Drive Test – Audi 3.0T S4

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Drive Test – Audi 3.0T S4

January 28th, 2010

Russell

‘Blown Muscle

Alternately, read the test in Drive Magazine.

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There are lots of different types of muscle. There’s raw, rippling sinew, bulging, bursting tissue and even pulsating, pulverising pectorals. And then you get proper muscle.

Proper muscle, the kind shady debt collectors will set on your ass, the kind Ving Raimes famously refers to as “Getting Medievil”. The kind that sits quietly in the corner of a bar until trouble starts and then quickly, almost effortlessly, merely resolves the issue. This kind of muscle doesn’t particularly need to ripple, bulge, or pulsate. It just is, undeniably, and is often utilised with breathless efficiency by its proprietors. Understated, overdressed, and unintimidating. That’s the scariest kind.

Audi’s new S4 has this sort of muscle. It can leave the posturing and high-rev histrionics to the RS version of the current A4 which will hopefully be revealed soon, and simply be what it was built to be. And that’s a fast, comfortable German saloon, packing all the power you could need but without being terribly blatant about it.

All right so this S4 is no shrinking violet either. New LED taillight clusters define the otherwise quite indistinct shape of the boot area better, and are purposefully underlined by the slightly out-of-character quad exhausts. The whole car sits 20mm lower riding on sportier suspension, still with Audi Drive Select inside to adjust the setup on the fly, and features a much sharper front end with a distinct lip hugging the road. Again, not too brash, just so that its purpose is clear.

Now the old car had most of these go-faster bits too, but was a bit of a letdown, particularly here at the Reef. The 4.2-litre V8 was well-mannered, smooth and nicely burbly all over, but it never felt all that eager to rev, and therefore the last-generation S4 never felt as quick as it ought to have been. In fact, the same motor in the S5 feels distinctly lazy. There just wasn’t much special about the power, and turbocharged hatchbacks could run with it quite comfortably.

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For this latest-generation of S4 though, Audi has turned to forced induction. Supposedly for the good of the environment, of course. Just how long do motoring manufacturers think people are going to carry on falling for this line? Anyway, it is a much smaller capacity engine, an all-aluminium 3.0-litre direct-injection V6 to be precise, but in this case with a significant addition nestled between the banks of the V – an Eaton TVS Roots-type supercharger. Blowing at just over 11 psi, the ‘charged engine is good for 245kW – less than the 4.2 V8 managed, but also delivers an impressive 440Nm right from 2900rpm which of course the naturally-aspirated vehicle couldn’t match.

The figures really don’t tell half the story though. I’ve driven two other supercharged cars fairly recently, the Golf 1.4 TSI which is actually Twincharged, and Merc’s lovely little SLK 200 Kompressor. I remember both impressing me, but the way in which the S4 thumps out its torque seemingly from idle completely shocks me anyway!

It immediately feels substantially faster than the old car – the huge shove first bouncing your head off the headrest at full-bore in first, then pinning it there for the full breadth of the rev-range in second, third, and even into fourth. It feels savage, and just as responsive as the best, high-tech nat-asp motors bearing M and RS badges. There’s very little swell of torque, it’s all there straight away just about and is then simply maintained in an entirely linear manner all the way to 7000 rpm. More than impressive, this is, in a word, enthralling.

In spite of the excessive tailpipes suggesting otherwise, it’s almost eerily refined inside the cabin, particularly with the windows up. Power them downwards and there’s a distinct V6 snarl, not silky smooth like we’ve come to expect from modern V6s especially from Audi, a little more feral than that. And despite the Eaton blower being an all-new design supposedly meant to reduce associated NVH, it’s a lot rougher-edged too. Not in the noise department no, but definitely in the vibration and harshness being generated from inside the engine bay. You can barely hear the characteristic supercharger whine in fact.

In fact, while we are being critical, that haymaker delivery of the bombastic motor isn’t ideally suited to sporty cruising. At least, not in those moments when sporty cruising meets Jo’Burg traffic. It’s really very, very thirsty this car, for starters. In stop-start traffic situations, we average 17.7l/100km! I really doubt the V8 would have used that much more. And more importantly, when you floor the throttle from tickover, while rolling, the immediate and breath-squeezing thrust is always a bit of a shock, especially with the Drive Select in Dynamic mode. Comfort softens this response nicely, but is then too sedate when the traffic does clear and you want to feed that supercharger more of our dense African air.

But it is quick. The 100km/h dash apparently takes just 5.1 seconds in this Quattro-equipped, 6-speed manual 4-door. And unlike its predecessor, it literally feels this quick.

So is it typically nose-heavy and bland to drive around quickly? Does this dynamic Audi curse continue to plague its latest models, especially the sporty S-line?

In short, no. And yes. It isn’t dominated by front-end push when you’re attacking the limits, despite the AWD platform, in fact with the optional Sport Differential as fitted to our test car, the S4 is the easiest Audi yet to power-oversteer. The immediate slug of torque when you open up that throttle also helps in sideways endeavours, although the S4 doesn’t particularly like to be slid around especially on road tar. There’s so much grip that she recovers snatchily, with a great wrench on the steering wheel which your forearm muscles need to be tensed and ready for to avoid spearing off into the farside bushes.

Still, it isn’t meant to be a hooligan car this, and driven more respectfully it does combine a frightfully capable chassis with delay-free steering and a pliable on-the-limit attitude. You enter the corner slightly too fast on a steady throttle, the rear end fidgets just enough to tighten your line through the apex, and then it’s hard on the power for another road-munching burst of seemingly endless grunt.

It would be even more satisfying than it sounds, were it not for the overlight, numb steering of the thing. Turning the wheels is a finger-twirling affair at parking speeds and never weights-up properly as you rapidly pile on velocity, and the accuracy with which you can guide it along is more down to the actual precision and excellence of the chassis/drivetrain combo than the skill of the driver in converting information from the road into responses. There isn’t any to speak of.

Although the cabin is predominantly typically Germanic, the S4 does sport a particularly strange driving position which doesn’t help. The pedals, for some reason, are heavily offset to the right – the clutch is actually to the right of the center point of the steering wheel. The quirky sitting style this forces you to adopt seriously hampers the long-distance comfort of this vehicle, as after an hour or so your hips and lower back cry out for some straight-up relief.

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It’s a bit of a confused car then, the new S4. There’s the power and poise of a sportscar, the understated looks of an exec-spec saloon, the insulated refinement of a luxury sedan but with an uncomfortable driving position and the tactility of something very, very inert.

Oh yes, and the thirst of a very, very thirsty fish!

We have to say, the old 4.2 V8 version was probably slightly better – the motor may have been lazy but at least it was silken smooth and added a welcome frisson of character to the car with its off-beat V8 warble. This new version is a bit too sanitised, a bit too every day, despite the generous gobs of torque ready to explode the package forward at the merest hint of some throttle, and ultimately doesn’t satisfy the hardcore driver quite so completely as cars like the 335i, let alone the venerable M3. It’s one-dimensional, a chassis which pretends to be entertaining and there is an interesting, dragsterish supercharged motor up front which is fun for a few days but can lose its shine if you’re looking for something a bit more complete. And it drains the wallet alarmingly, considering this is supposed to be an all-new eco-friendlier sports saloon.

The 3.0T S4, as it’s badged, was a car I had high hopes for, and the immediate impression of that torquey blown V6 along with its guttural high-end howl (only with the windows down) makes you want to love it even more. But the general aloofness in every other component creates a package which isn’t really a driver’s dream come true in reality. And nor is it quite smooth and cosseting enough for a range-topping German sporty saloon. It hasn’t even particularly helped the consumption in fact!

Still, an RS version of the current A4 platform will hopefully make its appearance fairly soon. And until it’s revealed the S4 certainly draws admiring looks from fellow road-users, before very effectively leaving them in its dust the instant the opportunity presents itself.

Russell

Liked

Massive slugs of instantly-available torque

Typically high-quality Audi feel

Growly V6

Disliked

Dead steering.

Monster fuel consumption

Uncomfortable offset driving position

Drive Vitals: Audi S4

Engine: (Supercharged V6, petrol)

Capacity (cc) 2995