thewusman
09-12-2009, 03:25 AM
So, the 10th of September rolled on this week and that meant it was time to head out to Kyalami race track for a day celebrating Audi's 100th birthday.
The theme for the day was "Audi sports cars". High speed lessons in cornering and vehicle dynamics, driving the new S4 and the S5, then some full laps of the track and a surprise vehicle for the afternoon.
We spent some time performing slaloms on the main straight through cones in the S4's, which all had the full drive select system, including active dampers coupled with the new rear sport differential.
After a few runs, our instructors (I had an awesome chap by the name of TK) switched the car from "comfort" to "dynamic" half way through the cones at pace, while I was driving. This instantaneously demonstrated just how far Audi have come with their new drive select suite of technology, now elevated to even greater heights with the sport differential.
Within an instant, the minor body roll and relaxed steering evident when driving slalom through the cones in "comfort" mode vanished, to be replaced by a dynamic weapon capable of slicing through the cone route like a surgeon's precision instrument. The suspension tightened to the max, steering ratio altered to become super sharp, requiring far less hand intervention to pinpoint the nose through the rubber cone layout. The sport diff could be felt, pushing the vehicle from behind and actively ensuring the maximum amount of traction to the requisite rear wheel was achieved.
In short, it was phenomenal. I cannot describe how the new S4, with the full bag of handling technology, is 2 vehicles in 1. It's a family saloon when you need it to be. Comfortable and well behaved. Press a button and it turns into a well honed sports saloon, rewarding the driver with dynamics and pure "fun factor" to the max. Huge Grin is provided free of charge.
Audi really need to push this optional suite of brilliance, because, in all honesty, you are getting 2 totally separate cars. I still cannot fathom how they made this all happen. It's simply awe inspiring.
From the slalom, we jumped into the manual S5's to learn some high speed cornering techniques, then back into the S4 for the Wesbank S's. For the record, 2 of the 3 S4's I drove were fitted with the 7 speed S-Tronic. This, for me and all but 1 of the 8 other guests on the day, was the transmission of choice. I did not enjoy the "notchiness" of the manual, which, after having owned both a B6 and B7 A4, seem to be inherent to audi's longitudinal platform cars with the engine mounted in-line. Transverse mountings, such as those in the 8P A3, do not seem to suffer from this. It's a pet hate. Glad I've ordered the S-Tronic.
When mated to the 3.0T (thoopercharged) engine, it's a dynamite package. Instant throttle response, 7 quick fire gears to choose from, manual shifts which seem to happen in a time void (in fact, they're so quick you kind of ask yourself WTF did we just change 5 cogs already in under a second flat with Schumi F1 style double declutches and throttle blips?). It's mind blowing.
I firmly believe audi have underrated the engine power stats. I'll wait for the dyno's to show the real truth, but I suspect it's around 265kw at the fly (360bhp). Even without a software upgrade, the ability of this transmission combination to "get the power down onto the road" is something I've never felt in a dual clutch setup. I'm going to go so far as to say it's even superior to the RS4's brute off-the-line tractability and push-you-back-in-your-seat antics. A thought shared by all of our driving instructors.
The S4 simply slices the track up. Every time. Even in the hands of a slighty-above average enthusiast driver such as myself. (Heck, it took me 5 laps before I got the hang of the S's, first time on Kyalami though so I don't feel too bad about that).
The S4 is a miracle for the chap in the street with pockets deep enough to stretch to this level of thrill. For the price and the enjoyment, it's something I've been dreaming of in a "family" car for an eternity. Stealthy Q car looks (could do with some larger 19's to fill the arches, not crazy about the stock 18's fwiw), Jet fighter'esque interior built so solidly it oozes vorsprung quality to make the other German marques shit in their pants with embarrassment (nice cup holders too for the record).
In short, I'm stupefied. I cannot wait to pick mine up in December. This is going to be a keeper. It's a special car. But don't take my word for it. Find one with the full kit of special "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" tomfoolery aka. Drive select with sport differential and experience it for yourself.
That is all.
I'll post some more thoughts on detailed driving characteristics in due course.
PS. The surprise for the day, after successfully passing the high speed lessons in the S4, was 4 laps of our own behind the wheel of the R8 V10. I think I stained the seats. But more on that a bit later... with some pictures. [:d]
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y73/vksomera/24082009021.jpg
The theme for the day was "Audi sports cars". High speed lessons in cornering and vehicle dynamics, driving the new S4 and the S5, then some full laps of the track and a surprise vehicle for the afternoon.
We spent some time performing slaloms on the main straight through cones in the S4's, which all had the full drive select system, including active dampers coupled with the new rear sport differential.
After a few runs, our instructors (I had an awesome chap by the name of TK) switched the car from "comfort" to "dynamic" half way through the cones at pace, while I was driving. This instantaneously demonstrated just how far Audi have come with their new drive select suite of technology, now elevated to even greater heights with the sport differential.
Within an instant, the minor body roll and relaxed steering evident when driving slalom through the cones in "comfort" mode vanished, to be replaced by a dynamic weapon capable of slicing through the cone route like a surgeon's precision instrument. The suspension tightened to the max, steering ratio altered to become super sharp, requiring far less hand intervention to pinpoint the nose through the rubber cone layout. The sport diff could be felt, pushing the vehicle from behind and actively ensuring the maximum amount of traction to the requisite rear wheel was achieved.
In short, it was phenomenal. I cannot describe how the new S4, with the full bag of handling technology, is 2 vehicles in 1. It's a family saloon when you need it to be. Comfortable and well behaved. Press a button and it turns into a well honed sports saloon, rewarding the driver with dynamics and pure "fun factor" to the max. Huge Grin is provided free of charge.
Audi really need to push this optional suite of brilliance, because, in all honesty, you are getting 2 totally separate cars. I still cannot fathom how they made this all happen. It's simply awe inspiring.
From the slalom, we jumped into the manual S5's to learn some high speed cornering techniques, then back into the S4 for the Wesbank S's. For the record, 2 of the 3 S4's I drove were fitted with the 7 speed S-Tronic. This, for me and all but 1 of the 8 other guests on the day, was the transmission of choice. I did not enjoy the "notchiness" of the manual, which, after having owned both a B6 and B7 A4, seem to be inherent to audi's longitudinal platform cars with the engine mounted in-line. Transverse mountings, such as those in the 8P A3, do not seem to suffer from this. It's a pet hate. Glad I've ordered the S-Tronic.
When mated to the 3.0T (thoopercharged) engine, it's a dynamite package. Instant throttle response, 7 quick fire gears to choose from, manual shifts which seem to happen in a time void (in fact, they're so quick you kind of ask yourself WTF did we just change 5 cogs already in under a second flat with Schumi F1 style double declutches and throttle blips?). It's mind blowing.
I firmly believe audi have underrated the engine power stats. I'll wait for the dyno's to show the real truth, but I suspect it's around 265kw at the fly (360bhp). Even without a software upgrade, the ability of this transmission combination to "get the power down onto the road" is something I've never felt in a dual clutch setup. I'm going to go so far as to say it's even superior to the RS4's brute off-the-line tractability and push-you-back-in-your-seat antics. A thought shared by all of our driving instructors.
The S4 simply slices the track up. Every time. Even in the hands of a slighty-above average enthusiast driver such as myself. (Heck, it took me 5 laps before I got the hang of the S's, first time on Kyalami though so I don't feel too bad about that).
The S4 is a miracle for the chap in the street with pockets deep enough to stretch to this level of thrill. For the price and the enjoyment, it's something I've been dreaming of in a "family" car for an eternity. Stealthy Q car looks (could do with some larger 19's to fill the arches, not crazy about the stock 18's fwiw), Jet fighter'esque interior built so solidly it oozes vorsprung quality to make the other German marques shit in their pants with embarrassment (nice cup holders too for the record).
In short, I'm stupefied. I cannot wait to pick mine up in December. This is going to be a keeper. It's a special car. But don't take my word for it. Find one with the full kit of special "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" tomfoolery aka. Drive select with sport differential and experience it for yourself.
That is all.
I'll post some more thoughts on detailed driving characteristics in due course.
PS. The surprise for the day, after successfully passing the high speed lessons in the S4, was 4 laps of our own behind the wheel of the R8 V10. I think I stained the seats. But more on that a bit later... with some pictures. [:d]
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y73/vksomera/24082009021.jpg