2008 Audi RS4 review

by Kevin “Crash” Corrigan

The end of winter is nowhere in sight, its sub-zero temperatures outside, and I’m ankle deep in fluffy white stuff. Am I depressed...not one iota, because in my grubby little paws, I’m holding the keys to a brand new 2008 Audi RS4.

Let me tell you straight off the bat, as far as winter driving machines go, it doesn’t get any better than this!!!

Honestly, the performance, coupled to the balance and the traction which this vehicle can produce, is simply mind-blowing.

Of course, when you think about that, it’s hardly surprising, is it? After all, Audi was the company which took the world rally championship by storm a couple of decades ago when it launched its first Quattro Vehicles onto the world rally stage.

In fact, it’s fair to say that Audi changed the face of rallying forever, and propelled the sport to where it is today.

Obviously, that explains the underpinnings of the RS4, but what is it like in real life? After all, I doubt that many will be purchasing this $100,000 luxury sport sedan to go rallying with.

Well, let’s start off with the obvious. We live in a country, where for several months of the year, we are covered in white stuff. No, not that kind of “white stuff”, you’re thinking Bolivia!

Here in Canada, it just makes sense to drive an all-wheel-drive vehicle. Both for the safety aspect (well I have to say that, don’t I?), and for the fun of having exceptional grip available for when the sun finally does come out to play.

Of course, you could just buy an SUV for the winter, but not everyone needs to drive around in a family den on wheels. What if the kids are all grown up now, or for that matter, haven’t even arrived yet? Say that you’ve done reasonably well in life so far, you have a Looney or two in the bank, and you still have a pulse that beats a little quicker than most.

Doesn’t the RS4 make sense? It looks like a respectable vehicle. You wouldn’t be embarrassed to go meet your bank manager in one, would you? In fact, he/she might be rather impressed. The Audi RS4 says that you’re doing ok, you’re not over-flashy with the money, however there is a certain edgy competitiveness to you.

If by chance you need to ferry your bank manager around, he/she would be suitably impressed by the interior of the RS4, because it’s loaded with just about every conceivable toy available, and the vehicle simply oozes luxury. The leather seating is of exceptional quality, and the RS4 logo stitched into the headrests really finishes off that classy look.

Mind you, with that said, I did find that the front seats could perhaps benefit from a little more side bolstering. The seats in the BMW M5, which I drove a few weeks back, certainly offered more support in the twists and turns.

Now there’s a car that many would compare to the RS4. However, I believe them to be worlds apart. The M5 is a “bragging vehicle”, it’s basically all about saying, “I’ve got an M5”. Not to take anything away from that vehicle, it is an incredibly quick and capable car. It’s just that the Audi with its AWD system is more of a “do it” vehicle.

To explain that further, I have a rather long country driveway, and I honestly couldn’t resist seeing how fast I could take it in the RS4. Let me tell you, with six inches of snow on the ground, I broke the local speed limit on the way up to the house (no radar guns there, eh!), and round the back by the barn, I rounded the corner looking out the side window!

That’s the thing with the RS4, it just constantly wants to play. Remember when you were a kid? Come rain, sleet or snow, your mum couldn’t keep you in, could she? Well, that’s the RS4 in a nutshell!!!

Power for this awesome beast comes from a thumping great 4.2 Litre V8, with FSI direct fuel injection that produces 420hp, and freely revs up to 8250 rpm! Trust me, that is a lot of engine for the size of the vehicle.

Oh! And the sound!! Especially when you depress the little S button on the dashboard, which opens up the cut-out flaps in the twin tail pipes. I tell you, you really have to hear it to believe it!!

All that power is then funneled through a slick 6 speed manual gearbox, and out to the wheels via Audi’s famous Quattro permanent all-wheel-drive system which offers asymmetric/dynamic torque distribution and a self-locking Torsen centre differential.

Braking is handled by ventilated cross-drilled discs of 365 mm diameter on the front, and 324 mm at the rear. In real life, this produces exceptional braking, which is rather fortunate because this car is a real rocket on wheels!

The RS4 can go from a standing start to 100kph in 4.8 seconds, and can reach 200kph in just 16.6 seconds. The speedometer shows a tad over 300kph, but the actual top speed is electronically limited to 250kph.

Naturally, with performance figures like that, the Audi RS4 carries a whole host of safety related features, but enough about that, you can read that blah blah in the spec listings. 

In fact, in my mind, the biggest safety feature on the whole vehicle is the fact that it handles like it’s glued to the ground. Honestly, you’ve heard of point and click technology in other areas of life, well this is that in automotive guise.

Mind you, I have to admit to one thing on the RS4 that did drive me around the bend, and it wasn’t the steering wheel.

It was the ridiculous Sat-Nav system which Audi has fitted. Just to give you a little idea how bad it was, there I was in Detroit City looking for the MGM Grand (a pretty famous landmark, I’d have said!). Yet the unit constantly told me that it was unable to calculate a route from my position. I drove around for nearly half an hour as it kept repeating this. I finally gave up and asked a man who was casually leaning against a wall. He tapped the wall and said, “This is it, take the next right for the front door”. Just for laughs and giggles, I hit the info button again. Yeah you guessed it, the unit still couldn’t find the #$%@# building!!!

To be honest though, picking on something like that is a little like pointing out that Cindy Crawford had a mole on her face.

Trust me, I could live with that one minor imperfection. After all, the rest of it is unbelievable. It has stunning good looks, exceptional road holding capabilities, a four door luxurious cabin, 13.4 cu ft of trunk space, and best of all...it goes like a bat out of hell!

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