Test drive Audi RS4 2000 - 2001 station wagon
Vorsprung Durch Technik
Six months ago, Audi AG put on the sale of the RS4 station wagon. The station wagon by definition is a family car. Gathered, say, to nature. The driver, four (preferably three) passengers, a picnic set and a favorite dog in a luggage compartment. The owner of the Audi RS4 will have to take care of the dog’s safety - this family car is gaining a hundred in 4.9 seconds.For the first time, the Audi RS4 station wagon saw the light at the 1999 Frankfurt Motor Show. The company immediately announced that the car would go into production, and almost the entire alleged (very limited) volume of production was immediately bought in the bud. In the UK, for example, orders for all 400 cars allocated for this country were issued long before the start of production. And this is at a price of 50,000 pounds.
A similar focus Audi AG has already done once. In 1994, a small series of Audi RS2 was released with a 315-horsepower 2.2 liter engine equipped with two turbochargers. This car, created in collaboration with Porsche, was visiting us twice (Motor #6, 1998 and #6, 1999), making a rather strong impression. And we tried almost all other Audi products - from the smallest (so far) A3 model to the elongated representative A8. Including modifications S4. It is a turn of Audi RS4 ...
A few words about the pedigree car. Its direct predecessor - RS2 - was based on the Audi 80/90 universal body, known in our people as a barrel. The eightieth was replaced by the A4 Avant model, on which (more precisely - on S4) and RS4 is based. But if the RS2 was almost no different from the source car, you can’t say this about RS4.
The car went out with appearance - the creators rejected unnecessary modesty, because of which the S4 station wagon was so similar to A4. First of all, you notice expanded wheel arches and large 18-inch wheels with small frequent knitting needles.
Bamers are new. The front is equipped with a low apron with increased air intake holes. The average supplies air to the radiator of the cooling system, the side - to the interculers. The gill slits in front of the front wheels look original (heated air from interculires is given through them) - just like powerful ring racing machines. Aluminum began to be visibly present in the exterior decoration, from which, in particular, the rails on the roof were made ...
However, in order to end the description of external differences, it is enough to say that only the hood and the roof were used from the outer panels of the body of the source car.
Under the hood - gracefully covered with carbon fiber V -shaped six -cylinder 2.7 liter engine with two turbochargers. The engine should be understood in more detail. At first glance, this is the same V6 from the A6 2.7T model, which is used on the Audi S4 version. The same working volume, the same number of turbochargers. In fact ...
The block head was actually re -developed by the famous English company Cosworth Technology, which last year entered the Audi AG clip. The passing sections are enlarged, distributed camshafts that provide a longer opening of the valves, and the shape of the combustion chambers are changed. To facilitate the respiration of the engine, which requires about 1000 cubic meters of air per hour, more powerful Cosworth Kkk K04 turbochargers are used (boost pressure up to 2.2 atmosphere), as well as interculers with an increased cooling surface and a graduation system with reduced resistance. Plus - a new engine control system. All this allows you to remove 380 hp from the engine. (6100-7000 vol./Min.) And 440 Nm (2500-6000 rpm). Power 142 hp from a liter of working volume and 235 hp per ton of car weight - there is something to be proud of.
Car assembly of the car is carried out at the Audi AG plant in Ingolstadt, on the same conveyor from which A4 and S4 models go. Engines come from the UK, from the Cosworth Technology plant. Since the RS4 is a piece thing, for the final manual assembly and refinement of the car, they send to Nekkarssum, to the Quattro GmbH plant, Audi AG subsidiary, established in 1983 to protect the QUATTRO brand. (Audi AG insists that the name of the subsidiary should be written just like that, with a lowercase letter. By the way, Quattro GmbH is considered an official manufacturer RS4.) Only a few cars are produced per day ...
Once quattro, it means a permanent all -wheel drive. The transmission without any significant changes migrated from the S4 model. Only electronic system control systems of differential (EDL), stabilization of the course stability (ESP), the distribution of brake efforts (EBD), etc., were subjected to some alteration. - Due to the modernization of brake mechanisms.
A mechanical six -speed box is also taken from S4, but the gear rates are slightly changed. The suspension of all the wheels is independent multi -link and, judging by how low the car stands above the road, short -term. The brake mechanisms are now floating type, and not hard brackets, the size of the disks (360 mm in front and 312 mm behind) promises effective braking.
Getting acquainted with the Audi RS4, we involuntarily compared the car either with RS2, then with A/S4 - all these models can be ranked for predecessors. The interior of the RS2 was richer and luxurious - it is enough to mention the recading sporting seats with alcantra inserts in the color of the body, and the more stringent form of the torpedo tuned in a sports way. Torpedo RS4 migrated with A4, but looks less pop. To give a sports charm, it was embellished with stylish little things - carbon fiber inserts and chrome rims of devices.
On the central console, a multifunctional liquid crystal display is occupied by a lot of space, which can be adjusted to the required angle of view - both for the driver and for the passenger. It displays information about the work of musical accompaniment and navigation systems. We met a similar Audi A8.
The seats this time also carry the Recaro logo, but they look more restrained in terms of the development of sports forms and are completely decorated with one -color skin. It’s convenient to drive. The seat is moderately tough and tightly holds the seated one, and the adjusted range enlarged compared to the S4 allows us to get the right and convenient position driving for drivers of any height. The steering column is not forgotten - it is regulated in two dimensions.
On the inner panels of the doors there is also carbon fiber and skin, and in general the salon looks solid, solid and stylish.
You can be in the back seat behind the high front riders, but very shortly. On the other hand, no one complains about the tightness of the rear seats in Ferrari or Porsche ...
The clutch pedal did not seem too tight, its course is slightly larger than on RS2, the moment of turning on the clutch is felt well. The programs switch quite clearly, the lever is located conveniently, but the moves seemed long. The accelerator pedal has good sensitivity and pleasant elastic effort.
Movement at low speed, including in traffic, does not give out the essence of the Audi RS4. The car behaves like an ordinary city car with a manual box, the engine easily and almost inaudibly works at low speeds. Everything is like S4. But a lumen formed ahead, and the car literally flew into it, demonstrating both overweighting an accelerated temperament, and excellent brake dynamics.
It is better not to look at the devices, and there is no time for this: all the attention - the environment that changing with dizzying speed. Unlike RS2, the motor of which worked, as it were, in two separate modes - leisurely and explosive, with a noticeable failure between them, the RS4 engine, which inherited the nature of the S4 motor, is gaining momentum quickly, smoothly and confidently, without a hint of turboyam.
Acceleration in a straight line is simply furious, up to 6,000 revolutions, then the limiter is triggered, and rather softly, not like on other machines, which at the same time rested on the wall. Even with the sharpest overclocking in the cabin, relatively quietly - sound insulation at a height.
The smoothness of the course leaves much to be desired. On a good even asphalt, the RS4 behaves incomparably, but it begins bad, and its charms are transmitted to the body with tangible blows. Forms, chips, patches and other trifles of low -profile tires practically do not swallow. For a hard suspension, a certainly known rule: more gas - less pits. Tires sing on almost any coating.
The car copes with high -speed turns perfectly, however, this was not a surprise. RS4 is the best controlled Audi model among all we met. The car with feline tenacious holds the road and the demon is diligent obedience when turning the steering wheel and pressing the gas pedal (here it showed lateral support of the front seats). When the speed in turn, the RS4 smoothly passes into sliding with all the wheels, as it seemed, with some tendency to insufficient rotation, while to adjust the trajectory it is enough to work a little with the steering wheel and gas.
In extreme modes, some car detachment from the driver begins to be felt - in particular, the operation of numerous electronic systems affects. But this is an inevitable payment for safety at the wheel. After all, most drivers are not professional ralists, and RS4 is after all is considered a family car.
It seems that this road missile with a trunk of decent sizes was made specifically for German autobahns - accelerated dynamics, exchange rate at high speed and brakes are more impressive than the controllability or reaction of the chassis on the snake. If you are a racer in the shower, you can probably find another machine that would correspond to the indicated spiritual property more. But will it be good for such a daily to go to work?
Audi RS4 - for more solid people, who are ultimately more important to quickly and comfortably get to the right place than to feel the nuances of the chassis. A practical, comfortable all -weather car. Quite harmonious. At the same time, it is so high that adrenaline is quite enough. And he will not be thrown with shocks, but smoothly ...
Text: Ivan Sergeev
Source: Magazine Motor
