Audi S4 test drive since 2008 sedan

Peaceful aggressor

Can a sports car be comfortable, fast and also practical, checked Sergey Voskresensky. Photo by the author and audi.
The asphalt's gray ribbon flying towards olive groves and endless greenery. There are almost no curbs on the Mallorca, and the right to error exclude the meter height of the barriers of stones neatly folded along the road. What can you do, there are too many of them on the agricultural land spoiled by the bright sun. Now is not a season, so you can slightly neglect caution and enjoy the magic temperament of 333 horsepower, easily and at ease of shooting not a small station wagon with a bright branded S4 nameplate. They not only work, but also sing there under the hood with a thoroughly verified tone of the V-shaped three-liter six, spurred by mechanical boost. Hence the trembling in the hands and a sense of superiority, cultivated with an incomparable sound sound after each jerky switch of the seven-speed S-Tronic box.
I am haunted by an indestructible desire to include, try everything at the same time: a sports rear differential, an active steering mechanism, electronically adjustable shock absorbers. After all, the car, like a strict and intellectually subsidized engineer, is ready to bring down all its achievements on the interlocutor and even puzzle with new ones, not yet tested. I am a little lost in this sea of \u200b\u200btechnical and other information, understanding the failure of attempts to grab everything at once. No, you need to stop endlessly poke the keys of choosing settings and dwell on something one.
Life in comfort
When you get used to the verified hugs of sports and at the same time quite spacious seats, you will believe in the correctness of racing dashcams, you will feel not at all children's elasticity of a small steering wheel, a groovy assertiveness of the accelerator, it seems a little strange that such a car can be comfortable. This does not fit in the head, and the body each time tenses in front of the next bump in anticipation of a strong shake. And the S4 suspensions know for themselves gentle waves and other flaws of the roadway.
At first, it seems that this is more than enough. The engine expression that beaches through the edge is successfully adjacent to the excellent, although at times too aggressive acoustics and unobtrusive, well -being of a well -balanced chassis. By potential capabilities, the car and I seem to be almost athletes in one movement can throw the speedometer arrow for any permits. Nevertheless, it is worth taking a stable position as the right S-Tronic will immediately turn on the highest gear and the remarkable capabilities of the car will resemble only excellent painfulness and it seems, an indestructible sound accompaniment.
Activity cocktail
Audi-S4 behavior is inexorably changing as soon as you give preference to Dynamic. The space seems to be compressed, becomes more saturated and stricter. Here the pendants clung elasticly on the road, completely forgetting the former relaxation. They are now not tiring with excessive stiffness, but with the slightest opportunity they make it possible to feel priorities in the settings. In unison, they are a hard, jerky work of the box, which is now pulling to the last and is in no hurry with the transition to a higher gear. Perhaps only now I can truly evaluate the energy of the motor, which becomes an aggressor after 4000 rpm.
But all this is only a prelude to a carefully planned action. Here the steering wheel was filled with remarkable power in a quick turn, and then, on a straight line, again became light and comfortable. In these conditions, you can relax. As soon as you end up on the arc, the car immediately made the necessary correction into the settings, becoming sharp, springy, responsive.
Having mastered management, you understand that when driving on the verge of sliding, the S4 behaves somewhat unusual. Softly but persistently, the car diverses in the turn, while according to the usual canons, it should begin to slip out. Unusual, but you like, and, savoring the feeling of permissiveness, you begin to use it, evaluating steep turns in a new way. Yes, Audi is going really great, it was only a feeling that the machine makes decisions independently, and gradually it begins to be perceived as a computer toy, noticeably distance from the driver.
Probably, therefore, therefore, a demonstration of opportunities on a special highway was brought up only to discussing the rear active differential (by the way, all the rest of the options). In combat conditions, S4 proved himself a well done: he very sensitively performed the driver's commands. But as soon as it was to go, it turned out that in sliding S4, as expected, still seeks to increase the radius of turning.
Meet in March
Emotions, emotions, emotions who would have thought that outwardly solid sedan and station wagon can cause a storm in their souls?
The car turned out to be technically complex and unusual. The consumer has something to choose from. For example, S-Tronic and mechanics are strikingly different from each other; Engineers explain this by the rate of fire of the electronic box and, therefore, a greater speed of closing throttle. Hence, by the way, the sound that is warming the soul of the groundhurman, born of a muffler. There is no such timbre on ordinary mechanics, the motor is more prosaic. And this is a clear calculation. After all, the chosen mechanical box almost certainly searched for the version more modest.
It will be possible to deal with a difficult choice in March. There are no exact Russian prices yet. In Germany, the basic sedan and S4 station wagon are estimated at about 50 950 and 52,600 euros. But buyers here and here, I think, will be found.
Sports and Quattro
The highlight of the modern all -wheel drive Audi is not only the distribution of torque with an emphasis on the rear (60%) wheels. Active rear differential opens up new driving opportunities. Given the angle of rotation of the wheels, transverse acceleration, speed and other parameters, the control unit calculates the optimal distribution of torque in a particular situation. As a result, when the trajectory is changed, the differential purposefully redistributes most of the thrust on the outer loaded wheel, as if by winding it. Thus, insufficient rotation is compensated, as well as the demolition of the front axle, and the car definitely follows a given path. The idea, in general, is not new, but through the efforts of engineers, Audi received logical development.

 

 

A source: The magazine "Driving"