Differences between The b5 a4 and S4

[00S4Boy]

I am wondering what is different about the s4, because it is based upon the b5 a4 platform.

Yes i know i could search, but searches arn't totaly conclusive, this gives everyone a chance to input what they know, or disprove some false information.

[ImpalorA4]

um you're ghey...i dont own an S4 but even i know the differences between A4 and S4...pft

[dc2000]

s4 gets more bitches? =)

[00S4Boy]

I know the most obvious change the 2.7 biturbo engine.

I was wondering if there were any suspension, steering, chassie, interior, and such differences. Or if the engine/ engine acomidations was the only difference.

[Cole]

Originally posted by dc2000
s4 gets more bitches? =)

Right......Like they know the differences



The things I can think of off the top of my head....


-Seats
-Suspension
-Guages
-Engine
-Transmission
-sideskirts
-Front bumper
-Rear bumper
-Colors and color matching
-Interior trim
-Headliner
-Grill
-Options package (S4 typically has more options, not always)
-Wheels
-Bigger Brakes
-Headlights



and......?

[WhippeD]

i think
the wheel base between a4 and s4 are different...
s4 has wider body by a couple of MM i believe...check out edmunds.com and compare the two...

[Lensch09]

S4 uses alot more aluminum in their suspension...

S4 brakes a hell of a lot more often

6 speed vs. 5 speed

HIDs are on all US spec S4s

Alcantara option

Just about every S4 i've ever seen has a sunroof, there are a few tirds out there that don't

Gauges are red with white needed vs either red with red needle or white with red needle

Bigger rims with wider tires

Larger front brakes

Get this...Different splash gaurd under neath....yup who knew?

Different bumpers, sideskirts, plastic lower grille inserts foglights

some S4's have Chrome/polished mirrors

S4's have way more pimp drivers that lova da laddies

I'm sure there's more i've owned them both...
-Dan

[route66]

A moded S4 can be a super car ... :)

[infamous2.0]

Originally posted by Lensch09


Gauges are red with white needed vs either red with red needle or white with red needle

i never noticed that... hmm that's cool i honestly thought they were the same and didn't pay attention.

[S-fear]

That is probably the one thing I missed going from an A4 to an S4 - the A4 had nice white gauge numbes at night, the S4 has these dorky orange ones. It looks cool to some, but white is just more legible.

Really, with the S4 it is mostly engine, brakes, wheels/tires, interior (seats).

Chassis and suspension tuning is similar (although the S4 is much heavier and more nose heavy).

Originally posted by infamous2.0
[B]i never noticed that... hmm that's cool i honestly thought they were the same and didn't pay attention.

[|Sandman|]

yep, what I miss most from my B6, on my B5 is the nice cluster...

[HotSauce]

Originally posted by Lensch09
S4 uses alot more aluminum in their suspension...

S4 brakes a hell of a lot more often

6 speed vs. 5 speed

HIDs are on all US spec S4s

Alcantara option

Just about every S4 i've ever seen has a sunroof, there are a few tirds out there that don't

Gauges are red with white needed vs either red with red needle or white with red needle

Bigger rims with wider tires

Larger front brakes

Get this...Different splash gaurd under neath....yup who knew?

Different bumpers, sideskirts, plastic lower grille inserts foglights

some S4's have Chrome/polished mirrors

S4's have way more pimp drivers that lova da laddies

I'm sure there's more i've owned them both...
-Dan

Those spash gaurds (Actually, fender liners if you were to go out and buy them), are vented to feed the dual side mount intercoolers on the S4. Many A4 guys have purchased them, to feed their side mount. Cheap and easy HP.

[Lensch09]

I'm not talking about the fender wells. I'm talking about the splash gaurd or "skid plate" that goes underneath the motor

-Dan

[fubacari]

Originally posted by route66
A moded S4 can be a super car ... :)

A4 has potential to be close ;)

[fubacari]

Originally posted by S-fear
That is probably the one thing I missed going from an A4 to an S4 - the A4 had nice white gauge numbes at night, the S4 has these dorky orange ones. It looks cool to some, but white is just more legible.

Really, with the S4 it is mostly engine, brakes, wheels/tires, interior (seats).

Chassis and suspension tuning is similar (although the S4 is much heavier and more nose heavy).

while the red gauge lighting can be referred to some as "dorky orange ones," such lighting is safer than white lighting. red's being the longest wavelength minimizes adjustment that the eye needs to make between looking down at instrument panel and looking up at road and objects at night.

i personally like the nearly all red inside the B5 S4.

[phs0316]

I can't believe you guys didnt mention about biggest difference!!

it's PRICE!!!!

[Titus]

Originally posted by phs0316
I can't believe you guys didnt mention about biggest difference!!

it's PRICE!!!!

You get what you pay for!

[matt719]

I'm pretty sure modded A4s are putting out bigger numbers than modded S4s... the difference is S4s are well over 300HP with a chip and exhaust. K04s and it's all over.

[2L8IWON]

Originally posted by matt719
I'm pretty sure modded A4s are putting out bigger numbers than modded S4s... the difference is S4s are well over 300HP with a chip and exhaust. K04s and it's all over.

Explain your rationale for modded A4's putting out larger numbers than modded s4's?????????

[matt719]

I don't have an example to cite... I've just always heard of 1.8Ts putting out ~800HP and I don't think S4s are there? Certainly the 2.7T has more potential as an engine, but it's limited by tuning options relative to the 1.8T. In the long run, single turbo > biturbo.

Maybe i'm wrong but that's what I've always heard on these forums.

[AB18]

Well if u wana talk about super car then the modded a4 prolly has the edge. Basically becuase of the weight.Stage 3 or more a4s will take most tip s4 out there aswell. What do modded tips run? Low 13s at best?

[matt719]

Originally posted by AB18
Well if u wana talk about super car then the modded a4 prolly has the edge. Basically becuase of the weight.Stage 3 or more a4s will take most tip s4 out there aswell. What do modded tips run? Low 13s at best?

Very true.. well actually, if you want to talk supercar, don't talk Audi... they are all heavy as hell . The B5 A4 quattro is over 3400lbs.. WRXs are what, 3000lbs?

[onemoremile]

stage 3 s4s are not to be taken lightly. that mountain of torque offsets their weght nicely. it is more than adequate.
look for high 11s with a full interior. 12s for a beginner in an avant.

an s4 is a much more elegant car to drive. it feels effortless. the 1.8t is much more high strung.

do a 3rd gear pull from 2000 rpm and you'll see the real difference between the two cars. it'll feel like 3000 rpm in 2nd in an a4.

[ROUGHEDGES]

umm lets see. TORQUE!!!! i had stock turbos and put out somewhere in the area
of 430ft lbs. Try doing that in a a4. torque is whats important to get moving. Not horsepower. Torque is what caves you chest in on accel. Not to metion everything else everyone metioned. Also a car with 4:11 gear ratio that will still pull 180plus.

[Shangsta]

As they say in the muscle car community, horsepower seel cars torque wins races. I just like to thnk torque makes the world go round

[VeRSeTiLe]

There is no 800hp A4....gt28rs a4 may be fast but I believe a k04'd s4 will be faster. There is supposed to be a gt28rs kit for the s4 coming out soon from atp anyways. I'd say s4 is way better...

[poloblue22]

The A4 guys are just a bit jealous thats all ;)

[a4rings]

i guess its all relevant to what you want. I would personally trade my a4 for an s4 any day. Also onemoremile, the average stage 3 s4 is not in the 11's full weight. An interesting thing that i saw when i read the most recent Eurotuner was that even though the s4's were putting down well over 400whp compared to the 320whp from the a4's, the avalon s4 only went arund the track 1 second faster then the 2 a4's,and the awe a4 was on stock brakes, just upgraded pads. Another thing to take into account is also that the s4's were b5's and the a4's were b6's. I f the a4' were also b5's i think the numbers would be almost identical around the track.

[matt719]

Of course I'd rather have a S4 over an A4.. but i don't want an 800HP car either. I'm not sure about the 800HP number, but I do remember seeing a Jetta 1.8T well into the 700s... I just figured there had to be someone out there with more.

Anyways, this wasn't the point I was making... S4s are dead sexy, especially in nogara blue or white. I think the biggest difference now is a decent used A4 can be had for $7000 while a S4 is more like $20,000. You can probably assume you could buy tw A4s for the price of a S4... or buy one A4 and mod the hell out of it.

I wish I had a B5 S4

[a4rings]

that jetta was probably turned into a built 2 liter.

[phs0316]

I cant believe you guys compare A4 and S4...

its like.. comparing

v6 mustang and cobra...

[AB18]

You wana race? I hope your well into the 12s:).


I doubt a stage 3 s4 will touch 11s in full trim. Other then 11secs4 the majority of the times i have seen with stage 3 s4s are mid to high 12s. Weight red helps alot, look at 11secs4. I have my car down almost to a 10/1 hp/weight ratio.

[Cole]

Your not really comparing apples to apples once you start talking about removing weight.

The real point is a S4 can be damn fast WITH full trim and very streetable.

Once you get the A4 up to the same power range you have a strung out 4 popper that is not very user friendly on the street.

I cruise around my Stage 3 S4 with clients in the car all the time and they have NO CLUE what lurks under the hood. The V6 and twin turbos make for a much smoother and usable power range for these situations.

Sure you can get a lighter A4 that is worked over to run fast. That is not an arguement here. It is much harder to make an stage 3+ A4 haul 4 people to a ski area in comfort than it is to do the same with a stage 3 S4.

[audispeed]

Originally posted by Cole
It is much harder to make an stage 3+ A4 haul 4 people to a ski area in comfort than it is to do the same with a stage 3 S4.

Let's be honest here, 4 people arent going anywhere far in an b5 in comfort .

[AB18]

Cole, i agree with you. I will be the first to admit my car is not the most comfortable car in track form. But when its not in track form its very comfortable. Yeah, the 2.7t and 1.8t have totally dif feeling. The 1.8t is much more high strung like someone already said.. The 2.7t has a total dif feeling to it.

[ROUGHEDGES]

The s4 is a totally different animal on k03 vs k04. Once you change the intake piping to rs4 pieces and change to k04s it has a different feeling. It loses much of its raw torque delivery. Still makes great torque but is much more smooth and power doesnt come on as hard on the low rpm side. Many people on audiworld have stuck with the stock s4 piping to keep that part of what the s4 is. I had ko3s and would run next to or be faster than a apr stage 3 up to 110mph or so. Then they would start pulling. Granted i was no normal stg2. it shows you right there that you are comparing a4s to a s4 that could be two different animals compared to a a4 with even more turbo options. The is a never ending debate.

[EvilllEmpirE]

Originally posted by AB18
You wana race? I hope your well into the 12s:).


I doubt a stage 3 s4 will touch 11s in full trim. Other then 11secs4 the majority of the times i have seen with stage 3 s4s are mid to high 12s. Weight red helps alot, look at 11secs4. I have my car down almost to a 10/1 hp/weight ratio.

hmmnnn..........11.9 at 114.5 with a missed 4th gear, on all-season tires, pump gas, and lookie here, full weight trim at 3800 lbs!!! There are a few other S4's in the 11's with full-weight trim...but generally they'll be in the lo to mid 12's

[Scarzie]

Well i think i can speak for everyone here that they would rather have an s4 rather than an s4, no matter how many horsepower the a4 is...

[a4rings]

Originally posted by Scarzie
Well i think i can speak for everyone here that they would rather have an s4 rather than an s4, no matter how many horsepower the a4 is...

I think that kind of thinking can be used when like comparing an s4 to a civic with alot of power. But in this case u are choosing a lower hp with more weight over a car that looks almost the same?
that doesnt really make sense

[ROUGHEDGES]

the s4 feels a million times more solid.