Atkins for Audis?

[Ti Kan]

Brett Dikeman writes:
> Sooo, the new S4 weighs in at a porky 3900lb, a jump of almost, but 
> not quite, 300lb.

According to the Audi brochures, the S4 gained 232 lbs from 2001 to 2004.

> Sure, she sprouted 2 cylinders, but she also dropped two turbos and a 
> lot of associated plumbing- that's gotta count for something.  God, 
> what a porker!
> 
> So what gives?  I don't think they could possibly stuff any more 
> electronic dodads into the thing...

It's not just the S4, but the whole B6 chassis range had gained weight
over the B5 predecessors.  Here is a comparison between the 2001 A4/S4
quattro manual B5 curb weights vs. the 2004 B6 counterparts.  All
numbers are from Audi USA brochures and are in lbs.

2001 / 2004		2001	2004	difference
------------------------------------------------------
A4 1.8tq / A4 1.8tq	3241	3406	+165
A4 2.8q / A4 3.0q	3384	3583	+199
S4 2.7tq / S4 4.2q	3593	3825	+232

Perhaps the unibody is just inherently heavier due to increased
size.  The B6 car is bigger dimensionally in every way over the
the B5, the wheelbase and overall length all grew a couple of
inches, and the width (mirror to mirror) grew a whopping 8 inches.
The B6 chassis much stiffer than the already stiff B5's, and that
probably means more metal in strategic locations.  Also I gotta
think those B6 front seats are probably very heavy compared to
those on the B5.  They *look* heavy.

-Ti
2003 A4 1.8T multitronic
2001 S4 biturbo 6-sp
1984 5000S turbo
1980 4000 2.0 5-sp
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