My neu-S4: a one-year review

[Ti Kan]

It was exactly one year ago that I took delivery of my '01 S4 biturbo.
Here are some of my thoughts and experiences about this car, especially
compared to the '96 A4q that I had before it.  Many of this stuff will
be old news for some of you, and phased in before the '01 model year,
but for the sake of comparison I'll mention them.

My S4 with 6-sp manual came custom-ordered (waited about 6 months) in
light silver metallic, with silver leather interior.  The dash, door
panels, headliners and carpet are black.  A portion of door panels and
front center armrest is finished in the same silver leather
(actually more like an off-white/grey) as the seats.  The wood trim
is birds-eye maple, and its greyish color and pattern looks quite exotic:
sort of like a polished granite.  This car has all options for 2001,
*except* the sport interior package (alu side mirror housings, alu interior
trim, and leather/alcantara two-tone seats), the factory cell phone,
and the tiptronic.

The options I have are the convenience package (tilt/slide glass sunroof,
Homelink transmitter, and auto-dimming rear view mirrors (interior as
well as both sides), cold weather package (heated seats, heated door
locks and windshield nozzle, ski sack passthrough), Audi GPS navigation
system, and Bose sound system with trunk-mounted 6-disc CD changer.

S4-specific bits include the front bumper with the larger intakes,
color-matched side skirts and lower door mouldings, color matched
lower rear bumper cover, chrome dual exhaust tips, "S4" emblems
on front grill, rear lid, all four door sills (on aluminum trim plates),
steering wheel and instrument cluster.  the side window outside trim is
black chrome (instead of bright chrome for the A4 2.8 or black for the
1.8T).  S4s also have special bluish-white instrument gauge pointers that
really contrasts nicely against the red-lit markings.  There are also the
6-spoke Avus wheels that grace most S-cars, in 17x7.5 size.  These are
wrapped in Pirelli P6000 225/45-17 tires with a "Y" speed rating
(up to 186mph).  Even the spare tire is full size Pirelli P6000 on
the same Avus wheel.

Summary:

The overall package is just incredible.  It has everything that made
the A4 a great car, enhanced further by a super torquey, powerful and
flexible engine, taut suspension, excellent 10-way power front sport
seats, and some nifty S4-specific touches here and there.  Understated,
but has a nice presence all its own.

Vorsprung durch Technik:

The people at Audi are constantly making improvements to their cars
and as an owner of the first year type 8D platform (my old '96 A4q
and the last (this S4) there are plenty of things of note.  Just a number
of examples:

- Added refinement:

  The overhead grab handles and the new cupholder in the center console,
  even the concealed cig lighter plug housing now spring open and close
  with a nice damped action.  The interior lights fades in and out smoothly
  too, and the rear dome lights and vanity mirror lights are repositioned
  for better lighting.  New are the lighted puddle/safety reflectors in
  each of the four doors, and front foot well lights that operates
  individually for each side.  The red LEDs in the overhead console which
  casts a dim glow at night over the center console is also a nifty addition.
  The sunroof control dial and dome light switches are also redesigned.
  The air controls for the dash vents are now even backlit at night.

  The doors close with a softer, less metallic thunk than the '96, and
  the anti-theft blinking LEDs were relocated from the console to each of
  the front the door lock pins.  The new climate control works better than
  the '96, with improved programming and user controls.  The fog lights
  and hazard switches in the center console are of a new light-touch
  type, and all of the center console controls and buttons have a tactile
  ridge on them so you can find them by feel.

  The 3-spoke sport steering wheel is even slimmer in profile than the
  one I had in the '96; and those funky dimples surrounding the Audi rings
  is replaced by a textured surface of small dots.  The instrument
  cluster backlighting is now with white LEDs rather than bulbs, and is on
  whenever the ignition is on.  The console/radio backlighting as well
  as the instruments are also now self-dimming based on ambient conditions.

  The remote for the alarm/door locks is now integrated into the new
  style "switchblade" keys.  It also has selective unlock and a panic
  button that were not on the '96.  They keys are of the laser-cut
  with the wiggly inner-groove variety.

  There is a nice safety warning reflector triangle in the trunk, as well
  as a fairly complete first aid kit in the rear armrest (you could probably
  do a small surgery with the stuff in there).  The mounting location for
  the trunk CD changer is much improved; it is now housed behind a hinged
  door on the side of the trunk, along with the Navigation computer/CD-ROM
  reader and a metal box for the toolkit.  The toolkit is nicely organized
  in the box, and even comes with gloves.

  The passenger side mirror are now the same size as the driver's.
  The door handles are the new, rounder style pull flaps, and there is
  no more key hole on the passenger door.

  The windshield spray nozzle is no longer on the top of the hood.  It
  has been relocated to the edge under the hood, right near the wipers.

  Pretty much all of the car's electronic systems are now diagnosable
  via the OBD port.  I have Ross-Tech's VAG-COM and there is a whole
  world of stuff in there that can be read and programmed.

- More standard equipment:
  New are "next-gen" front airbags, side seat mounted airbags and the
  head protection curtain airbags that cover the entire side window area.

  Trip computer is now standard, and it shares the LCD display area in
  the center of the instrument cluster with the auto-check system,
  the navigation system, the radio and outside temperature displays.

  Xenon HID headlights w/ self-leveling is standard on the S4.  The front
  foglights are relocated to the bumper, lower to the ground where it
  should be.  The headlight and turn signal units are now integrated into
  a single housing.

  The Symphony radio is a nice improvement over the old Delta CC,
  especially with its "hidden" equalizer that allows much finer
  tuning of the sound than the tone controls.  The single CD player in the
  Symphony is also a welcome feature, while it retains the cassette
  functionality.  Also new is the ESP (electronic stability program)
  with a console button that can be used to switch it off.

Problems:

There were a few of minor glitches upon delivery:

- The navigation system would not work.  Turns out to be a defective
  navigation system box.  After dealer replaced that, it worked fine.

- The magazine would become stuck in the CD changer.  After the dealer
  replaced the changer twice it was determined that the culprit was the
  magazine itself.  Somehow it is out-of-spec.  A new magazine solved
  the problem.

- After two thousand miles or so a small but audible buzzing sound
  developed from the center console.  It was the interior temperature
  sensor's aspirator fan making noise.  The aspirator fan on these cars
  is not a separate replaceable part (it is built-in to the climate control
  head), so the dealer replaced the control head and voila, problem
  gone.

These are all done gratis thanks to Audi Advantage.  That navigation
and climate control units would have been some serious $$.

Other than those initial glitches, the car has been completely trouble
free.  At the 5K miles service I switched to Mobil-1 0W-30.  There was
a bit of oil consumption in the first couple of thousand miles, but that
has subsided to virtually nothing since (less than 1/4 of a quart in the last
5K miles).

Gas mileage is quite variable, not surprisingly.  I can get 30mpg if I
cruise at a leasurely pace of 65mph, but lots of spirited driving or
city driving drops that down to 18mpg average on a tank.  The trip computer
is also interestingly telltale, looking at the instantaneous readings,
that driving above 65mph the fuel consumption begins to increase.
At 80mph constant it would be difficult to maintain 26mpg.

Likes:

Power, torque, handling, beautiful interior and exterior, build quality,
fit and finish...

The engine is a real marvel.  I am not a stoplight drag racer but the
S4 seems to be challenged by a bunch of others, including various
BMWs, Camaros, and some riced out Mitsu Eclipse.  Let's just say
I have not embarrassed myself yet in any of these encounters :-).
The thrust of the car in 2nd and 3rd gears is most satisfying.  I gotta
say that this is enough power for me for a good long while.  I can't
imagine what it'd be like in a chipped S4, with some 60+ more horses
and 70+ lb-ft more torque...  But, I don't want to run into warranty
issues so I'll just leave it stock, until the warranty runs out (which,
for M.Y. 2001, has been extended to 4-years).

The engine isn't nearly as quiet as my old '96 A4q 2.8 V6 12V, but
is still plenty refined.  It sometimes vibrates just a little at idle,
but nothing offensive.

The navigation system is cool.  I have used it to go to unfamiliar
destinations many times and no longer rely on maps.  If you miss one
of the given directions it will instantly recompute a new route to get
you there.  I was able to use the traffic jam detour feature a couple
of times with great success.

Gripes:

Very few, really.  The 6-speed manual box is not as nice in feel as the
5-sp in the A4.  It is sometimes a bit balky when cold.  The gear ratios
between 5th and 6th is too close.  With such a torquey engine I often
skip 5th and change up from 4th to 6th directly.  The torque of the
engine is really quite remarkable... you can cruise in 6th without
any sign of lugging at sub-35mph speeds, with the engine barely off idle.
No acceleration in that mode, though.

The black carpet and headliners are hard to keep clean.
The body-colored side skirts pick up tar and other junk from the
road and is a pain to clean, despite being nice to look at.

Limited back seat leg room.  This is not a real concern for me as I
seldom have passengers back there.  This is not a family sedan, after
all.

The factory alignment of the Xenon headlights is too conservative.
The light output is nice, bright and white, but the cutoff is a bit too
low especially on the driver's side, and I find it a bit disconcerting
at speed.  I could use VAG-COM to realign it to my liking, I suppose.

Would be nice to have a turbo boost gauge.

Would be nice if the initial startup of the navigation system is faster.

That's about it!

-Ti
01 S4 2.7 biturbo quattro
84 5000S 2.1 turbo
80 4000 2.0
--
    ///  Ti Kan                Vorsprung durch Technik
   ///   AMB Research Laboratories, Sunnyvale, CA. USA
  ///    ti at amb.org
 //////  http://www.amb.org/ti/
///