Jason

Hi,

I am actually just curious as to what owners think of the S4's handling. I'm sure it is far far better than you average street car, but are there any issues with excessive understeer? (I read somewhere that the car has a 60/40 f/r weight distro...compounded with the fact that the front wheels are driven.) How does the car react under power in cornering situations?? (power oversteer/understeer) Any comparisons to the late m3s?

PS: I'm considering an 90quattro - how many miles is too many miles for these cars...will they go 200k?

mpm

between boost and firmness. The steering is really quick (that's taken me a little to get used to), so you need to be aware of your steering angle and entry speed. If you go in too fast and let off, you get a bit of a waggle.

But, overall I'm impressed with the road manners of this car. The suspension soaks up bad pavement, and the platform is tight. Out of the box, iy offers a great blend of feedback, control, and comfort. This will be a fun car to drive aggressively but smoothly.

Granted the ///M3 will give you more of that sporting "feel" (RWD and the 50/50 weight distribution add to the fun), but the S4 will be easier to live with day-to-day. And for those who want a more aggressive set-up, this platform can handle any modification you want to dial in.

You can tell the suspension engineers put a lot of time into how to make the S4 "feel", IMHO they hit it right down the middle.

Noel Louthan

Granted, I went from a Toyota 4X4 truck to the S4, but I think the handling is superb for an everyday car. At speed, the suspension easily and smoothly soaks up the bumps that make my truck shake. At the same time, when pulling out of the office garage at 2 mph, I can feel every break in the concrete.

The word to describe the driving experience is smooth. It accelerates smoothly, spots quickly and handles like a dream.

After saying that however, it took awhile to get used to the quickness of the steering and the strength of the brakes. I know there are people on the board who think it is too soft and others will say the brakes are junk, but I didn't intend to make this a race car. I wanted a fast, stealthy, quality executive sedan that my family could ride in. The S4 is the perfect car.

Noel
Santorin/Silver just crossed 650 miles

donp

- less understeer than my former A4 1.8t.
- firm compliant suspension that does not beat you to death on rough roads yet "sticks" when you decide to stuff it into a corner. I think it's an EXCELLENT compromise for haulin' *** and for use as a daily driver. Two thumbs up Audi!
- gone, is the annoying tail wag NickS mentions in his S4 review of mine on the A4 board
- easing into the throttle just before the apex gets the boost up to ROCKET out of corners!
- 2 occasions of power-induced oversteer so far

AvramD

This car's cornering capability is deceptive. I've been in many situations where I got close to what I thought was the limit, and chickened out & slowed down, only to later figure out that It could have taken more. I believe the twinge of extra body roll as compared to my del sol is tricking me into thinking I'm at the limit when I'm not.

It's certainly predictable though - hard throttle = mild understear, even throttle = even slip, lift throttle (and/or brake) = mild oversteer.

Mind you, hard throttle in a tight turn gets to the expected oversteer.

-Avram
Santorin/Silver 2k mi

DwayneC

I've found under hard driving (i.e. at the track), the best way to combat the nature of quattro to understeer is to use a little left foot braking through the turn. Plus it has the added advantage of keeping the turbo spolled, so that you can really rocket out of the apex.

Learning this was the turning point for Audi in the early years of BTCC. Once the drivers had mastered left foot braking they became unstoppable (until quattro was banned of course).

I don't suggest you try this on the street.

Dwayne
94 S4

Corey S

....like Dwayne said, left foot braking works. My first autoX in my new S4 two weeks ago was a fine display of how much the stock S4 understeers. I was plowing through everything (since I was used to my tweaked A4 1.8TQM). Anyway, at my second autoX last weekend, I entered corners with a little less speed (taming the biturbo), trail braked a little, then used a little left foot braking to get that back end around the corner while maintaining boost.

Definitely takes lots of practice, but it works. I still haven't perfected it yet, but I'm gettin' there.

Corey S
'00 S4

Jeff R

And I thought it was a big difference but you went to a S4. Must be a grande difference

Jeff R

KJK

That's what the engineers have to take into consideration. They can't build the car for autocrosses for your average driver. How many here have noticed their car get a little bit twitchy on high speed sweepers after modfiying the suspension to increase turn in, etc.? I did in my M5. It is totally manageable but certainly not as forgiving as the stock set up. The quicker transfer of weight means you have to be a bit more cautious in those situations.

Otherwise, try a technique I saw an instructor use in his wife's 328i convertible (don't tell her). He would fly into the corner, stand on the brakes, push in the clutch, turn and let the clutch out slowly while applying power to kick the tail around. Yahoo!! It was fun.