Break-in complete! Impressions...
 

Well that didn't take too long :) Ten days to be exact and I was very good about it: varied the speed, gears, and revs during long highway trips, stayed within the 6000/7000 rpm rpm limitations before 600 and 1200 miles respectively, gradually increased revs to redline towards 1500 miles, with a few healthy doses of motoman thrown in here and there.

Here begins the tale of what mischief took place last night after the clock ticked over to 1501 miles on the odo. Being that there are no real places to properly "bend" the traffic laws within the city limits of Chicago, and no twisties or nice sets of turns for that matter, I resorted to using various on and off ramps that have become my local favorites which all lead to either hard breaking zones or a highway which was relatively open at 1 AM even in such a big city. Armed with a V1 and big balls that miraculously became such due to excitement over having just completed break-in, I entered the highway northbound (Ontario street entrance for those who know) after a nice launch from 1st gear. Thanks to quattro, the launch was not all that dramatic but it quickly became evident that in this car, revs quickly turn into thrust. Redline. 2nd gear. * chirp * Whoa. Didn't expect that. This awd beast actually WANTS to break the tires loose going into 2nd gear without even really trying too hard (at least I think I didn't drop the clutch that hard). My gf and I look over to each other with huge grins on our faces and I thought to myself: this car is fvcking out of its mind. Love it. Redline, 3rd. Redline, 4th and before I even approached the bend that actually lead into the merge to the highway, I glanced at the speedo and saw the needle hovering at about 120. OMG. Maybe this car really is as fast as the M5 despite the bimmer having the clear advantage in the top end on paper. At this point, I proceed onto the highway, already at more than adequate highway speeds I might add, and notice an unmarked police interceptor-looking vehicle which I'm about to pass like it was standing still (though it was probably already going about 70), and sure enough as I approached it from the rear quickly, I noticed it had "M" prefixed plate numbers indicating that it was indeed a municipal vehicle. Brakes. Brakes. Brakes. Whew! Maybe they weren't paying too much attention. I immediately took the next exit to duck around and re-enter the highway going the other direction. As if my balls weren't just kept in check, I stomped on it to get on the on ramp again. I have no idea what came over me :) Next thing I know, I'm back up to highway speeds again in a blink.... ok, maybe twice the highway speed. The car pulls incredibly strong above 6k rpm's all the way to redline just above 8k and it comes with a soundtrack to match. Although the M5 still feels like it pulls stronger around 90 mph and above, the RS4 is every bit as brutal getting up to triple digits but obviously more involved. After some more havoc getting on and off the highway ramps, it didn't take too long before my gf asked when her turn was. Damn this is such a fun car! I can't wait to take it to the track. There was some more harmless mischief with the RS4 last evening but you folks get the idea and I need not get into that further here. Enjoy your RS4's everyone! It is one hell of a car once it's allowed to run free. Certainly lived up to all my expectations so far.

Re: Break-in complete! Impressions...
 

So, did you like the car? ;)

Seriously, Larry, great write up! We are expectcing our Q7 next week, but it's testimonies like these that make me want to change my order. Btw, what's the nearest track to you? It sounds like you are going to be logging a lot of miles on it.

Awesome.. my question is this..
 

How does it feel compared to the B7 S4 now that the engine is broken in?

track, probably gingerman?

i can't wait til break-in is complete. and i haven't been the best about it...
 

...trying to control myFAST. this car is so much fvcking fun. like you, i'm gonna wait until i'm past 1000 to post a review and comparo with RS6 and S4.

in the meantime, please post more thoughts on RS4 as compared to M5. you're in a unique position to do so. i know it isn't a direct comparison, but i'm starting to see more reasons to compare them. would be helpful for those who can't have both, and are trying to decide between them ;-)

I think the nearest is autobahn cc in joliet....
 

great track and I go there often. 3.6 mile road course, very technical and lots of linked turns. There's also Blackhawk farms about an hour northwest of the city and gingerman is about 3 hours away and so is Grattan. Then there's Road America in wisconsin about 3 hours or so away.

Great write up, can't wait to see what she does after 5000 miles :-)

I don't even have 600 -- let alone 1500 mi -- and i got it a wk b/f larryv. hangs head in shame.

in all fairness, I had help...
 

my gf, who has a far longer commute to work than I do drove it to work a few days last week and also to a conference and back about 350 miles round trip. Then there were all those trips to buy milk and bread and other oddities at a grocery store 40 miles away because I forgot there was a grocery store only 2 blocks away ;)

Who the gf or the car!!! ;p