RE: new s4 impressions

[Eaton Dave <dave.eaton@minedu.govt.nz>]

interesting response, thanks martin.  you have owned your s4 saloon for 4
months, i had a 1 hour drive, so some of the things which i noticed would
pale into insignificance over 4 months, and visa versa i guess.  one thing i
did not do was to tootle around town as much as i could possibly avoid ;-)

re: brakes
the brakes are very sensitive, as noted.  but i "panic stopped" from
120km/hr and the avant stopped better than my rs2 would (the rs2 had new
brake pads 8 months ago).  the issue with the brakes is the modulation of
them (as you seem to agree).  i would assume that you would get used to
their sensitivity, as most a4 drivers seem to do.  i was certainly noticing
it less and less over the test drive.  i agree that you can modulate the rs2
brakes better.  no question.

re: the gearbox.
this is really interesting.  my rs2 has a great 'box, but throws are
definitely longer than the new s4.  and heavier.  a fast fore-aft shift is
always slowed by the box, regardless of how much force you use.  it's not as
bad as the ur-quattro, not by a long chalk.  but the s4 avant is a definite
improvement.  i wonder if they have made some running change to the
linkages?  it also makes me think that i will get the rs2 linkages looked
at...

with regard the steering, i guess that we agree.  i find the s4 better than
the rs2, but not as good as the 20v.  i was interested to drive the s4 to
get the feel of the a4 geometry (as opposed to the 80-series one) with the
beefed up wheels/tyres and springs to see how it all panned out.  an
improvement, but still disappointed i guess.

i agree about waiting for the facelift.  the next step is to take the car
over a week-end and live with it some.  the sales-type-droid asked if i
wanted to trade the ur-quattro on it.  errr, is this a trick question?

dave
'95 rs2
'90 ur-q

		-----Original Message-----

		Date: Wed, 17 Feb 1999 22:15 +0000 (GMT Standard Time)
		From: spiny@cix.co.uk (Martin Day)
		Subject: Re: first drive - s4 avant (long)

		Dave.Eaton@clear.net.nz (Dave Eaton) wrote:

		> s4 avant test report....
		> ...

		Thanks for the report Dave but I find some of your
experiences completely 
		unreconcilable with my experiences of the S4. I took
delivery of mine 
		last October (saloon rather than avant) and have been very
unimpressed 
		with some aspects of it. Specifically :

		> ...
		> moving off you become aware
		> of how much improved the gearshift is.  it is a 6-speed
unit as 
		> precise as the rs2 unit, but much lighter with shorter
throws.

		This I just can't understand. My experience of the S4 gear
shift is that 
		it is a much longer throw than that of my RS2. So much so
that after 
		driving the S4 and then switching to the RS2 the RS2 box
feels like a 
		short stubby sports car stick which it obviously isn't.

		> would i replace my rs2 with this car?  a definite maybe. a
better car 
		> than the rs2?  in all truth i would say that it is a
worthwhile
		> improvement is almost every way.  the only thing you'd
miss about the
		> rs2 is the in-your-face "pit bull" look, and the high
speed response of 
		> the inline 5. you would miss nothing else.  perhaps the
seats.

		Well, I for one am glad that I still have the RS2. As far as
I'm 
		concerned the S4 looks gorgeous, is beautifully put together
and is a 
		very comfortable and effortless way to get from A to B but
has totally 
		failed in terms of driver involvement with controls that
largely make the 
		whole experience feel like you're playing a video game even
to the extent 
		of the controls themselves largely having the same feel as
those in 
		arcade machines. That's why my 4 month old S4 is going for
part-exchange 
		and I'm sticking with the RS2. (Wish I still had my old 20v
ur-quattro 
		too).