First drive: Audi RS4 Avant

It may look like a docile runabout, but Drive discovers the latest version of the Audi RS4 Avant has some real grunt.

Drive Team

16:0014 February 2013

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First drive: Audi RS4 Avant

The new Audi RS4 Avant is a tiger masquerading as a pussycat - a seriously swift high-performance sports machine cleverly cloaked in a swish interpretation of the Euro station wagon.

There are clues this is no mere family chariot, though. Fat low-profile tyres brim the pumped-out wheel arches, two bulbous oval exhaust pipes poke out from the rear and massive brake rotors fill the wheel rims. The stance is mean and squat, with lower side skirts and a rear spoiler to finish the look.

The RS4 Avant is undeniably a car of both blistering performance and enviable practicality - equally capable of carrying out the local grocery run or putting in a few laps at a racetrack.

And the car is further evidence of Audi's determination not to allow its fellow Teutons - BMW (M3) and Mercedes-Benz (AMG C63) - to claim the high ground with driving enthusiasts.

In the 12 years since the first RS (Renn Sport, or race sport) was introduced, we haven't always fallen in lust with the pinnacle of the Audi line. They've been fast, surefooted and comfortable, but somehow unsatisfying. The previous RS4, in 2006, changed our view as Audi ratcheted up the power, dynamics, styling, comfort and features. It was also fun.

This third-generation RS builds on the sterling work of its predecessor, with the reworked naturally aspirated (non-turbo) 4.2-litre quad-cam V8 FSI revving to an orchestral 8500rpm and developing 331kW along its fast and merry way. That's 22kW up on the previous-generation version.

Torque is ever-present, holding a peak of 430Nm between 4000rpm and 6000rpm. The engine is supported by snappy responses from the latest dual-clutch seven-speed S-tronic gearbox, with paddle shifting. As with all RS models, this one has full-time all-wheel drive with a self-locking centre differential and torque vectoring.

The standard smart sport differential directs the distribution of power between the rear wheels. In dynamic mode, you feel the nose tuck into the corners.

On the road, the RS4 Avant is an easy and effortless cruiser, although always with the hum of those twin exhausts over your shoulder. The ride is firm but not go-kart jittery. The new electromechanical power steering offers good road feedback.

With the sports suspension dropped 20 millimetres lower than a regular A4 Avant, and with the usual tweaking of dampers, anti-roll bars and springs, lighter aluminium components, and 19-inch forged-alloy wheels (20-inch alloys are an option), the RS4 is ready for serious trackwork.

To extract the most from it, the owner needs to work through the driving aids, tailoring throttle responses, steering ratio, gearshift speed, damper firmness and the aggressiveness of the sports diff - three different modes in all cases.

With the help of a Launch Control feature, the quoted zero-100km/h acceleration time of 4.7 seconds is an improvement of 0.2 seconds on the previous model. It doesn't really feel that fast, due to the absence of wheelspin and fuss. It bites into the tarmac and rockets off in an effortless way. And it's good for a governed 250km/h.

The gearbox blips with gusto on the downshifts. There's some understeer turning into tighter corners, but it can be banished instantly by coming off the throttle a little. Body roll and pitch is hardly noticeable, the steering works nicely and the grip is superb. The S-tronic gearbox is lightning quick. And then there are the brakes.

The car tested was fitted with optional $13,500 carbon-fibre ceramic discs, but the regular system is more than adequate. On the track, the ceramics are Porsche-like, with outstanding stopping performance and complete absence of fade. Using premium 98 unleaded, and with a tall top gear, the average consumption is a claimed 10.7 litres per 100 kilometres, although this heads for the sky when you hit the track.

The RS 4 Avant gets all the desirable gear in an elegant dark-grey/black cabin, with carbon inlays and contrasting chrome. The interior nappa leather is typical, but perhaps a little understated given the RS's combustible character. Sports seats are comfortable and hold you in tight.

Cargo capacity is 490 litres with the seats raised, and 1430 litres with them down.

Helped by a more-for-less-money approach (the last RS 4 Avant was $170,000), Audi Australia is expecting sales of 80-100 in 2013, some to female buyers. Blokes can't have all the fun.