Time To Say Goodbye To My S4:

[mact3333]

Well I had a good 2 years with this car. I bought the car sight unseen without ever having been inside an Audi before just try something new. When I first got the car, I could tell the front end was heavy causing abit of understeer and numb feeling but I was impressed with the power of the engine. The car came alive after replacing wheels and tires, losing 10 lbs per corner and then doing HR OE springs. Car felt completely different and handled much much better and steering response drastically improved. I also added a 380 mm Stoptech mostly for looks but that also lost some weight. Losing 200-300 lbs of unsprung weight makes a huge difference in this car. I will truly miss this engine. This car is very fast and very under-rated. And the exhaust note after adding the AWE was truly enjoyable although my neighbors hated me. To be honest, its been my favorite engine so far and Ive had every version of M3's and a Carerra 4S. As a really sporty daily driver this car cant be beat imho. I will truly miss this car but at least I sold it to car enthusiasts and they took all the mods. It would have mentally deflated me to have to take off those mods as a lot of time and effort went into them. At least the buyer appreciated them. Well I sold the S4 and replaced it 2 cars, one for dd and other for weekends for now. Not only am I really liking the M4, but the 16' Civic EX with sensing is really impressive also. Loving the technology on the Civic.

[s4buckeye]

nice pickup on the M.


wtf Civic.

[Dr GP]

Would you consider the new M2? Civic? Not sure that is on my radar

[StealthBlackA4]

Civic?? Burn it with fire!!

[mact3333]

I think the new M2 has the philosophy of what the old M's represented...something light, small, agile, sporty/fast, true sports car. The M3/4 currently is close to what the old M5's represented. Its getting pretty big in size but they did cut weight by using a lot of carbon fiber. I think the younger crowd will enjoy the M2 more but the older crowd the M3/4 due to its size and comfort.

With respect to the Civic, granted the seats are not comfy and its slow as crap, but its a good dd. Great gas mileage and that sensing tech actually works. If you leave your lane it vibrates the steering wheel and it will steer you back into your lane gently. It will also break for you if you don't brake when approaching something in front of you. Also has Airplay which the new M4 doesnt have. Nice to load up google maps , spotify/pandora, texts and email from you iPhone.

If I had known how great this sensing technology is/was, I would have ordered the Driving Asst. pkg on my M4.

[mact3333]

People hating on the Civic haha...:)...I actually bought it for my 15 1/2 year old daughter as early birthday present!. But I am going to drive it as much as I can to not put 20K miles/yr on my M4 truth be told haha...:)....in 6 months won't be my dd anymore.

[EBS4]

You've got some great taste in cars. I like them all. Glad to hear the praise for the S4 - it is a great car, although no M4 for sure.

Cheers,
EBS4

[S4 00 2.7]

congrats on the M4.

[VenturiRS]

Nice upgrade(s)!

It seems everyone is moving on to M4s and C63s. Audi better bring the RS4 and the Sportback A/S/RS5 over or they will lose more people.

Alas, it is the natural progression, most S owners go to a P-car eventually.

[Htown213]

Nice M4! I love the growl on start up on those things!

Funny how people hate on the civics lol. I came from 2011 civic si which I drove through grad school.. great car for its intended purpose- cheap, fun to drive, low cost to maintain, and reliable.. and mine had an awesome 6 spd manual, best I've ever driven.

Just wondering what size Renn wheels are you running? Any spacers? Seems like a perfect flush fitment with the PSS tires.

[Thurston]

Would you consider the new M2? Civic? Not sure that is on my radar

I have actually never heard of the M2. I guess I always conflated it w/ the m235i but I'll be damned the M2 looks like a sweet little ride bmw is offering.

OP nice Civic (seriously) and your former Audi is a beauty.

[S4NJ]

Nice upgrade(s)!

It seems everyone is moving on to M4s and C63s. Audi better bring the RS4 and the Sportback A/S/RS5 over or they will lose more people.

Alas, it is the natural progression, most S owners go to a P-car eventually.

All traitors

[F40LM]

Nice upgrade(s)!

It seems everyone is moving on to M4s and C63s. Audi better bring the RS4 and the Sportback A/S/RS5 over or they will lose more people.

Alas, it is the natural progression, most S owners go to a P-car eventually.

I did the opposite, I downgraded in power to RC 350 F Sport haha. I'm not really a true enthusiast though I just love sporty looking cars.

[SpectreGadget]

People hating on the Civic haha...:)...I actually bought it for my 15 1/2 year old daughter as early birthday present!. But I am going to drive it as much as I can to not put 20K miles/yr on my M4 truth be told haha...:)....in 6 months won't be my dd anymore.

I did the same for my daughter with a Kia Soul. Drove it for a couple of months last year until she had her license, and then went and bought my 2012 S5. The Soul is a good little car for her at college and I didn't mind driving it too much, just not enough power. I was glad to move into the S.

[b8audis4]

I would definitely be interested to hear your comparisons on the M4 vs the S4. I know that the M4 is a much more performance oriented car. But engine comparisons, comfort, transmissions etc.

[Troglodyte]

Nice upgrade(s)!

It seems everyone is moving on to M4s and C63s. Audi better bring the RS4 and the Sportback A/S/RS5 over or they will lose more people.

Alas, it is the natural progression, most S owners go to a P-car eventually.

Opposite here, I already owned an M3 and P-car, going the other way in my old age.

[mact3333]

I would definitely be interested to hear your comparisons on the M4 vs the S4. I know that the M4 is a much more performance oriented car. But engine comparisons, comfort, transmissions etc.

Well the comparison is abit complicated as the S4 feels completely different with and without minor mods. Stock the S4 feels heavy, especially up front when compared to the e46 and e93 M3. . There is quite abit of understeer due to engine being way up front and the weight of the car. The engine was lively and fast, but the stock exhaust is pretty muted and lame diminishing this somewhat . The handling of the S4 improved dramatically when lowered on HR OE springs and if you can get 20 lb/19 inch wheels and get the PSS tires at 25lbs, you are losing 10 lbs per corner and that is a lot and you can easily feel this difference in cornering and acceleration. And if you add a BBK you can drop another 10 lbs in front per corner. Now the car feels a lot more nimble but the aural feel isn't there due to exhaust. Once you upgrade that, its complete. A lot of steering feel and sounds mean now and pretty damn fast. I really like that SC'd engine. The S4 has been the best daily driver I have ever owned period.

Now to the M4, the steering feels abit mechanical and numb at low speeds but the feel comes alive at higher speeds(steering feel improves greatly). This car has 3 settings for steering feel, suspension stiffness, throttle response, shift points. Admittedly since I have owned the car for few days, I have only driven it in efficient mode for throttle, sport mode for suspension/steering. And I have to obey break in rules. Steering feels pretty heavy in sport mode and most seem to like efficient mode for steering on street and the track. Efficient mode on throttle does make the car feel abit sluggish for a car with 425 HP.

The exhaust sounds plain weird and I don't like it. Cold start is really loud and aggressive but inside the car when accelerating it sounds nothing like my AWE exhaust on S4. Car has active sound so maybe thats why it sounds so horrible I don't know. The steering is mechanical but pretty precise and turn in is sharp and crisp. No complaints, just feels very different than a 911 and modified S4. Once I use sport mode for throttle response like everyone seems to do, the quickness of the car will be more apparent. The way I drive it now, it feels no faster and maybe slower than my S4. But my S4 with mods was doing 0-60 in 4.3 to 4.4 all day without a tune.

The suspension is always reported as being stiff but I find it very comfortable. But I am used to coilovers and spring upgrades on all my cars so this car on sport setting doesnt seem stiff to me at all.

This time around, I only plan to do a few cosmetic upgrades and lower the M4 on springs and thats it. I won't modify it much at all. As of right now I like the M4 a lot but don't love it, but I never love any car at first. I didn't love the S4 stock but did like it a lot after few mods. Same will hold true for the M4 I am guessing, you find the weakness and modify to your liking.

[mact3333]

Opposite here, I already owned an M3 and P-car, going the other way in my old age.

I did same as you too, but I went back to M3/4 yet again(my 6th one).

[mact3333]

I did the same for my daughter with a Kia Soul. Drove it for a couple of months last year until she had her license, and then went and bought my 2012 S5. The Soul is a good little car for her at college and I didn't mind driving it too much, just not enough power. I was glad to move into the S.

I know what you mean, guys from AZ will laugh at us for liking the Soul and Civic, but it really isn't that bad of a ride/drive...honestly, I kinda like driving the Civic, as it doesn't get a lot of stares, gets good gas mileage, its small and agile, and you don't worry about door dings either.

[Thurston]

Well the comparison is abit complicated as the S4 feels completely different with and without minor mods. Stock the S4 feels heavy, especially up front when compared to the e46 and e93 M3. . There is quite abit of understeer due to engine being way up front and the weight of the car. The engine was lively and fast, but the stock exhaust is pretty muted and lame diminishing this somewhat . The handling of the S4 improved dramatically when lowered on HR OE springs and if you can get 20 lb/19 inch wheels and get the PSS tires at 25lbs, you are losing 10 lbs per corner and that is a lot and you can easily feel this difference in cornering and acceleration. And if you add a BBK you can drop another 10 lbs in front per corner. Now the car feels a lot more nimble but the aural feel isn't there due to exhaust. Once you upgrade that, its complete. A lot of steering feel and sounds mean now and pretty damn fast. I really like that SC'd engine. The S4 has been the best daily driver I have ever owned period.

Best review i've read in awhile, very good. (i shortened the quote but I enjoyed the full review.)

[MrFunk]

Best review i've read in awhile, very good. (i shortened the quote but I enjoyed the full review.)

+1

Enjoy the new M! Civic => great car for a teen - lucky girl.

[SteveYem]

Congrats OP on the upgrade.

My wife used to drive a Civic. We loved that car - fuel efficient, simple, easy to drive (it was a 5MT - you had to try to miss a shift). I miss that car.

[RudyH]

Great pick-up, with everyone trading their S4's in for M3's, thought I would look. WTF, from a leasing prospective why would you consider a S4?

(side note, as I went to price out an S4, it's no longer available from Audi Canada!!!)

On the Civic front, honestly, I think the 2016 will bring back Honda's glory in the segment. It is a VERY GOOD car IMO, and as a second commuter car it's what I am recommending all my friends right now. I use to HATE the Civic too because it was so good back in the day. Then when Honda lost their way the past few years I loved to smirk about it. It's nice to see they rebounded nicely now.

[Thurston]

Great pick-up, with everyone trading their S4's in for M3's, thought I would look. WTF, from a leasing prospective why would you consider a S4?

(side note, as I went to price out an S4, it's no longer available from Audi Canada!!!)

On the Civic front, honestly, I think the 2016 will bring back Honda's glory in the segment. It is a VERY GOOD car IMO, and as a second commuter car it's what I am recommending all my friends right now. I use to HATE the Civic too because it was so good back in the day. Then when Honda lost their way the past few years I loved to smirk about it. It's nice to see they rebounded nicely now.

what kinds of things did you find, leasing wise? I've suddenly become interested in the new M2 .. sucker seems to be priced right & has all the archaic things I like.

[Mr.Tan]

best factory color available on he M to be honest. Enjoy it, they seem to be a lot of fun.

[jzinckgra]

To the OP, approx how much did you have wrapped up in mods?

[Dr GP]

I have actually never heard of the M2. I guess I always conflated it w/ the m235i but I'll be damned the M2 looks like a sweet little ride bmw is offering.

OP nice Civic (seriously) and your former Audi is a beauty.

M2 is a new model from BMW. Upgrade in performance from the M235i. Not sure you can actually buy one yet. Car mags are testing them

[mact3333]

Thx guys....here are the mods I did and the cost, since some of you are asking.


1. Rennsport wheels 19 X 8.5 and 20 lbs each...think i paid 1500 for wheels...1000 in Michelin PSS tires
2. HR OE springs 350.00 plus 900.00 install/alignment(yeah I know this is high).
3. AWE tour exhaust 1800.00 on sale
4. Stoptech 380 mm BBK approx 2900.00 on sale

Best bang for buck for S4 is to get new wheels and tires and lose 10 lbs per corner and to lower with HR OE springs....bbk is a luxury.

and few other cosmetic stuff like upgrading gear knob to 8.5 and aluminum pedals.

[jokingjimmy]

People hating on the Civic haha...:)...I actually bought it for my 15 1/2 year old daughter as early birthday present!. But I am going to drive it as much as I can to not put 20K miles/yr on my M4 truth be told haha...:)....in 6 months won't be my dd anymore.

Great idea. So, when she starts driving, just tune the M4 and DETUNE the Civic haha... slow cars = win... At least for our peace of mind regarding our kids lol.

[mact3333]

what kinds of things did you find, leasing wise? I've suddenly become interested in the new M2 .. sucker seems to be priced right & has all the archaic things I like.

I see people leasing M3/4 for 750-900/month all the time for well equipped ones with MSRP close to 75K-78K. MF 0.00131.

They are dealing now on M3 but esp M4's. Most are paying close to invoice now or maybe 1K over at most after the 1500.00 in incentives available right now. Invoice is 7% less than MSRP.

I paid 500.00 over invoice after incentives factored in PDX area, previously notorious for bad deals.

Obviously have no idea what kind of deals you can get on M2 since they aren't out yet.