[s-cars] B7 S4 impressions

[Taka Mizutani]

Fellow listers-
I had the opportunity to drive several new Audis today (part of my new
job). One of the cars I drove was the new B7 S4 6-speed manual.

I have to say first off that I initially hated the B7 exterior design.
While I still think it's rather strange, I don't "hate" the design any
longer- it's strange, but liveable. With the lower air dam of the S4,
it looks pretty aggressive, reminds me of an angry barracuda for some
reason.

The new B7's wheels are rather low key- not as distinctive as the Avus
design used previously- too bad, I liked how the Avus rendered the S
cars as such rather immediately once you knew what the wheels signify.

The interior is an evolution of the B6- the instruments are rather
deeply recessed into individual binnacles with chrome trim rings, dark
grey faces. Distinctive and expensive-looking. The steering wheel
feels smaller than that of the B5 or B6. The shifter is nicely shaped
and feels pretty good, although I would actually prefer a little more
weight (easily fixable) in the shifter and a little more effort in the
shifts themselves (I'm probably all messed up now because I've gotten
used to the very notchy shifting of the STi). The upper dashboard is
odd- it looks like it floats on top of everything due to the carbon
fiber beltline trim that extends virtually full width across the dash.
The dash vents look a little too "hard-plastic" and cheap, although
they feel very nice.

The controls have a very nice feel to them, but the actual black
plastic used looks kind of cheap- the B5 plastic switchgear had a nice
finish, but that's really splitting hairs.

This car had the Nav Plus installed- I hate it. The major functions
are selected via rather small buttons in a row across the headunit-
very difficult to figure out what you're doing unless you have the car
parked and learn all of the controls. Very difficult to really operate
anything due to the control layout. Inexplicably, the major control
function is placed toward the passenger side- while I can see this
happening on a Japanese car, I don't understand why they did this on a
German car. I didn't really listen to the radio critically, so I can't
comment on the quality of the Bose system.

As for driving impressions, mostly positive. As I said above, my
shifter preferences are probably messed up because for the most part,
the only manual transmission cars I've been driving recently are my
STi, the 350Z and the Altima SE-R. IMO, the B7 shifter still needs
improvement- the throws are too long and the gates need a little bit
more effort to engage so that the shifter feels more positive. It is
very nice, though- and significantly shorter feeling to me than the B5
S4.

The V8 engine is very nice- very smooth, nice power delivery, strong
throughout the rev range. The smoothness is almost too much, though-
it takes away from the sporting nature of the car somewhat. Similar to
the power delivery of the 350Z in that regard. The steering feel is
quite nice- it's not direct in the way that an Evo is direct, but very
nice for an Audi. The car handles with less body roll than I would
expect, with no drama. Torque delivery is not really noticeable when
driving the car 6-7 10ths, unlike some other AWD cars, one thing that
I really love about Audi's quattro system.

All in all, the B7 S4 is a very nice car. It's very smooth and
refined, and a very powerful sports sedan. Definitely not a sports car
feel, though- more luxury oriented. The leather Recaro seats are
wonderfully supportive, best seats in an Audi since the UrS, at least
for those of us in the US. This is a car that feels more like a C4
chassis UrS than an E46 M3- meaning it has that "iron fist in a velvet
glove" feel.

Taka