seinsmeld13

The OP likes to drive given his 254,000 miles on his trade. It doesn't appear he is interested in modding either the S5 or S4. Agree with Saki the 4.2 FSI is a great engine and sounds great. Both cars driven hard in the city will suffer at the pumps. I drive my S4 like I stole it and have averaged 11.5 L/100 km combined for 70,000 km. That works out to 20.45 mpg U.S. Add 20% to that for imperial. I personally wouldn't buy the S4 without the sport diff. In this case I would choose the S5 for its looks alone. I rarely have passengers in my backseat. Anyway you can't lose with either.

NWS4Guy

No he is right. If you use this mentality, as you get older, you will continue to buy ****tier and ****tier cars. My first home cost $38,500. You think that is a fair price to NEVER surpass when buying a new car? My current home costs well past 13 times that of my first home. Inflation and adjusted dollars will help you realize the reality of the situation.

NABS4

Given your commute distance I would say the S4 will have a distinct advantage over the 4.2 in fuel economy. There is no such thing as free horsepower when mileage is concerned. That is, if you keep foot in the gas, no matter the engine, you won't get good fuel economy - this is the reason why some complain of poor fuel economy with the 3.0T. I'll venture a guess that most of your commute will be spent at cruising speeds between 50 and 70 mph, given your back roads of Maine comment. At those speeds, you'll have no problem attaining 8.5 L/100km which is about 27 us mpg. I don't know what the S5 will achieve, but it will probably be low 20s under the same scenario.

sakimano

I really don't think fuel should be a consideration. The average b8 s4 gets about 19 mpg (see fuelly). The average s5 owner gets about 16. That's real world calc...not dis.

Both cars can be babied for more...but that's what turbo 4cyl A4s are for.

So if the op drives 15,000 miles a year and gas is $3.75/gallon, we're talking a difference of maybe 20 percent...or about $600 to 700 per year. Certainly not enough to change the decision one way or the other unless its a total coin toss.

For the record people who start these threads usually do it in the forum of the car they don't want...and they want people to convince them they're wrong. Sounds like he's leaning to s5

I think he wins no matter what he does. Both awesome.

NABS4

You missed the fact that his commute is 100 mi/day. There's no way he'll only get 19 mpg in an S4 at that distance on the hwy

sakimano

and there's no way he'll only get 16 mpg in an S5 if he's driving mostly highway

definitely missed that. That's a ton of driving. So abour 35,000 miles per year he's putting on his car (25,000 miles commuting plus another 10,000 miles personal driving)?

DrGP

Best highway mileage I ever got on my B6 S4 was 22mpg. Coming home from the mountains, meaning mostly downhill. That being said, I have yet to see more than 24mpg on my B8 S4, but that is driving at speeds between 75 and 80 mph. Probably would do better at lower highway speeds. Can't imagine that the fuel consumption on the S5 would differ much from the B6 S4. And about the 4.2 V8 being moddable. Any engine can be modded. Its really about how easily it can be done and at what price/per performance gained. In that category, the 3.0 SC engine wins hands down.

sakimano

the FSI engines are about 6-10% better on gas than the MPI V8 engined cars. Don't forget part of the benefit your B8 S4 has is FSI. The S5 also has FSI.

Again with the moddable thing. Now you're saying it's too expensive to mod the V8 cars?

Last time I checked 3.0T tunes are $1200-1500...pulleys are $500...catbacks are over $2000...intakes are $500. What part of this is 'cheap'?

B6/7 S4 4.2 stock 13.8 @ 101 quarter mile

cabracco85 had
piggied OEM downpipes (free)
custom 2.5" xpipe catback $900
JHM tune $550
LW rotors $500 (but need to be replaced anyway, so is this really a 'cost'?)
car ran 12.89 @ 106
Gained 1.0 seconds of ET and 5 MPH trap speed for $1950, all on pump gas


B7 RS4 4.2 FSI stock 12.9 @ 107 quarter mile

George (username 2000S4) had
$1700 JHM catback
$900 JHM downpipes
$650 JHM tune
$1500 JHM lw flywheel/clutch
Mods cost $4800...car ran 12.2 @ 112.45 (beating a fully loaded B8 S4 same day by a full tenth and 1 MPH...he was stage II APR, HFCs, catback, LW wheels, dsg)
gained 7 tenths of ET and 5 mph of trap speed for $4800, all on pump gas

while the B8 can definitely make up ground easily, so can the 4.2 cars. Just as long as you don't **** your money away on crappy mods.

tune only B8 S4s on pump gas are gaining what...about 2-4 tenths and 3-4 MPH for $1200-1500. To get 7-8 tenths gained and 5+ MPH you're looking at tune + pulley + exhaust + HFC and maybe an intake...i.e. easily $5000.

Sure you could just run race gas at the strip, but that's an irrelevant benchmark.
Sure you could just run REVO stage 1 for good gains...but the cost of an engine replacement (because your warranty is shot thanks to TD1) + the $1200 tune is going to be pretty horrendous after you knock your rods into spaghetti.

http://audirevolution.net/forum/inde...38.0;topicseen

Big turbo TT

Either V8 (FSI asnd non) are over complex POS for hat they "do". I have driven a friends RS4 and it was "OK",but my little GT3071R TT could leave it in the dust in everything but a dig on stret tires.
The liquid cooled alternator is ridiculously expensive to replace not to mention the power steering pump if it ever goes bad,not to mention the RIDICULOUSLY over complex timing chain design.
After working on these cars,they are not "bad" reliability wise,but I would hate to have to pay for any major repairs after warranty.
Personally I would not want anything to do with any of the Audi V-8s.
The V6 has a better tq. spread and with just a REVO flash,guys are running 12.2 1/4 mile.
A flash on a RS4 you are lucky to get 20-30hp,and whio want to spend 18K on a SC??
There is a RS4 on ebay right now that has had a APR SC installed only a couple thousand miles ago,and it is for sale (?)
My guess is the car either did not live up to expectations or the car now gets 6mpg with the SC. Audi has made some decent engines but the 4.2 V8's and the old 3.0's were 2 that I would personally never want to own.

sakimano

Cuz everyone uses a big turbo 1.8 4 cylinder as a performance benchmark and a measurement of what is 'good' lol. Since you didn't notice, the revo car that went 12.2 is pinging like a mother****er and has knock sensors and CELs coming out its ***. So did the green revo car in California. ****, we could all achieve great things at the expense of the engine. Since you're clearly out to launch on the 4.2 fsi accomplishments, go study some more. A number of rs4s with tune and exhaust have shown gains of 40-60 WHEEL horsepower.

Its funny...the rs4 4.2 fsi (and later the r8 4.2 fsi) were praised as the greatest engine in the world when they launched. They also vaulted Audi to prominence, becoming two halo cars that really changed the brand.

I guess you missed that part.