Test drive Audi S4 1997 - 2001 sedan

Predict unpredictable

Audi S4 Turbo Avant

 

In different ways, cars come to our tests. At the end of February, the editorial office rang out, and the person who called Stanislav politely suggested getting to know his 1993 Audi S4 universal. Audi S4 - the car is quite rare, in Moscow there are only seven of them, and the station wagon, it seems, is generally alone.

 

The letter, with his impressions set forth in it, Stanislav handed us personally, upon arrival in the editor. Plier, - so he said. The letter seemed interesting to us, so we bring it here almost completely.

 

Audi S4 Avant 1994 of the model year fell into my hands, in general, by chance. I learned about the existence of this model from its first owner. He spoke for a long time and with three exclamation signs at the end of each phrase. The head was spinning from everything heard.

 

A five-cylinder 2.2 liter engine with a turbocharger, configured inlet-release (full-time power 230 hp was brought to 270), 6-speed gearbox, sports suspension, all-wheel drive, ABS, 16-inch casting wheels with low-profile rubber, Audi flag Sport on a radiator grill ... The imagination that has played out to draw seductive pictures: smoky haze over formula tracks, finish flags, Ayrton Senna on a dashing car ...

 

The car turned out to be a bat in the left rear door and wing.

 

I wanted to order a new door - difficulties arose. In Moscow, then only A6 appeared, before that the people knew only about the Audi-100. And S4, and even Avant - this is generally a Chinese letter.

 

It was possible to get valuable information that either A6, or the AVANT HOST ANTENT TWO Two centimeters is longer than that of a hundred with a sedan body. But what about S4? In the end, he spat and went to the craftsmen. The craftsmen turned out to be that they needed - everything was straightened, plunged and painted. And at the same time, the front shock absorbers were replaced - the old were killed (mileage 53,000 km, and the car was combat).

 

I already had some automobile experience by that time. He started with domestic cars, knew both front -wheel drive and classics. I had a chance to travel to two Mercedes-190, Ford Sierra, and for the past few months it skated Subaru Legacy 2.2.

 

Here you have a four -wheel drive, and Abs. Subaru was a kind of transitional step for me, the reference point - the machine is fresh in design, hard, very picky, unusually responsive to the gas pedal, especially at speeds up to a hundred. In addition, the specific howl of her opponent made it possible to feel like an athlete.

 

The first impressions of the S4 were very strong. It seemed that the free moves of all the mechanisms of this car were chosen to zero. Strong pedals, hard suspension, even the seat is unusually hard. No swinging when driving at low speeds is a monolith that is elastic trembling on the irregularities of the road. The clutch pedal, for example, is so tough that I had corns on the foot. You’ll travel along Moscow traffic jams in summer shoes with thin soles - in an hour, your leg hurts so that you can’t click on the pedal.

 

The dynamics at first did not make any impression. That is, at all. With a turbocharger, I dealt for the first time and, without taking into account the volume of the engine, but remembering only about the issued power, he worked as a gas pedal and a gearbox as if there was an American with a five -like engine under me. He began to ride correctly only after some time.

 

In the process of further operation, some interesting features were revealed. It was not without reason that I mentioned stability at low speeds - with an increase in speed, the longitudinal buildup of the body on the gentle waves of the road surface became noticeable. Either the front line is overloaded, and then it is a structural error, or when replacing shock absorbers, they were incorrectly selected.

 

When swinging, there was some kind of creaky sound, and sometimes, with the largest amplitudes, the crason began spontaneously. Imagine the reaction of the traffic police, if at that moment I went past the post or successfully passed an ambush with the radar.

 

With the sound accompaniment, it was possible to understand the service center of the official Audi dealer - the worried rubber -metal bushings of the stabilizer creaked: rubber was erased on them, exposing the metal. At the same time, the silent blocks of the stabilizer also changed with bushings. The electrician turned off the airbag removed from the steering wheel for a long time, not understanding what the reason for the self-productive operation of the horn, turned up until a copper coin fell out of some gap on a rug. Apparently, she closed contact, which caused false works.

 

Regarding the longitudinal buildup, the master could not say anything, making a diagnosis - shock absorbers are normal. This did not reassure me, and I decided to act by exception - the shock absorbers still changed. As it turned out later, he spent money in vain. On the car stood brand new adjustable Koni, but, as it turned out, in a neutral position. One of the mechanics, who approached the car after replacing, suddenly remembered how the Koni representative was called to the service, and he showed how to correctly regulate such shock absorbers. It became clear that I was not the first injured. They put me, although sports gas, but unregulated. But the swinging of the car stopped.

 

An equally curious story happened when choosing winter tires. Being firmly convinced that there is no better studded for our winter, I began to call the shops. It turned out that there are no studded tires 225/50R16 in Moscow. Rubber with a higher profile was offered, but it would not fit in the wheel arches.

 

Output is a smaller diameter and higher rubber. It was this that remained from Mercedes that lay in my garage. It remained to buy discs. With this, I went to the well -known Audi and Porsche store.

 

Sellers, having checked the code, engine number and finding out what type of brake discs and pads on my car, confirmed that 15-inch discs are suitable. I bought a kit - and in tire fitting. When the master tried to tighten the first bolt, the wheel disk jammed on the brake caliper ...

 

It turns out that huge calipers (4 pads to the disk) and strictly calculated suspension kinematics allow you to put on the S4 1994 of the model year (Aan engine) wheels and tires of only one size - 225/50R16. I had to put the winter, but non -whapped Bridgestone rubber.

 

At 80,000 km I changed the clutch - the disk would still be like, but the squeezed bearing failed. The clutch assembly was DM1127.

 

A set of front and rear pads - near DM800. Branded cast discs - according to DM70 apiece. Now, with a run of 90,000 km, it is necessary to replace the power steering pump, front brake discs and timing belt. Prices, respectively - DM1700, DM307 and DM130 apiece. This is without work.

 

And along the dry and wet asphalt, the car walks like glued. The rolls in the turns are minimal. No scribbling. The rearrangement, even at speeds far beyond, is simply fantastic - it seems that the direction of the direction does not occur: the car, as it were, leaves its strip and also returns sideways. I won’t tell you at what speeds I went in heavy rain along suburban routes. The feeling of control is indescribable, there is no fatigue from the management.

 

The severity of the steering mechanism saved several times from a collision in the city stream. The barely noticeable movement of the steering wheel - and the bumper of the car sharply slowing down in front of me remained aside. Thanks to magnificent dynamics, it was possible to leave from lateral clashes.

 

A quick transition to a reduced gear, and if the revolutions are above three thousand - just a gas to the floor - and literally jump out from under the car falling on the side.

 

In turns, the S4 is like a cord model - as if someone was holding it on a stretched cord. No attempts to slip out, not counting the rare cases when the wheels fell on the sand or just poured asphalt. The front axis in such cases began to leave the turning path with barely noticeable jerks, but this process was easily controlled: gas discharge - and instant stabilization. On a snowy or ice -covered road, the situation is much worse. No, everything is just as stable in direct areas, but the turns can present surprises. God forbid, having read reports about the tests of all-wheel drive cars, to begin to do something similar.

 

Firstly, in the usual sense, S4 cannot be counted at all (as, indeed, any other, not specially prepared). Motorsport, more precisely, are those species that most test pilots of our automobile publications involve controlled drifts, lateral sliding, movement with wheel slipping, and S4 electronics is in every possible way opposed to this.

 

The machine perfectly retains exchange rate stability - with short -term lips of the wheel clutch with road and, accordingly, small axes of the axes, the mechanisms of redistribution of torque and electronics perform their functions perfectly. But only with small ones. If you allow the rear axle or demolition of the front axle to develop much or release the car into lateral sliding, then the electronics flows into lethargy, and it becomes uncontrollable. Once I tried to fulfill a police reversal. Nothing like what happened on the eight did not work out. Instead of a turn in place - intermittent rotation in a circle of a sufficiently large radius.

 

Electronics, aimed primarily on stabilizing the car, tried her best. For a split second, she succeeded, then - again, a breakdown in the sliding of all the wheels, again short -term stabilization, a breakdown, and so to a complete stop ...

 

Secondly, in Russia, the situation with all-wheel drive resembles the situation in the drug market. Everyone sticks out the advantages, but no one talks about side effects. Although, even reading the press, you understand that not everything is so cloudless. Yes, Uspensky successfully drives Subaru, but Vasiliev Volvo AWD on tests in Germany lost, while noting that Subaru is better. And however, he coped with Impreza perfectly, but the bad luck - Vlad Nikitin, who tested the same car, made a sensational conclusion: ... I am not Vasiliev. The fact is that, besides Vasiliev himself, we are all not Vasilyev. Subaru, Audi, Volvo, Mitsubishi - Each company has its own full -wheel drive system with its inherent features. And, it seems, it would be correct not only to offer the attention of readers the general discussions about the benefits of all -wheel drive, but also to introduce people to those surprises that can lie in wait for them in an abnormal situation, to teach how not to make mistakes. I specially bought all the brochures of Tsygankov, there - only the front and rear -wheel drive.

 

As for the S4, here special attention should be paid to the selection of rubber. Since on machines stuffed with all kinds of antisystems, electronics are consistent with the size of the grip of the wheels with the road, the ability to hold the tires to the last comes to the fore.

 

My opinion: Audi S4 is an outstanding car with pronounced sports habits. And if driving techniques used in the rally are contraindicated, then the driving style appropriate for, for example, NASCAR or Formula -1 is its element. The inconvenience of the period of addiction then pays off more than pay off the indescribable sense of flight and complete merging with the machine experienced in motion.

 

In conclusion, I note that the driving properties of the S4 suggest the presence of a driver of rather serious preparation. In the absence of such a car, especially at high speeds, is simply dangerous.

 

This car is for people with their heads. She makes you think.

Stanislav Tarasov, Moscow

 

For a year and a half to understand your own car? Something is wrong here. We dealt with various Audi cars, including the 100th series, and decided to take the opportunity to ride on another model of this company, despite the fact that the S4 is similar in design to A6, which was in our hands recently (motor #3 ). In addition, frosts were finally replaced by a thaw, and the asphalt covered with wet snow porridge created interesting conditions for the test. However, the weather still deceived us - everything was frozen during the night ...

 

First a few words about the car. The S4 model debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in April 1991. A distinctive feature is an all -wheel drive transmission, which distributes the torque between the axes, depending on the road conditions. In ideal conditions, each drive wheel accounts for exactly 25% of the torque against 50% - in cars with one drive axis (by the way, in addition to increasing stability on the road, this leads to less wear of tires). In other situations, the design features of the transmission and the electronics controlling it provide the transmission of the maximum torque to the wheel that has the best clutch (unlike ordinary machines, where everything happens the other way around). In marginal cases, this can be even one wheel, but the car will move.

 

The transmission provides for the possibility of forced blocking the rear axle. It will come in handy if, for example, you need to move on a slippery coating. Or get out of the dirt. The lock is automatically turned off when the car speed reaches about 25 km/h, until that moment, due to obvious use (the differential is blocked!) ABS does not work. It is forbidden to block the bridge on the go - there is a chance to break a plastic fork that moves the coupling.

 

While I was located and adjusted the driver's seat for myself, Stanislav said that the torque of the engine grows sharply after 5,000 rpm, and after 6000 rpm. The car generally beasts that for some time he did not know about this and drove in accordance with the old habits, surprised at the dullness of the car ...

 

In addition to conventional adjustments, the driver's seat can be lifted, and also to adjust the roller under the knees. Sorry, the steering column is not adjustable. The steering wheel is slightly big, its leather casing was polished over time and, with intense steering, the hands glide over it.

 

The car is classified as sports, but this does not mean that it is devoid of comfort and amenities. On the contrary, the owner’s life is facilitated by electric drives of mirrors and all door glasses, air conditioning, a native radio with eight speakers, a cd changer and a subwoofer thumbling in the trunk. The gaze of classically rounded devices lined with matte aluminum elongated in a row.

 

Narrow wooden inserts emphasize the exclusivity of the car. However, the main thing in S4 is not this.

 

The car was clearly designed for gorgeous European autobahns. Having accepted (with some stretch) behind such a fairly long segment in places of glazed asphalt, I take overclocking. I try not to twist the motor, I switch to thousands of 2-2.5. On a straight car, he holds the road perfectly - how he sucked.

 

The free stroke of pedals and steering wheel is not observed, everything is pushed and tightened. The clutch is tight, but it is excusable, given what torque is transmitted through it.

 

The steering wheel is light, on dry coating allows you to feel the front wheels and not lose control over them. The feeling of some uncertainty sometimes arose in slippery turns, when the rubber lost the clutch with the road, and the car tried to get out of control, sluggishly reacting to my attempts to change the trajectory.

 

In general, the car seemed quite shistro, but did not cause strong emotions. Then I remembered the words of Stanislav.

 

Turbilno wakes up about 3,000 rpm, and, therefore, the engine needs to be twisted to twist the maximum return. That's just a long straight section - let's go.

 

Indeed, after 5000 about 5000/min. A second wind opened at the motor - the tachometer arrow came to life markedly, and I immediately pressed me into a chair. If you switch to 6000-7000 vol./Min., S4 is transformed unrecognizable and becomes like a cart with a powder accelerator walking along the rails. It’s even scary, the road is not so hot.

 

I liked the brakes. Even when there was asphalt on the one hand, and on the other - ice, the car remained on the course without a hint of care to the side and whirling, while Abs did not stink somewhere under his foot and did not interfere at all.

 

In an attempt to deal with possible surprises from an unfamiliar machine in advance, the corresponding literature was studied. A lot said a lot about stability, dynamics and good control of the car on the asphalt - dry, and wet, and even covered with raw foliage. About ice - not a word. We go to the field covered with a thick layer of ice. Here you can try to feel the features of the behavior of the car without fear of ticking some pillar. It is a pity that the rubber is non -navigable ...

 

To begin with, I just ride along a large radius. At a sharp start, the S4 fraction of a second flounders helplessly in place, then, of course, goes - a little more confident than the usual front -wheel drive car, but, in general, it seems. A sharp addition of gas does not cause destabilization. The change in the direction of movement occurs with a slight delay. However, everything is quite predictable.

 

Sports suspension is a gesture for ice bumps, and all the suffering caused by the car is perceived as their own. Well, where are you, the originality of behavior?

 

In the execution of a controlled introduction, it still manifested itself. The entrance to the ski was easily successful after a slight rotation of the steering wheel with simultaneous excess hazard. Just like on the rear drive. But at the exit ... it turned out that in this case it was also necessary to add gas, turning the steering wheel in the direction of drift. Like on the front drive.

 

The behavior of the S4 on the snake was completely peculiar. Here the car behaved like a front -wheel drive, but sometimes - suddenly - became completely unpredictable, and it was not possible to straighten it. Then S4 was very reminiscent of a cow on ice.

 

Of course, you can get used to these features of the car by traveling on it for a long time. First, it is better in sterile conditions of a large site. The brain of a normal driver, which has developed certain front or rear -wheel drive management algorithms, does not keep up with electronics and swimming on the axes and wheels with a torque.

 

The Audi S4, despite the unique capabilities of all -wheel drive and wonderful stability on good coating, requires an extremely delicate attitude and does not tolerate a pan -Russian.

 

The machine has excellent stability on good coating, but when the known clutch limit is crossed, only a specially prepared driver will cope with it - only he can predict the unpredictable.

 

By the way, 2.2 liters, with a turbine and an intermediate boost cooler, an engine, as well as the suspension and transmission of the car are designed by Porsche designers with rich sports experience. This allows you to drive S4 in a very aggressive manner, unacceptable for most other machines.

 

After meeting with the Audi S4, we managed to talk with several owners and employees of service stations. All owners of these machines are directly in love with them, and provocative questions about the possibility of sale cause their bewilderment.

 

Although the car was designed for completely other operating conditions, these German cleanlies and on Russian off -road feel quite confident. One of the owners on year -round trips to Lake Seliger prefers S4 even SUVs, assuring that the latter has a worse cross -country own.

 

The repairmen did not report anything particularly interesting - there are too few of these cars in Moscow. True, they noted the rapid wear of the brake discs, which begin to beat in a few years of operation.

 

Disks are still available, but their quality has decreased - they say that sometimes even new ones beat.

 

With the approval of Audi, it is allowed to install brake mechanics from a more modern S6 model, however, only with the entire front suspension - this is about $ 3000.

 

The installation of another computer unit control of the engine and sports system is also allowed, which gives a tangible power increase. Naturally, all these sprouts of the engine working in prohibitive modes reduce the already not too large (150 thousand km) its resource. But you have to pay for pleasure.

 

Text: Alexey Strelkov
 
 

 

Source: Magazine Motor