Finally! New Audi S4

[David Eaton]

nah, for one, i'd happily trade the 315hp i5 in rs2 form, for a 340hp v8
which has (if it is anything like that available in the s6), much much
better throttle response and low-down grunt.  the lag of the rs2 kills it
for day-to-day driving.  the 4.2l audi v8 is a very nice motor in all but
its earliest guises ime...

although i really couldn't care less about the stop-light grand prix, the
new s4 is only 3-odd seconds slower to 200km/hr than the rs4, and the same
time to 200km/hr as the rs2.

the increased weight of the new s4 is not a big deal (40kgs?), and certainly
doesn't come from the motor which, according to the blurb i read, is the
same weight as the v6tt.  i also note that the basic stiffness of the new a4
platform augurs well for actual driving of the s4 over the old platform...

i wonder which car would have the best in-gear acceleration (aka real world)
acceleration times ;-)

i am not convinced about the styling.  the local audi dealers put the
factory skirt kit on the new 3.0q's and that looks much better to my eye
than the pictures of the new s4...

as for the lack of "tuning" ability of the v8.  the new car has 90hp more
than the old, and is now in the realm of where a serious "mod" to the old
v6tt would take you.  basic stock standard.  want more than that?  go with
the rs6.  i, for one, wouldn't be sad to see some "tuners" go out of
business, they certainly do few favours for turbo car re-sale...

dave
'95 rs2
'90 ur-q
		-----Original Message-----
		Date: Mon, 16 Sep 2002 21:16:33 -0400
		From: Brett Dikeman <brett at cloud9.net>
		Subject: Re: Finally! New Audi S4

		At 1:21 AM +0200 9/17/02, Per Lindgren wrote:
		>And yes, it has a V8. From news.kak.net:
		>The eight-cylinder engine's thrust enables the new Audi S4
with 6-speed
		>manual gearbox to complete the sprint from 0 to 100 km/h in
just 5.6
		>seconds.

		I should write a column.  The computer industry has had the
Bastard
		Operator From Hell(BOFH), I think its time for the Cynical
Audi
		Driver from Hell(CADH) :-)

		If this comes to the states in anything except a tip, I'll
be amazed-
		no other Audi model comes with a 4.2 and a 6-speed in the US
market.

		I'll pass on that chrome grille..same thing with the fog
lights,
		which look like they were installed by GM.  Yuck.  Oh, and
the AVUS
		wheels.  It's nice, but, it's been almost 10 years for that
wheel
		design.  Pick somethin' new.  Really.

		I think a bunch of tuners just got nervous; how do you offer
tuning
		products for a V8?  They had a pretty much free ride with
the S4tt-
		the basic upgrades yielded tons of power, were reasonably
cheap, easy
		to "install" by the customer, and basically once you had the
code
		developed(or bought the code from someone else), it cost you
next to
		nothing to do the work.  Unsolder chip, resolder new chip.
Done.
		Lastly, they were reasonably easy to sneak past dealers(at
least
		while Audi didn't have a clue what was going on.)  Oh, and
let's not
		forget that the S4tt was in europe for a year, enough time
for
		performance parts to pop on the market in a reasonable
timeframe.

		[snip]
		Brett