S4 slick and sophisticated
Mark Holdsworth
2009-11-02
Let’s put it out there from the start; I like Audis. They’re classic and understated while remaining refined and athletic. Audis just seem to give you the best of all worlds.
While perhaps they’re not as sporty as BMWs, they’re also more comfortable to drive on the daily commute, thanks to a suspension that doesn’t give your kidneys a workout over our less than perfect road surfaces.
They’re also not quite as refined as your average Mercedes sedan. But then again, you don’t feel like you’re going to waft off the road when getting a little athletic with your Audi. All this culminated in my desire to get behind the wheel of the Audi S4. And I wasn’t disappointed.
Audi seem to have struck yet another balance here, filling a niche that nobody else, save BMW, seems to have found. The S4 is for the discerning car buyer who wants something more than the run-of-the-mill mid-exec sedan but doesn’t relish being frightened to death by the likes of the hooliganistic RS4.
The 4.2-litre, naturally aspirated V8 lump seen in the previous model has been replaced by a more excitable 3.0-litre supercharged V6. And while capacity may be down, along with a drop of 8kW, everything else has taken a big step in the right direction. The V6, now producing 245kW between 5 500 and 7 000rpm, delivers an explosive 440Nm of torque, 90% of which is available between 2 300 and 5 300rpm. This brings the 0-100km/h sprint time of the new S4 down to a very competitive 5.1 seconds while the top end remains a limited 250km/h. Emissions also take a dive to a claimed 225g/km.
However, Audi’s claimed fuel consumption of a combined 9.7 litres/100km is tenuous at best. This is probably thanks to the fact that anyone driving the S4 is more than likely going to mash the accelerator pedal into the floorboards on occasion, as we did, which will see figures closer to 15 litres/100km. Ride and handling is top-notch, thanks to the inclusion of Audi’s Quattro all-wheel-drive as standard, and the 6-speed manual gearbox is as slick and direct as your local evangelist.
As always with Audi, the interior of the S4 is a supremely comfortable place to spend your commuting hours. S4 logos are interspersed among the timeless black leather and aluminium accents while the electrically adjustable seats cosset and reassure that you won’t be sliding into the door when bending the car around those tight left-handers.
However, something needs to be said at this point about the S4’s biggest competitor, the BMW 335i. On paper, the two square off like gunslingers in the old west. The differences in sprint times, top speed, consumption and CO2 emissions are negligible.
And while the two boast a raft of mouth-watering optional extras that will see your wallet come off second best, the BMW holds one significant trump card. It’s R84 000 cheaper than the R580 500 S4. That’s a large chunk of change that will buy many of the options the discerning buyer may be looking for.
And while I still love the S4 and everything it offers, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out this staggering difference.
