[V8] Audi 4.2L DOHC V-8

[Miller, Chris]

WardsAuto.com, Jan 4 2005 

Audi's power-packed 4.2L DOHC V-8 takes a second consecutive Ward's 10
Best Engines win.
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This is a little embarrassing, but rather than admit it under duress
when the Special Council starts an investigation, we'll own up now:
Several of our editors may - may - have made Audi's marvelous 4.2L DOHC
V-8 a 10 Best Engines winner without even driving it.

Because just firing up this thing produces an exhaust note so
mellifluous - so criminally sensual - there's almost no need to leave
the garage. The drug makers had better keep an eye on Audi AG, because
if the German auto maker figures out a way to bottle the 4.2L V-8's
exhaust sounds, Viagra and Levitra will be out of a job.


Audi V-8 has tidy proportions, big power.
Audi's 4.2L V-8 is the exemplar of how to do exhaust. Perfectly. At
idle, the aural deepness inspires a quiet nirvana. At full throttle,
there's a sonorous, fine-machinery rip that no other V-8 can rival. And
at all engine speeds between, a virtual rainbow of intoxicating intake
and exhaust arias demands your constant attention. Audi's cars fitted
with the 4.2L V-8 - it's in everything from the S4 and the allroad to
the all-new S6 and the flagship A8/S8 - should have a stereo-system
delete option. 

All right, we're done slobbering about the sound. Beyond that, Audi's
4.2L V-8 is a virtual dynamo. It's the smallest-displacement V-8 in what
we broadly define as the "premium V-8 class" of less than 5L (see below)
- yet it's the most powerful. And although its 302 lb.-ft. (409 Nm) of
torque lags its competition slightly, it's right on the mark when
considering torque per liter:

	Audi 4.2L 340 hp/302 lb.-ft. (409 Nm) 
	BMW 4.4L 325 hp/330 lb.-ft. (447 Nm) 
	Cadillac 4.6L 320 hp/315 lb.-ft. (427 Nm) 
	Lexus 4.3L 290 hp/320 lb.-ft. (434 Nm) 
	Mercedes 4.3L 275 hp/295 lb.-ft. (400 Nm) 
	Volkswagen 4.2L 335 hp/317 lb.-ft. (430 Nm) 
	Volvo 4.4L 311 hp/325 lb.-ft. (441 Nm) 

Audi's 4.2L V-8 fronts impressive numbers, but its deeper beauty is its
game-stopping flexibility and throttle response. This is a sports-car
engine masquerading as a premium V-8, so there's the best of both
worlds: Flexibility that allows you to ignore the gear lever (in the S4,
the 4.2L V-8 is backed by a 6-speed manual gearbox with equally premium
shift effort), but always ready to unleash a torrent of power from idle
to redline. Several testers are convinced that from the midrange on,
nothing short of a Ferrari or Porsche 911 can stay with an S4 at full
throttle.

And did we mention the sound?