LCP

I was driving back alone from my second autocross today (more on that in the racing forum) and thought that it would be a good time to do a little bit on my initial experiences with the S4, so here we go...

First, some background. I had a 1996 A4 2.8 MFWD. The only options I had on it was the sunroof and sport steering wheel. Since the S4 was announced in Europe, I was waiting for it to come here, so I was very excited to get an S4 on "debut weekend" here in the U.S. While I loved that A4 and probably could have driven it as long as it lasted, its shortcomings were obvious -- it needed a little better handling and definitely needed some power -- I had more than my share of stop-light races lost in the A4.

So I got the S4 in nogaro blue with the "silver" leather interior and threw in only one option -- the convenience package with sunroof, auto-dimming rear mirrors and Homelink transmitter. Well, the color is absolutely stunning. I've gotten more complements about its color in two months than I've gotten on any aspect (combined -- except for the stereo, but there's a little bit of history there that I'm not going into) of my cars I've owned before in my life. The interior of the car is an absolute delight. While I had thought the "silver" would be an actual silver instead of very light gray, the contrast between the light seats and the rest of the car is very appealing. I find the seats to be very comfortable, but unfortunately for me I am too tall to really be comfortable in them since at 6-5 my skull is literally pressed against the ceiling in my car if I come even remotely close to sitting properly in my seat. The sport seats sit about an inch higher than the non-sport seats in my A4 did and this is the problem. I looked under the seats to see if there were springs or anything I could remove to lower the seat, but I did not find anything as the seat bottom was positioned inside a countoured metal cradle. The head rests are fully adjustable and even with my height I can set them far enough forward and up to properly and safely fit me.

As far as the interior features are concerned, the new in-dash CD/radio is very user-friendly and having the in-dash CD is very convenient. The factory Symphony set-up leaves a lot to be desired as far as the audio system is concerned, and unless you figure out how to set it up (bass/treble/fader) it can sound downright dreadful (my bit of advice: set the fader slightly to the rear and adjust the treble gain up about half-way, the midrange gain up about 1/4-way and leave the bass flat or mayble plus 1 mark). Homelink works flawlessly for me and I have no issues with its range. The auto-dimming rear mirrors I generally like, but I do have two quibbles with them. First, if the car behind you is up close to your bumper and its headlights are not visible through your windshield rearview mirror, then the side mirrors won't dim much, even if the light coming off of the side mirrors is quite blinding. The second problem generally comes on crowded freeways at night. The dim mirrors really cut down on the perception (depth and general location) of cars in your 4, 5, 7 and 8 o'clock positions. I change lanes frequently and I really have to look over my shoulder for every lane change now because I just can't trust them.

Now on to the performance. Acceleration -- it's got plenty and it's got it at all parts of the power band. Second gear starts are easy as cake. 2-6 shifts are not uncommon and I'll routinely do 2-4-6 for driving. 3-4-5-6 are so close that 5th seems like a real waste some time. 3d gear is probably the most fun. 1st is so short it's hard to know it's there and there's so much power that 2d goes by pretty fast too. 4th still has plenty of pick-up but it's just not as fast as 3rd and the S4 not so fast that 4th gear blows you away, but it's still plenty fast. Passing in 5 or 6 is still effortless, even at speeds below 50MPH.

On to the transmission. The clutch is short-throw and close to the floor. I like it this way and think it makes it easier to drive in traffic and more sure-footed under hard driving as well. With this clutch, I can almost press the clutch pedal by bending my ankle only and not having to move my leg. As far as the shift-gate pattern is concerned, when I got the car, 2-3 felt awkward and long. I have gotten used to it, but it I'm really lazy, I can still miss it sometimes. What I don't like the most is reverse; it's right next to 1st and if I'm in reverse, I nearly always go from R to 3 instead of R to 1. Also, today on the Autocross course, I braked too late in a corner and ended up stopping the car to stay on the course, so I tried to throw it into 1st and I almost put it into reverse -- first time that's ever happened, but I've never shifted from 2 to 1 that fast before either -- so that's something else that I have some concern about.

Suspension and handling: While the S4 is not as cat or razor like as the M3, it is moreso than a regular A4 (with or w/o sport package). The S4 does, however, ride exceptionally well. Audi may have found the perfect compromise between ride and handling on the S4. The S4 rides better than my non-sport A4 did, but I think much of that actually has to do with the fact that S4 is quattro where my A4 was not. The S4 handles bumpy roads very well. A wavy road, on the other hand, is not quite so enjoyable. The shorter suspension travel of the S4 will take you up and down on each of the waves. The 45-series tires transmit a good deal of road noise to the interior, especially pavement seams and lane markers, but those aren't overly bothersome. After autocrossing, I have certainly noticed that this car does understeer a lot. I may have to modify the suspension some if I continue doing autocross and track events with regularity just to reduce some of the body roll and understeer. Understeer under braking is really bad (but what do you expect from a 3600-lb. car w/59% of its weight over the front of 225-width rubber?) -- summing it up, I'd go so far as to say that if you're applying "maximum" braking pressure, the S4 almost won't even turn -- I suggest everyone go experience this in their S4 so they won't be experiencing it while trying to avoid an accident for the first time. Of course, understeer under full throttle is not nearly as bad, but it's still there -- just keep the gas pedal down and the wheel turned to where you want to go and the S4 will get there.

Speaking of brakes, the brakes on the S4 really are excellent no matter what others say (remember that I'm comparing them to the brakes that other cars actually have on them from the factory -- especially brakes that other $39,000 four door sedans have -- not 6-figure Porsche's and Ferrari's).

Now on to my problems. Well, there's not much here. I added 3/4 of a quart of oil today (regular dino oil). My ashtray is stuck, but I think that maybe a coin is jammed in there. My toolbox flew out of its "secure" spot in the trunk in autocross today. I've gotten a rock chip already right above my grill and my windshield got a divot last night on the freeway. Also, my near-white leather is showing a mark on my seatback where my belt rubs against it (I haven't cleaned the leather yet. Any recommendations?). The trip computer seems to calculate gas mileage about 1 MPG on the favorable side (by the way, my actual MPG is probably about 19 since I got the S4 (probably about 1/3 city driving, and 2/3 20-mi. freeway commute usually at the trailing end of rush hour (light to medium traffic w/some stop and go), but no long road trips yet), As far as my absence of problems, my brakes work fine, I don't have any B-pillar rattle, no voodoo magic with my sunroof controls yet, drive-by-wire is fine and my xenon headlights appear to aimed properly (but they still do not illuminate tall object along the roadway, such as people, reflective road signs, etc. and there's no way if you were trying to see up an increasing slope hill would you be able to see anything up the hill with them (not an issue for me here in flat Houston however); also the fog lights seem almost worthless given how bright the xenon's are.

I've probably missed something I wanted to write, but oh well. Enjoy -- I am. If this car had 2 or 3 more inches in the backseat and another inch of headroom, I don't think I'd ever want to get rid of it.

psk

Wish there was someplace on the website where they could put all the long reviews like this in one place.

LCP

The birdseye maple looks awesome. My mother hates wood and loves it. The gray color provides the perfect complement to the black/white on the inside of the car, plus it is very unique and classy-looking. Wood surrounds the shifter and is very nice there.

The exhaust note on this car is great. It is not loud at all, but when you start it up, you know there's something under the hood. In the words of the wife, "it sounds like a racecar." I think that the chrome tips on the exhause look very good too -- not cheap or tacky.

The aluminum "S4"-engraved doorsills are quite nice, but show water spots easily until wiped down.

The trunk now has two lights on the inside -- one under the rear deck and the other on the right side by the cargo box. Unfortunately, you can't really drive around with anything in the trunk if you play at all in your car on a daily commute -- even the cargo net pops loose and doesn't hold down medium-sized objects.

The steering ratio in the S4 is very close and makes driving very easy to do, especially when quick inputs are needed. The feel is still light, but heavier than in the A4 -- I like this light feel very much, however, and it is very precise.

I like the size and dimpled texture around the edges of the golf-ball gear shifter. It is pretty big as far as shifters go. It is larger than that on the A6 2.7T.

The lumbar seat adjustment is quite comfortable, although I wish it would come forward just a little more.

The sunroof does buffet some around 40MPH, but that does not exist at other speeds and is pretty manageable if the sunroof is not 100% open (e.g., in the "convenience" position)

Oh, and I forgot about the best part: The wife loves it and even loves driving it (although she's got a ways to go on manual transmission shifting, esp. in traffic).

HE

I was just curious what you've tried so far to try to loosen the back end up.

Have you played much with your alignment settings?

rickp

Absolutely superb review, what I've come to expect from you!

LCP

Haven't touched the alignment yet. At my first AutoX, I was running 38F/36R, and understeer was very bad. Before that, my dealer-prepared pressure was like 34 all around. I was at 42 all around at Autocross today, and understeer was less pronounced. After getting home, I let the air out to 39 for regular driving and am going to see how that holds up around town, but I will definitely go back up to 42 for the next track event. By the way, that lift-throttle oversteer is great in this car.

LCP

Thanks, I'm not sure the word "superb" has been used around here before

meem

i asked this question a little while ago but got no responses.. since we have a captive negaro owner here: how have you found the paint in terms of maintenance? is it scratching up easily? if not, what are you using to wash your car?

thanks!
meem

HE

I would have guessed around 42 in the front just because of the weight of these cars, but then I've not autocrossed an all wheel drive car before. Have you tried dropping a couple lbs in the rears?

BTW, I hear you on the lifting to break the back end loose. That always gets the adrenaline going!!

Can't wait till mine gets here.

AvramD

Boy, I drive too much. Trouble is this car is so fun to drive that I can't bare to go away for a weekend & be without it. So I take it with me. If I continue at this rate, my care will have over 37,000 miles at the end of one year.

Anyway, my single biggest addition to your review is this: somewhere between 1000 and 1800 miles, the engine break-in period <b>really</b> finished. By that I mean that engine's high end power delivery became much more smooth & refined. Between 600 & 1200 miles, it really felt like it was running out of breath just over 5k rpm. Now it pulls perfectly smoothly with only slight power loss right up to that magic ~6300 point that all the dyno graphs seem to indicate is where it really dies.

For me, this difference is night & day. I was very meticulous in following the manual's break-in instructions. I didn't go over 5k for the first 600 mi (5k was my interpretation of "don't redline the engine"). In the second 600 mi, I learned that this just isn't a high rpm engine, no matter what the tachometer says. Since then, it has become a perfectly happy high rpm engine, just one w/ so much low end power that you don't really need to use the high revs. But you can if & when you want or need, and they work just great.

I have to agree with you about the back seat. While waiting for service at my dealership (Nav repair), I sat in the backseat of a '00 3-seris bimmer. In terms of space, that was luxurious compared to my S. I'm sorry to say it, but pretty much nobody will be complaining about having to ride in that backseat.

You didn't comment on the ABS/EDL. I am absolutely thrilled with both of them. They do an admirable job of fixing big mistakes when I'm either to lazy to do it right, or just plan mess up (or when I'm expiramenting), and they do a <b>perfect</b> job of fixing the minor imperfections in my force delivery when I'm carfully exploring the limits. The best is hard launches around corners w/ irregular traction (sand & gravel or wet) - This car can do 7 sec. 0-60s in <b>ANYTHING</b> (well, haven't tried snow or wet leaves yet).

As for gears, I find that I have a very different reason for not using 5th than you. This car has as much power in 5th at 80 as most cars have in 3rd at 40. If I pass someone at highway speeds in 5th, I usually find that I'm going over 90 when it was totally unnecessary. I use 6th specifically b/c it helps keep me out of trouble.

I have one interesting comment about power delivery: I believe that this engine's torque curve varies depending on more than just throttle position, revs & lag. I find that the amount of power you'll get at a specific rpm depends quite a bit on how you modulated the throttle before you got there, even if you've been on the floor for more than 0.5 sec by the time you get there.

The best example of this is hard launches. I find that if I start at say 3500 rpms, and do a quick clutch release, I get disappointing power out of 1st gear all the way to the limiter. But if I start at 2000 rpms, and am easy on the clutch (swallowing some lag as it drops to 1500), I get way <b>more</b> power between 2000 & 4000 than with the above procedure. Now of course this is all as measured by the accelerometer in my pants, but it is very regular. I know I haven't articulated this very well, so I hope someone else will share similar perspectives.