New S Wagon (long-ish)

[Ti Kan]

Derek Daily writes:
> In possession of bright blue colored S4 Avant.  6-spd,
> ultrasuede heated seats.  Little else. 
> Except...torque.

Congratulations!  You've got yourself an awesome car.

> -  Too tight.  Shifter feels "wrong" next to the
> former feel of my 300k old quantum, or the sloppy CQ. 
> Clutch release is awkward.  Understand it is 'self
> adjusting' but why can't WE decide how we like our
> cars anymore?  I'll get used to it.

I thought so too when I first got my S4.  The 6-sp box's
shift feel isn't as nice as the A4q 5-sp manual box, and is
a bit balky especially when cold, but I've gotten used to it.

> -  Steering is pleasantly improved upon CARKLR's A4q
> sedan.  More feel, although on center still doesn't
> have feel of earlier cars.  We knew this.

Check your tire pressure and pump it up to about 40psi,
and you'd be pleasantly surprised.  Also, let the tire
wear a bit and it gets better still.

> -  In the states the 4,5,6 gears are practically
> useless.  3 is good for at least 80mph and that's
> STILL in the 4.5-5.5k rpm range I think.  I haven't
> pushed past 5.5k.  I'll have to be very careful in
> this car.

Well, on days when you feel like takin' it easy, the
torquey engine actually lets you shift at ~2K rpm and
cruise in 6th on city streets at 40mph without feeling
strained.  The car is a gas guzzler if you have a heavy
right foot, so it makes sense to go easy sometimes :).

> -  P6000s on 17in wheels.  I'll wait to make
> judgements on performance, but road noise is
> relatively greater than our other car.

So far I'm quite happy with the P6000.  It's actually
surprisingly quieter than the Good Year Eagle RS/A tires
that was on my former A4q.  Handling is great.  Corners
can be taken at great rates of speed and the car makes
it seem so easy.  Be careful with curbs and ramps...
those Avus wheels can get scratched easily.

> Wheeeeee........

Have fun!  The S4 simply seems invites you to drive it
hard.  I've never been known to be the type who would do
stop light drag races, but ever since I dusted a Mustang,
I have had the urge to do more. :)  The true magic of
the car, though, is how incredibly calm and unfussed it
is cruising at 100 mph, with more speed coming on fast
at just a light press of the foot.

-Ti
01 S4 2.7 biturbo quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
96 A4 2.8 quattro (sold but not forgotten)
-- 
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    ti at amb.org
 //////  http://www.ibiblio.org/tkan/
///