Over the years, we’ve been privileged enough to drive many different cars. Some were good and some were bad. Some were fast and some were slow. Some left an impression and some didn’t. It’s this last reference that I’d like to use for today’s car. Welcome everyone, to the Audi S4 — a car where you remember even the shortest of drives.
And I say shortest with reference only to time, not distance. Because I picked up the car and left Audi’s office in the thick of Mumbai traffic at exactly half past noon. And by 2:00pm I saw a board that said Nashik 8km. That’s roughly 170km. With a quick lunch stop. Here’s what happened.
The car was set in Dynamic Mode when it was delivered to me. This sharpens the throttle response, lets you rev all the way to the redline, stiffens the suspension, firms up the steering and so on. I really wondered how I was going to nurse this thing out of the city. At every set of traffic lights, I used left-foot-braking to help me set off more gently. And the ride was pretty choppy on Mumbai’s roads during peak monsoon. Finally, when I reached Powai, I pulled over and decided to figure this out.
I found a little button on the dash that said CAR. A quick push later I discovered that I was in fact in Dynamic Mode. Everything changed when I set the Drive Select to Comfort. The whole car just sort of relaxed. And in the remaining 20 kilometres in the city, it felt like any other plush Audi saloon.
The seats were a great mix of regular and suede leather, with the under thigh bit extended for additional support. The steering wheel was mercifully circular, not those flat-bottomed jobs you find on some other fast Audis. The aluminium pedals, while they do make sporty driving easier, gave no trouble in the city. The dash was also nicely arranged. All this gave the impression of inherent sportiness.
Twenty kilometres and I had cleared the city traffic. It was time to see what’s what. A quick change to Dynamic Mode and I got two perfectly-timed downshifts to go with a massive increase in revs. The suspension got stiffer, the steering weighted up. And the whole car felt like it was begging to be whipped.
Through second, third and fourth gears, the acceleration from that 3.0 TFSI turbocharged petrol motor was relentless. This thing puts out 333bhp and 440Nm of torque which doesn’t sound like much. But none of it goes to waste thanks to Quattro and the brilliant 245/40/18 tyres from Michelin’s naughty collection. And it feels fast. Really fast. If you’re not careful, you’ll hit the 250kph speed limiter in fifth. And then you’ll have to slow down because a bicyclist has decided to cross the road about a kilometre ahead. Don’t worry though, because the brakes are more than up to the task. You barely feel the ABS and EBD kicking in, even at those speeds.
One more thing that must be singled out for praise is the whole drivetrain. I think that as a package, the engine, gearbox and other drive systems are (bold claim coming up) the best you can but for this money. The aforementioned motor and Audi’s 7-speed S-Tronic double-clutch gearbox are just plain fantastic in the way they work together. For this kind of money (`49.39 lakh ex-showroom Mumbai), you simply cannot buy any more genuine real-world pace.
And back to the road test now. In the corners, there is a slight tendency towards understeer. But if you feel heroic, try lifting off gently and you’ll tighten your line through the corner. But more than anything else, the S4 is planted. Audi doesn’t do histrionics very well. That’s for Lamborghini to do. But the flip side is composure no matter how hard you push it. There’s tonnes and tonnes of grip at the limit. And when you lift off mid-corner and the back end does eventually break loose, it’s ever so easy to correct. And now we arrive at the point where I have to give it a verdict. Buy it. In red. It really does look good in red.