I have found my next car.

[equ]

Perhaps I should have put this in car talk rather than p.a., as I'm not being very true to the spirit of this forum. Over the last week, my thoughts on the recent crop of audis rekindled. Drove a manual a4 2.0t (non-sport) and a 2010 a5 2.0t sport... In the meantime the love for the e90 has been dropping steadily. Great engine on the 330i, but the rest of it sorely bothers me. So far nothing had won me over until...

Until today, when I drove the new s4 (b8 2010).

Very minor niggles aside, it is the most significant sport sedan I've driven in a while (if not in a decade, it is up there with the classics, the e46m3, the v8 m3 and the rs4). It's like an rs4-light. Same nice steering, fantastic grip, heavy controls. So they have directly addressed many of my complaints from the b6 s4 (numb steering, awkward weight distribution being clumsy on bad roads, bad highway mpgs). The clutch is short, heavy and has feel (my gf did not care for the light a4 clutch). The best thing about it is the overall holistic feel. The ride/handling is very well figured out (the way the e90M is much better than the regular e90's).

The interior is gorgeous and the seats are super comfy. The exterior is tasteful, there is a donut in the trunk. Tire sizes are the same all around. Nav has a great screen and decent controls. Bang & Olufsen sounds great and is priced at $850, not exactly robbery.

Niggles:

• Color selection.. Having real trouble with this. So far the leading candidates are bright. Imola yellow and sprint blue. Really the latter, but the car on the lot that meets my specs happens to be yellow. Good in FL/CA, but you stick out like a sore thumb in my area. I guess it will be sprint blue. I will pair it with a silver/black interior for a light and cool feel.
• Engine sound when revved... Is not that nice. The low revs, regular driving sound is muted but powerful. The high revs sound bad, like kittens being blended. I'm hoping an exhaust will cure it. OTOH, I don't plan for this car to be my sports car, so this is survivable. Perhaps forced induction makes it harder to get a good sound. The rs4/m3 engines are nicer for sure.
• Not sure if the epa highway estimate of 26-27mpg is achievable. I got 14-15 on my drive and I wasn't pushing too hard.
• Steering under 10-20mph is still too light, but it firms up much better than the previous s4 and crucially current a4/a5's. Finally, it's good enough.
• I will lose some minor options like dimming mirrors & memory seats unless I get the top specced package, which I don't to spring for.
• 3.0T designated supercharged engine's reliability remains to be seen (supercharged)

Regardless of these, it is my next car purchase. The rs4 & m3 both impressed me but this works much better, due to highway range and spare tire. I will take the m3 engine over this one in sound and power delivery by miles, but the rest of it (looks/awd/comfort/spare tire/price) are in the s4's favor. Similarly, the rs4 loses on highway range and overall high weight and worse weight distribution and also no spare. In any case, this car is more directly comparable to 335's and in my opinion has them beat.

After 25 years of trying, audi has finally gotten there. Especially in xi form, bmw's are not really a match. There were two at the dealer's lot that are close to what I want. The yellow that I drove and a blue one. The blue is perfect except it's missing the sports diff. Not sure how important this is (I left it in auto in the test drive of the yellow one) but after reading some reviews after my drive (btw I did not go to the dealer to check out the s4, it was just there) but I'm worried that if I don't get it, some of the good feel will be lost. Not sure, as I don't plan to drive this car too hard, more long and the temptation to get the blue car that is perfectly optioned for me except for the diff is very strong.

At 50-52k this car is good value, in a way the original r32 was. No VAG product since that r32 was this satisfying. Well the rs4 was good, but this is the better daily. The only real reason not to get one is the overkill aspect. I could save money and live with a 2.0T a4 perfectly fine. However, I do feel won over and unless sleeping on it changes things, it is in my future.

[JST]

I will have to check it out--nice review. Of course, I wouldn't get too caught up on the spare thing--now that we have figured out the solution on the e9xs, it really just a simple matter of ordering 300 bucks worth of parts.

[equ]

I have an e90 spare, it still takes up room in the trunk, a pain for ski trips. The e90M spare is a royal pain to assemble, my friend in NYC did not succeed. But yes, I think the m3 is quite awesome (and in some crucial ways, engine, purer rwd handling) better. I actually need the awd in vermont/upstate new york in winters. This car is really positioned against a 335xi (which it kills in all conditions purely on suspension/grip). In dry conditions, the 335i sport is a closer match to it in pure dynamics, but it still not obviously better. Audi dominates the wet/snow and looks/interior for me.

The spare/runflat thing is a big deal. I thought for a while the michelin runflats were better, but now they've gotten hard as well. Booms all around. Also another (my third) bubble. And I can't throw them away, the heavy 162's are part of the 330i. So I'd need a third set of wheels to make this car just right. No, thanks.

[equ]

Some pics: black, sprint blue (the leading contender) and imola yellow.

[Sharp11]

Originally Posted by equ

Some pics: black, sprint blue (the leading contender) and imola yellow.

The new convertible iteration is beautiful - and it has a proper soft top

[equ]

Stuka, if I lived in SoCal, I'd go for the imola without hesitation. I don't think it will work well around here.

[FC]

I have an Audi/P-car dealership walking distance from work. I'll have to go test-drive one soon.

Although, as it looks like we may go the nanny route, I may be driving the 987S a whole lot and may not need a sedan for a while

[equ]

Originally Posted by stuka

Yeah, now that I think about it. If I live where most of you live, I probably would have lost my license a long long time ago with my yellow cars.

Or carjacked at gunpoint (though you may have safety measures against that, that may or may not escalate the situation)... I live minutes away from some heavy duty areas, though the police is the first concern. I remember speeding along with a yellow evo one day north of NYC on some pretty road (and I must have been in one my bmw's).... Guess who got pulled over.

[John V]

Originally Posted by stuka

Yeah, now that I think about it. If I live where most of you live, I probably would have lost my license a long long time ago with my yellow cars.

Hm... I went yellow car -> yellow car -> red car and haven't gotten a ticket...

[Josh (PA)]

Can you get it with a proper manual or is it DSG only?