My buddy Chris was beaming as his person pressed to the two-tone Recaro on the passenger side. “This happening is utterly unbelievable,” he said, his voice a blend of awe and disbelief. Around us, the scenery flicked by as the crisp Sunday Evening air was sucked in within the open windows. The radio was on, but the volume was turned all the way down. At the moment, the alone soundtrack in that we got interested was the guttural roar originating based on information from the big oval pipes poking during the rear valance. “Chris,” I replied, snicking the shifter to third, “This event is ridiculous.” The “thing” in wonder is the 2008 Audi RS4, and neither of us got exaggerating.

The recent B7 Audi A4 is a lame duck, due to be replaced shortly by a new car on a new platform who promises to shoot manifold upgrades to Audi’s bread-and-butter nameplate. Drive a the most recent RS4, however, and you will realize yourself wondering why the turd they have got to adjust anythiUnlike the A4 and S4, that are decidedly non-threatening in appearance, the RS4 radiates a sense of menace. Its bodywork is distinctly muscular, investing in gills on the dwindled front fascia merging to bulging wheel arches. The space out there the rear wheel openings is equally swollen, helping the car adopt an athletic, wider stance.

The rear bumper has a blacked-out key in that is flanked by significant oval consume outlets. Their openings are wide a sufficient amount of to swallow a Blackberry rotated lengthwise additonally in its leather case. Our car was completed in Avus Silver and !no! amplified by the appearance of the Titanium Package. This lets the RS4 get additional in touch provided its dark side, blacking out the grille and window frames, as perfectly as applying an anthracite end to the 19″ wheels and the consume tips. It’s not accomplishable to overstate how that much right the car looks as if it’s as a result. This concern is The goodness carries on inside, at which the seats and trim are done in a spectacular black-and-red motif, courtesy of the $3,800 Audi Exclusive package. I da referred to the color combo as “Darth Maul” and envisioned a small amount of deep space tannery at which Audi prepares Sith hides specifically for use in its sedan über alles. Piano brown puts (also half of the Titanium package), aluminum accents, and RS4-emblazoned floormats close off the upscale interior. As for the cabin’s layout and instrumentation, it is the same as how you will afford in any more A4 variant. The MMI controller is on the audio system, that incorporates an LCD score and parts nav, satellite radio, and the some accoutrements you assume to put up in a primo machine desire this.cooler as opposed to Boba Fett.ng.Flick open the familiar Audi switchblade key, twist on the ignition, and a deep waste burble penetrates the cabin as the RS-trim 4.2-liter V8 comes alive. There’s a motive the same engine too finds its way underneath the R8 sports car’s transparent engine cover: it is awesome. Producing 420 horsepower at 7,800 rpm and 317 lb-ft of torque at 5,500 rpm, the relationship between the direct-injected, naturally-aspirated eight-cylinder and the RS4 is the junk of an eHarmony television commercial.
The road to a suspended driver’s license is an easy one to follow. Before you set off, do yourself a favor and push the S button on top of the instrument panel. This turns on the sport mode, that sharpens the throttle response and causes the lose louder. You may now begin.

Pop the shifter to above all (the struggle is indistinct and precise) and hammer it. The car accelerates as if it is kept on try off a Nimitz-class carrier’s steam catapult. Audi pegs the zero-to-sixty era at 4.6 seconds, a believe overly sounds completely levelheaded (and more than likely conservative) according to our highly sophisticated AAiS (Autoblog Ass-in-Seat) info measurement technology.

More astonishing as opposed to the RS4’s wicked acceleration is the unpredicted lack of drama this accompanies it. While the continual succession of miracles cropping up in the engine bay conspire to turn your view of the scenery to an impressionist painting, the car’s steering, suspension and quattro approach are equally expert at this jobs, keeping the car flat and planted additonally just communicating the road things to the driver. This all crops up surrounded by tiny bit of harshness, in spite of the without a doubt aggressive wheel/tire setup, a surplus testament to the likely goodness of the roots and dynamic package as a whole.
There are no surprises, when you are basically in tune amidst the tarmac flooding by under you. This affects the RS4 unbelievably easy to push fast, and a good deal more importantly, incredibly fun to goad as the road becomes a greater amount of complex. Road signs advertising turns in the future ought to as immensely suffer pictures of gift-wrapped presents on them. You ask for snaking curves and undulating hills, while tackling them in the RS4 is an act of joy which the car shares in you. It wants you to toss it; to egg it on.
The survive long period of time I had right now a great deal fun just driving a car was the summer of 2007, when Porsche down a Boxster in my lap for a week. A lot of individuals same feelings came pooring going back when I had the RS4; the senses of predictability, stability, and confidence. A astronomical sports car performs that, and you create forming emotional connections through it as a result. Then it dawns on you. That’s how the RS4 is. A sports car. One qualified of humiliating larger number of sports cars. Calling it a super sedan performs it no justice, due to the fact that you are pigeonholing it.

Pay no mind to the five doors and the familiar, old A4 bodywork. Appearances deceive. It’s what is inside which counts. The RS4 is as sharp or sharper as opposed to high-performance cars twice its price. Maybe not as sexy, but most any bit as appealing.Seven days and a couple hundred miles later, the RS4 was taken back, doubtless off to entertain particularlly more and more journo. Normally, presently certainly isn’t a big deal. You cut the cord and give the impression produce to the then thing. Sometimes, however, the parting is this kind of ass sorrow. Like its lesser siblings, it am able to one day be replaced by a new RS4, and overly car should own a couple of majorly big shoes to fill.

Our tester averaged 17 miles per gallon during the week and stickered at $78,335 as optioned. If I had the means, I’d go buy one right now afternoon. If you undergo the means, I do not understand how you are awaiting for.