Softly-softly 2015 Audi S4 packs a big punch
For those times you need to hit 62mph in 4.7 seconds on the way to Gran's
DRIVERS WHO feel the need to proclaim their lust for life with go-faster stripes and huge spoilers may find that the latest, 2015 Audi S4 is not for them. This is a subtle sporting development of what is a conservative car — more Clark Kent than Superman. It is a throwback to a genre that used to be called “Q-cars” or, in America, “sleepers” – vehicles that hid their wild performance under a staid cloak of anonymity.
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So, despite its shy and retiring appearance, the latest S4 is anything but short of firepower. It packs a 3-litre V6 TFSI petrol engine that generates 349bhp and 369 lb ft of torque, enough for 0 to 62mph in 4.7 seconds and a top speed that has to be electronically limited to 155mph. That makes it more potent and faster than the equivalent BMW, the 340i M Sport saloon.
Harnessing this power is Audi’s celebrated quattro all-wheel-drive system, and there’s no shortage of electronic gizmos to help drivers fine-tune the car’s behaviour.
Compared with the previous model, Audi is claiming improvements in fuel consumption and emissions – combined-cycle consumption is quoted at 38.2mpg; CO2 emissions at 170g/km.
The first S4s for British drivers will arrive next summer, in saloon and Avant (estate) form. Prices are expected to start at about £40,000 for a car of understated elegance with a beautiful interior in the best Audi tradition.
If it’s too subtle for your tastes, there will no doubt be a faster, more extrovert RS 4 version in time, developed by Audi’s crack quattro division.
Read our review of the all-new Audi A4 (pre-production version)
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