airbus9

In car&driver feb issue, the new S4 outperformed the RS4 on the virginia international raceway by .4 sec, despite 87 fewer hp, (testing from different years). They had zero comment on that difference.
So the S4 has a new active rear diff; RS4 curb weight:3957, power to weight 9.4; S4 weight:3714,power to weight: 11.2.........., but does this make that performance plausible?
Track times depend on who the driver is , which makes it hard for me to compare even Nurburgring lap times, as the same car will get seriously different times by different testers ( remember Nissan GTR controversy with Porsche?)...
Any thoughts?

John Stahmann

If I remember correctly, the 335i also was faster around Car & Driver's lightning lap than the RS4, but then when Sport Auto ran both the RS4 and 335i at the Nurburgring with the same driver in each car the RS4 was 17 seconds faster than the 335i (8:09 vs 8:26).

The american car magazine attempts to have their own lap benchmarks fall way short of the widely accepted Nurburgring times. It'll be interesting to see how the S4 does there. The S4 has some cool technology that will definately help it's times. It'll also be interesting to see the RS5 lap times as it has the combination of a more powerful RS4 engine with newer drivetrain technology like the B8 S4.

two2

plausible, maybe. although i take what car&driver says with a grain.. RS4 has way more top-end and the S4 runs out of steam by 6000rpm. a lot depends on the driver behind the wheel.. and who knows if the RS4 they tested had carbon buildup which can make a big difference..

Reggie

I never take C&D testing that seriously. R&T is much more technical and accurate.

ELEVENS

The B8 S4 is a great car, too ho-hum though - just doesn't turn my crank. YMMV.

bmcds4

I agree with Reggie and Elevens but keep in mind car mags are a for-profit business. How many potential ads will Audi be placing in magazines for the RS4? And how many potentially for a new model? I just sayin....

I drove both a 2010 S4 and the RS4 back to back on the same evening at the same dealership. About the same price - you can see where I landed. 2010 was nice but almost "too" nice. The electronic gadgets were cool but the driving experience of the RS4 won me over.

JMSIV

Doesn't the S4 have quite a bit of torque? The RS4 make hp, but it does it by spinning up faster. The torque is not much more than an older V8 S4.

And if you have driven the grand course at VIR, it's not as much of a high horse power track as say the full course. It's a long circuit, the back straight is interrupted, lots of turns. The interior loop (patriot course) is really tight. So it comes down to tires and torque.

At the end of the day, I really couldn't care less. I don't care how fast it is, the S4 is not as exciting to drive as the RS4. Even Audi admits the new S4 doesn't sound like much.

There is more to making a car exciting than just lap times and numbers on a page.

John Stahmann

Well said.

PulpExposure

I test drove both back to back. The RS4 was an "experience", the S4 was a test drive. That's why I am shopping and hopefully buying an RS4 soon.

GregB7S4

Here is a track time comparison between new S4 and the RS4. RS4 is quicker at 2 of 3 tracks listed. It will be interesting to see the new S4's official times at the 'ring and on Top Gear's test track.

http://www.fastestlaps.com/compariso...udi_S4_B8.html