation. Just as the B6 S4’s suspension significantly tightened up the loosey-goosey feel of the previous generation B5 S4, the B7 raises the bar yet again. This car feels tight and firm ‘ just the way a sports car should ‘ and the new 40:60 split quattro system (available on all MY2006 manual transmission-equipped S4’s) performs admirably. In typical fall Colorado fashion we got everything from hot sun to rain and even a wet snowstorm during our time with this car. Dry pavement still results in customary minor understeer and we did not push the car excessively enough (read: no track time in a borrowed press car) to really dig into the 40:60 split. On wet pavement the car felt confident.
We would have loved to have seen the new euro RS4 seats put in the S4 25quattro as an appropriate tribute to its purpose, but alas we know from Audi itself that the North American bound RS4’s will not even have those seats due to side airbag regulations.
The gearbox is another area where Audi raised the stakes since the previous models and we were quite pleased with the short throws and overall shift feel. Positivity there, however, was balanced out with disappointment around the overall sound of the S4 25quattro. Another publication’s review of this vehicle stated that the exhaust note was deeper and somehow more satisfying than a stock S4, but we can confidently say that that was anything but true (and later confirmed with Audi that the car does indeed utilize the same exhaust as every other S4). Just as with the relatively understated approach to the exterior, the exhaust was another spot where Audi missed a genuine opportunity to differentiate this limited edition model from the average B7 S4. Nothing screams sports car louder than a truly deep, V8-displacement-induced burble and subsequent growl on WOT. This car purred; it did not growl.
Returning from a long drive we put the car away for a few days in an attempt to further contemplate and rationalize the overall S4 25quattro offering.
It was about that time that we came to the realization that we were approaching the vehicle from a no-win and perhaps unfair position. While we obviously continue to yearn for more aggressiveness from Audi’s high end and limited vehicles, it would not be appropriate to ‘shoot the messenger’ in the form of the S4 25quattro. So what, then, is the S4 25quattro?
Quite simply it is the very best vehicle that Audi of America could put together from the existing parts bin to mark the significant anniversary of the renowned quattro system. An Audi spokesperson pointed out to us that the S4 25quattro is ‘the best the S4 will get in this [B7] generation’ and we believe it. Keeping in mind that the US market penetration for quattro vehicles stands at a full 85% (with Europe being just the inverse at only about 15%), it is quite fitting for Audi to produce a special automobile for this market.
While it doesn’t have a beefy exhaust it does have hand stitched, ultra-high-quality leather seats from quattro GmbH. While it doesn’t break the Audi mold in terms of aggressive styling it does have the fantastic looking grill treatment and carbon fiber highlights. It also has the amazing Avus Silver exterior and the wheels can, after all, be easily upgraded at the owners discretion.
Our real issue with the S4 25quattro, then, is the price. We can appreciate Audi of America working hard for a limited number of US enthusiasts to offer a unique and meaningful vehicle to commemorate the quattro story, but would have liked to have seen a slightly smaller premium than the $60,000+ price tag.
In the end our conclusion ‘ and the one that we think can be easily defended ‘ is that the real reason to own this car is to celebrate quattro. Nothing Audi offers in the North American market pays homage quite as well as this vehicle and 250 lucky owners will get to own a piece of that celebration. With that in mind we did feel more hesitant to give this press car back then most that we drive throughout the year. We love Audi enough to look past some of the areas where we were wishing for more aggressiveness and to just put this incredible symbol in our garage.
The 2006 S4 25quattro can be ordered from any dealer and there is still some availability. Potential owners beware: do not go to the dealer looking to customize your S4 25quattro because they have already all be been built to spec and imported by Audi of America. Deliveries will begin the week of November 7, 2005.