doubletwins

My S4 is stock, and the warranty is up in May 2004. We're thinking about getting an A6 2.7T, 6 speed. How much slower is it than a stock S4? How does the handling compare?

Randy Welch

The A6 is only like .1-.2 sec slower to 0-60 than the S4.

It's a larger car of course but with the sport suspension it should be a nice handling car.

2.7tDallas

lots of folks here have owned both

GX-Cross

I had recently sold my '00 S4 and bought an '01 A6 2.7T. The A6 is a very different car. It's much heavier and less nimble. On the straightaway, it is pretty comparable - but in terms of handling, it's a world of difference. I do like the extra interior room, luxury features, and interior detail though. If you don't need the extra back seat room, I'd stick with the S4 as it is more fun to drive, and has better resale value too. Personally, the A6 fits me better and I'm happy with the trade.

Alan4.2

I sold my 00 S4 and replaced it with a 4.2 tip?sport and it took me a while to get used to the change. On highway is much better in the A6 but you give up some handling because of the added size (at least in feel). I love the new car though. I tried for a new S4 but couldn't get ahold of one. Not sorry.

Audacious

I moved from an '01 S4 Avant 6 spd into a 2.7t 6 spd sport

Pluses-

Much better braking feel on the A6, the brakes are progressive, and not grabby

Same (horrible) fuel economy

Space - not just the back seat, but the added width really makes the front seat a pleasure with 2 larger people in the car

Acceleration - darned if I can tell the difference between the two, though no BMW 325's try and run you at a traffic light. I'd have to assume that the A6 is slower based on weight, but hard to tell without timeslips

Longevity - the concensus on this board seems to be that the A6 has just that much more room and airflow under the hood, possibly adding to the life of the turbos and cooler running of the engine in general

Little things - if you let your wife drive the car occasionally You'll ask yourself, why the hell didn't the S4 come with memory seats, and 2 zone climate control!
Minuses

Weight - I figure my A6 is about 150 lbs heavier than my S4 Avant.. so if you are going from an S4 sedan to an A6 I'd figure that must be closer to 400 lbs

Handling - certainly not as crisp, when pushed, the A6 really shows it's weight, and luxury design. That said, some $$ spent on H-Sport swaybars brings the feel pretty close

Size - the A6 is simply bigger everywhere, it is hard to slip in and out of traffic with the same confidence as the smaller S4.. rear vision is not as good, but not as bad as you'd think with the slope of the rear window

Resale - bottom line buy or lease a USED A6, let someone else take the major 1st day depreciation hit, and get the Assured 100k mile warranty, buying new is probably not the best financial decision with the A6 chassis


In summary - couldn't be happier with my move to the A6.. in fact, I wish the salesman had made me drive the A6 2.7t sport in the first place.. I most likely would have purchased it OVER the S4.. as most of my driving is highway, and not streetlight drags and canyon runs. If Audi made an A6 Avant 2.7t 6 speed SPORT and not SUV (aka: Allroad) I would be thinking about buying my second one about now..

qtrofil

As a former B5 A4 owner (w/ modified suspension) I wrestled with the next Audi purchase. The new B6 A4 seemed like it hads tons of understeer. So I got an S-6. With the longer wheelbase balancing the car (by 3% or so), it really justiifes the room when you have the sport sjocks and just a $400 H-Sport swaybar upgrade. !
Get the 6!