Audi S4 and S5 planned to be 4 cylinder!

Listen to THIS 5-cylinger Audi:

[YOUTUBE]uZcUA6ZtFeA[/YOUTUBE]

Got to love this high-pitched whining of the turbo's overcarge valve :)
 
^yeah, i think they should go with the I5's instead...keep some good sound, keep a little bit of uniqueness.

4 bangers just dont sound right half the time. unless alfa makes one.
 
Yeah exactly: "efficiency wars" <_<

Still, I think this will do more good than bad; prices should come down...
I doubt it, magnesium and aluminum ain't cheap.
 
880lbs lighter?!? I find that hard to believe, but if they can achieve that then kudos to them.
 
No.... just no.... it's bad enough they put a V6 in there instead of a V8 but a 4 banger............
Dr Grip,
You know never liked the sound of a rally car. As someone who hangs out with alot of I4 tuners I have to say no matter what exhaust you put on it it's not gonna sound as good as a V8 it just doesn't have the displacement for it.

Yes Evo's and STi's will decimate the S4 around a track any day but you don't buy an S model to kill everything on the track or on the road. They are not focused performance cars so raw performance is not really their main concern. The RS line is there to beat the pants of of everything else on the road and if they put a 4 banger in that I am going on a rampage.
 
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To be honest, this is exactly what I think is wrong. The S-model Audis or M-model BMWs were never for the people that have to constantly adjust their driving to the fuel prices. If cost really is one of your primary concerns, get a Miata, get a Golf GTI or some other small and fun car. There are loads of cars out there that are dirtcheap and fun to drive.

An S5 is not a muscle car - it's not just a big engine in an unintelligent body, so it doesn't have to be cheap to buy nor cheap to drive. You buy an Audi S5 because you would like to take your F430 Scuderia to work every morning, but with minus ten outside and snow everywhere you realise that that's not a very good idea.

Considering the Audi (R)S cars were built on 4 door sedans and wagon/hatchbacks I'd say there were meant for people that wanted something they could have fun with and still use daily. Part of the latter requires being able to get decent fuel economy.

No.... just no.... it's bad enough they put a V6 in there instead of a V8 but a 4 banger............
Dr Grip,
You know never liked the sound of a rally car. As someone who hangs out with alot of I4 tuners I have to say no matter what exhaust you put on it it's not gonna sound as good as a V8 it just doesn't have the displacement for it.

You guys forget that Audi originally started with I5's and v6's in the S4's?

It's obvious that Audi is trying to go (back) to building a genuinely fun to drive family sedan/estate (well not so sure about the S5). How is this a bad thing? Constantly throwing more power at the problem, even if they cut down weight isn't going to be as fun as a car that is perfectly balanced and not so powerful that 99% of the owners use a max of 3/5 throttle the entire ownership of the car and never take it into a corner.

I'm all over a sub 3200lb AWD performance car with somewhere near 275hp and Audi's awesome interior and styling. I don't give a damn if it's powered by a 3 cylinder if it's smooth and makes the torque and hp I've come to expect from modern DI turbo engines.

And based off your post, you agree with me. :?
 
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Considering the Audi (R)S cars were built on 4 door sedans and wagon/hatchbacks I'd say there were meant for people that wanted something they could have fun with and still use daily. Part of the latter requires being able to get decent fuel economy.



You guys forget that Audi originally started with I5's and v6's in the S4's?

It's obvious that Audi is trying to go (back) to building a genuinely fun to drive family sedan/estate (well not so sure about the S5). How is this a bad thing? Constantly throwing more power at the problem, even if they cut down weight isn't going to be as fun as a car that is perfectly balanced and not so powerful that 99% of the owners use a max of 3/5 throttle the entire ownership of the car and never take it into a corner.

I'm all over a sub 3200lb AWD performance car with somewhere near 275hp and Audi's awesome interior and styling. I don't give a damn if it's powered by a 3 cylinder if it's smooth and makes the torque and hp I've come to expect from modern DI turbo engines.

And based off your post, you agree with me. :?

I just really want a V8 :'( That's really all there is to it.
 
A return to lightweight-better-handling-yet-every-bit-as-fast-if-not-faster Audis?!

NOOO!!!! I wah mah low-down torquey V8 powered 16 ton lead sled!!! What the hell!!!!!!!!!

crybaby.jpg
 
Well, if they're moving to smaller engines, they should use the one that's going into the TT-RS. That twin-turbo I-5 would be sahhhh-weeet! :cool:
 
Well, as an Audi fanboy, all I can say is: these guys know damn well how to build engines, and when they say they build a 4 banger that gives better power and economy, so be it, and it will be good :). Wonder when I will read about the new engine in this: http://www.atzonline.de (they had the current 3.0 TFSI ~half a year before it was announced ;))
 
Considering the Audi (R)S cars were built on 4 door sedans and wagon/hatchbacks I'd say there were meant for people that wanted something they could have fun with and still use daily. Part of the latter requires being able to get decent fuel economy.
No. No, no, no, no, no.

It's like giving your girlfriend a precious diamond ring as a present, only to tell her just how much you saved by checking out various stores. "Look darling, I got this ?1000 cheaper!". A car, much like a diamond ring, is about passion to us petrolheads. And when you start discussing the money in it, that passion goes away. The whole charm of a great car just fades away.

Do I care if Volkswagen invented a clever new engine that gives better fuel economy? YES! I think that's great. Put it in your Passat or your Polo - the average owner will be a lot happier. But do I, as a petrolhead, really want to think about fuel economy whenever I put my foot down and hear the roar of the V8? Of course not.
 
I am going to swing both ways ot this issue: I am rooting all the way for smaller engines in lighter cars but also understand how it upsets people that Audi has gotten rid of that glorious V8 in the S-lineup.

However, there is one thing to be said here, which defends the point of ditching the V8:

The difference between S- and RS -cars. They both had massive V8s with apocalyptical soundtracks, both had AWD, both had the same body, same chassis, same interior.....what was the point in buying the S4 when you could just as well have the bigger brother, RS4 ??

I think it is very good they are changing the S4. Some of you seem to think they are simply downgrading the car, but that's not how I see it. They are making it different and widening the gap between the 100% performance car that is the RS4. Audi is now giving us a choice. An as it has been already pointed out, the S4 began as a 5 cylinder, moved up to twinturbo V6 and then received V8 treatment and it is the B5 2.7 TT V6 that most consider to be the finest S4 yet, especially in Avant form.

I also agree that Audi should put the I5 from the TT-RS in the future S4, but the thought behind all this is very good: make the S4 lighter, with a smaller engine, more of an enthusiasts car, if you will. Very much in the same way the MX-5 is. And the RS4 is for those who want poweeeeeer and uncompromised butchness. There is a reason why an E30 BMW 320is is a very sought after machine: light car, light, high revving I4 engine and the best drivability on the market. That's a success right there. Making the S4 something different there might actually be a point in choosing the S4 instead of the RS4 other than the price difference: you might end up wanting the S4's features more than those of the RS4.

Everyone is making this seem just cutting costs and downgrading and naturally that is one aspect of it, but not the whole story. Now you get two cars instead of one. SO far the S4 and RS4 have been too much alike therefore making them both very expensive. So far you haven't been able to buy a performance Audi without being fairly rich, because the S4 has been way too expensive for what it is: the little brother of RS4. The S4 was never the king but still had a very royal price tag. Not anymore.
 
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A return to lightweight-better-handling-yet-every-bit-as-fast-if-not-faster Audis?!

NOOO!!!! I wah mah low-down torquey V8 powered 16 ton lead sled!!! What the hell!!!!!!!!!

crybaby.jpg

I never said I was against a lighter S4 but there is no reason for it to not be a V8. You can shed alot of weight from the chassis and still keep the engine.

As I mentioned before there is a huge difference in how an I4 and V6 behaves vs how a V8 does. I4s and V6's need to be revved to get power, they also need to be in the right gear (well maybe not the 6 but the 4 for sure) to get good accel out of them. V8s are alot more forgiving. Not to mention that a roar of a V8 and a buzz of a 4 are in completely different leagues.
 
No. No, no, no, no, no.

It's like giving your girlfriend a precious diamond ring as a present, only to tell her just how much you saved by checking out various stores. "Look darling, I got this ?1000 cheaper!". A car, much like a diamond ring, is about passion to us petrolheads. And when you start discussing the money in it, that passion goes away. The whole charm of a great car just fades away.

That's just idiotic.
 
I love the sound and feel of a V8 as much as anyone else, trust me. I get flies in my stomach when I drive in the S4 V8 a friend of mine has. I will buy one as soon as I have the money. Not necessarily an S4, but a V8 for sure.

BUT:

You remember the Top Gear segment on the Honda FCX Clarity? In it, Jay Leno who I normally don't like that much said something very senseful: Economic cars will be the saviours of our beloved V8s. Audi's completely right to make their S4/S5 as economical as possible. 75% of S4 buyers probably won't care if there's a 4-pot in their car, as long as it performs. And you can make a 4-cylinder that sounds fairly nice and has nearly no vibrations. They will keep the V8 in the real enthusiast cars, the RS models. The few people (including me) who care so much about the V8 can always buy an RS or an used S4 if the RS is too expensive. The used ones ar way cheaper, too. It's not like 20.000 miles will matter if you want to keep the car for a while.
Back to the point: For the vast majority of S4 drivers it won't matter. They just want a nice and fast car. Might just as well make it as light and as economical as possible.
 
That's just idiotic.
Why?

Do you really think she wants to know just how much you saved on that expensive ring? Do you really think any car enthusiast gives a shit how many MPG you got in your last drift?
 
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