Autocar RSS Feed: Audi RS4 Avant 2018 review

Autocar RSS Feed Welcome to nirvana for car enthusiasts. You have just entered the online home of the world's oldest car magazine, and the only place on the internet where you can find Autocar's unique mix of up-to-the-minute news, red hot car reviews, conclusive road test verdicts, and a lot more besides.

Audi RS4 Avant 2018 review Dec 12th 2017, 12:47 We drive the Audi RS4 Avant and discover that it covers ground like few, if any, other estate cars, but doesn't involve you all that much in the process The Audi RS4 Avant operates in a rare old sphere of fast compact executive estates that involves only it and the Mercedes-AMG C63 wagon. There's no BMW M3 estate and, as yet, no sign of an Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio with a square back, either. So if you want a fast, smallish dog carrier, at £60k or so, here you are.Now in its fourth generation, the RS4 also leaves the C63 as the only V8-powered car in this class. Like the RS5, the new RS4's engine has been downsized to a 444bhp 2.9-litre twin-turbocharged V6, rather than having the previous generation's charismatic naturally-aspirated V8.It drives through an eight-speed torque-converter automatic gearbox, to all four wheels, in a body given a bit more chunkiness and cooling and 30mm wider arches.The four-wheel drive system puts 60% of power to the rear wheels under normal driving, but can put as much as 70% to the rear, or, 85% to the front, which is the kind of system that's meant to make the RS4 more agile. To that end, there's a 'sport differential', an electronically controlled rear differential that can apportion as much power as it likes to either side, which is standard in the UK.There are other suspension options, too: hydraulically-linked dampers, a bit like those in a McLaren, to reduce roll and pitch, and dynamic steering, which adjusts the steering ratio depending on speed, and ceramic brakes. All were fitted to our test car. Other options include a carbon pack at £10k (clue's in the name). Wheels are 19s; or 20s (guess what we got) with 275/30 R20 tyres.This generation RS4 is (up to) 80kg lighter than the old one (deep breath, the body by 15kg, engine by 31kg, front and rear axles 6kg each, steering system 3.5kg, sport differential 1kg, Quattro driveline 12.5kg and, if you spec them, milled wheels 8kg and ceramic brakes 8kg), but is still a 1715kg car; about the same as a C63. They're also within a centimetre of length, with this at 4781mm long. This is one of those ultra-competitive classes where all of the key numbers are gnat's widths apart, including a boot of 505 litres (to the C63's 490).

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to this feed at blogtrottr.com. By using Blogtrottr, you agree to our polices, terms and conditions. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe from this feed, or manage all your subscriptions.