You need to ask? It’s the fast Audi estate, the spiritual successor to the RS2 that kicked it all off 26 years ago with a car that accelerated to 30mph faster than a McLaren F1. OK, so the RS6 Avant is the horsepower daddy but we’d argue that the smaller and lighter RS4 is more fleet of foot and therefore even more desirable.
It’s been around since 1999, when it used a 2.7-litre twin-turbo V6, before going nat asp V8 for a few thunderous golden generations before efficiently downsizing à la mode in B9 form (to use internal Audi code) and running a 2.9-litre biturbo good for 444bhp. That stays for this latest incarnation, a face- (and bottom-) lift that eschews power hikes in favour of a judicious mission optimisation.
This is all about finessing the chassis and powertrain, to deliver a car that’s more nuanced even if there are still elements of Ingolstadt sledgehammer to its character. Audi highlights weight reduction and improved driving dynamics, which sounds good to us.
And visual tweaks too, right?
Oh yes. Following on from an A4-range wide overhaul, Audi added darkened Matrix LED headlights, which intensify a visage that was hardly lacking in aggression anyway. The single frame grille is wider and flatter, the RS-bespoke front air intakes are bigger than ever, chrome slits bisect the tail-lights, and the whole lot issues a comprehensive rear-view mirror fast lane, um, ‘flip you’.
The ur-Quattro through-line is taken care of via front and rear wheel arch tumescence (30mm wider compared to the stock Avant), and the (cosmetic) air vents on the bonnet’s leading edge. You’ll search far and wide for a more resolutely planted looking car than this, even on its standard 19in, 10-spoke Audi Sport alloys (the Carbon Black and Vorsprung trim get 20s as standard, otherwise they’ll cost you £2,100).
Audi claims aesthetic kinship with the fabled Eighties IMSA 90 GTO racer, possibly the most deranged car in its entire back catalogue. Cool.
Anything else to move the game along?
Elsewhere, the changes are all in the small print. New software promises faster shifts in the eight-speed Tiptronic gearbox, a wider torque curve (442lb ft between 1,900 and 5,000rpm), and there are quicker reactions and a more rearward bias in the quattro hardware, plus revised software for the passive anti-roll set-up and the adaptive dampers.
All the safety, driver assistance and connectivity has been brought right up to date, with an RS-specific Audi Virtual Cockpit (sounds almost quaint now, nearly a decade after it first appeared in the TT v3.0), and Audi’s MMI touchscreen operating system. There’s also an eye-popping range of colours available. If you’re prepared to pay for ‘em…
You’ve not mentioned the car in the pictures, the Competition model.
Well aren’t you eagle-eyed? There’s a good reason for that: Audi only allocated 75 examples of the RS4 Avant Competition to the UK, and they’ve all long since sold out.
The Comp brought grippier rubber, new gearbox mapping and coding for the ECU, an active rear diff and fixed steering ratio to the party, plus a stupendously complex suspension. The result? 0-62mph two tenths quicker than standard. Which doesn’t sound like much, but the effect on handling – and therefore enjoyment – was transformative. It’s the best version of the RS4 to date. How dare Audi make so few, so late on in its life.
What’s the RS4 up against?
The usual suspects, of course: there’s the estate version of the Mercedes-AMG C63, and the new BMW M3 Touring. The latter in particular is a huge problem for the RS4 these days given they’re a generation apart, literally and metaphorically. It’s like comparing a Nokia 3310 with the latest iPhone.
Our choice from the range
AUDI
RS 4 TFSI Quattro Competition 5dr S Tronic
£83,125
What's the verdict?
“The RS4 is visually distinctive, impeccably engineered and has the pace to exceed the requirements for any self-respecting supercar”
The RS4 shows how committed RS GmbH is to creating cars of real character, as opposed to machines that you simply point down the autobahn. Whatever the weather. The people running the show over there are young and enthusiastic and their cars have an impressively evolving bandwidth, including considerable potential to entertain.
The RS4 is visually distinctive, impeccably engineered and built, and has the pace and capability to exceed the requirements for any self-respecting real-world supercar. Hard to fault in an objective sense, then. Yet it still feels a bit uptight, and not completely comfortable with the more extrovert aspects of its remit.
That’s become even more stark with the arrival of the extremely capable BMW M3 Touring, although the limited-run RS4 Comp gives us hope that Audi can hit back when its replacement hits showrooms.
BMW M3 Touring
Mercedes-Benz AMG C63
Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio
Continue reading: Driving
Driving
What is it like to drive?
The R8 was probably the first high performance Audi to introduce suppleness to a chassis lexicon in which ride comfort was apparently an alien concept. Since then, the company regularly flies its engineers to the UK during final sign-off, the crucible of distressed bitumen and asphalt. Gotta make sure that quattro prowess and multi-link front and rear suspension is up to mustard.
And is it?
Like the RS6, this thing is a revelation. The RS Sport suspension sits seven millimetres lower than the S4’s set-up, and it’s very well judged.
Things get more complicated (and even better) if you’ve ticked the optional Dynamic Ride Control box. It works in a manner similar to the system in the McLaren 720S, using three-mode dampers that are linked diagonally with hydraulic fluid. As in the RS6, this is another highly rapid Audi in which the chassis’ compliance actually trumps its lateral grip in the top 10 of reasons to be impressed by it. Its everyday useability is terrific.
Which isn’t to say that this isn’t a car of considerable dynamic competence. Although it weighs 1,745kg, it warps between apexes with palpable conviction and doesn’t fall over itself when it gets to them (it’s worth noting that the 2.9-litre TFSI engine only weighs 182kg).
Steering feel is probably one of its weaker points, but its front end poise is terrific, and an electronically controlled rear differential means the back end obediently follows suit (RS-only variable ratio dynamic steering is an option). It’s meticulous and precise, its quattro AWD meting out torque in a mostly 40:60 front to rear split, with torque vectoring in the mix to further sweeten its cornering chops.
Talk to me about stopping and going.
Braking is by 375mm front, 330mm rear steel discs as standard, with ceramics as an option (which also save 8kg in unsprung mass); the standard set-up isn’t wholly feelsome but is easily good enough. This is a car that is singularly unflappable, as well as more than fast enough for any sane human: 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds, and a top speed of 174mph… with the electronic restrictor removed. Otherwise it’s 155mph.
But here’s an old-fashioned thought: does it get the heart pumping? Not in the way a Mercedes-AMG C63 or, if we discount the estate element, an Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio does. The RS4’s engine doesn’t ripple with the same frenzied character, although the (optional) sports exhaust ramps up the drama.
Audi’s Drive Select offers six different profiles, influencing the engine and transmission, steering, suspension, and the quattro sport differential. However, it still doesn’t feel like a car in which you’d be inclined to go into ‘hoon’ mode for the sake of it (unlike the C63 or Alfa). And you’ve got to stick the ’box in manual mode to get the best out of it, regardless of the software tweaks. It’s plenty smooth enough left to its own devices, but never quite where we wanted it to be once we got a move on.
And then there’s the latest BMW M3 Touring to think about. Its capability dwarfs that of the RS4 and until Audi brings the next-gen car to the table – rumoured to have plug-in hybrid power – there really is no contest between the two in terms of driving stakes.
It all sounded so promising…
Don’t give up hope, though. A short-lived Competition model was launched in 2022, and the inclusion of trick suspension and active rear diff (plus the realisation within Audi that ‘manual’ mode really should mean manual shifting) injected a much-needed sense of fun that had otherwise been missing from the RS4’s make-up.
It raises various questions though. Why did Audi build so few of them? How come it waited so long – as it nears the automotive retirement home – to give us what we’d argue is the greatest RS4 of the lot? Were its buyers really so invested in performance that it was worth going down the manually adjustable suspension route, special toolbox ‘n’ all? And why didn’t the UK get the stupendously better bucket seats that were dished out in Europe?
All good points. Boring one: is it efficient?
Ha! No. Audi claims fuel economy of up to 29.1mpg, which we would describe as… optimistic. At full pelt you won’t escape figures in the teens. If you’re really going for it, even that might be pushing it. Keep a weathered eye on those fuel prices; acceleration could get expensive.
Previous: Overview
Continue reading: Interior
Interior
What is it like on the inside?
Bar the overstyled door handle area – even that looks like it wants to pull your head off – this is surely one of the finest car interiors in the world. The RS seats are trimmed in Nappa leather, and look great with their contrast honeycomb stitching.
The flat-bottomed wheel is typical of the genre in that it positively explodes with functionality, including an RS mode button to programme your preferred drive settings, yet manages to be easy and intuitive in use. Better, certainly, than the over-zealous touchpad Mercedes now favours. And no sign of haptic surfaces in here either. Huzzah.
The aforementioned 12.3in Virtual Cockpit might be knocking on a bit in tech terms but it’s still impressive; in RS guise it gains some extra displays, including boost pressure, tyre pressures, a ‘hockey stick’ rev counter and a g-meter. A crisp HUD is an option. Also new is the 10.1in central infotainment touchscreen, which works well although the graphics aren’t particularly classy and we’re not sold on the typefaces. We’re being picky though.
Like all premium cars, there’s a lot going on and an equal amount to get your head around. We also reckon we’ve reached and possibly passed peak connectivity: the RS4 hovers somewhere close to overload, but its driving position is bang-on, the seats are great, and the climate control works well. The rest is just gravy, really.
Almost forgot. It’s an estate, with 495 litres of space with the back seats in place, 1,495 litres with them folded. Less than you get in the new BMW M3 Touring, but not by much.
Previous: Driving
Continue reading: Buying
Buying
What should I be paying?
Refreshingly simple, this. Just the one engine option and three trims to choose from: the entry-level and eponymous Avant, Carbon Black and the big cheese that is Vorsprung.
On-the-road prices for the base RS4 Avant start at £70,870, and it’s pretty well stocked. Matrix LED lights front and rear, Audi’s RS-specific virtual cockpit, its special exhaust system and suspension are all included. As are the Nappa leather seats and traffic sign recognition. Only the one colour – grey – is free though; the rest require you to delve increasingly deep into your pocket.
After you’ve settled for the standard 19-inch alloys or the £2,100 20s, you’re into the option packs: comfort and sound, the sport suspension with dynamic ride control, RS exhaust, red brake calipers, towbar, adaptive safety tech… you get the idea.
Yup, you know the drill with high-end German cars. Level up to the £77,270 Carbon Black edition and among other things you gain the styling package which adds 20in ‘five-arm’ alloys in anthracite black (a £2,375 option on their own) plus carbon inlays on the roof rails, mirror housings and various other elements in matching, menacing black.
The flagship £89,125 Vorsprung spec adds many things from the options list, including RS-Sport Suspension Plus with Dynamic Ride Control (definitely worth it – £2,050 on its own), panoramic glass sunroof, RS Sport exhaust (£1,250), dynamic steering (less essential), and a Bang & Olufsen 3D sound system. The Competition model was briefly available in 2022 with stickier tyres and revised gearbox software: only 75 were deployed to the UK and they sold out in a flash.
Audi claims class-leading residuals, retaining 48 per cent of its original OTR price after 36 months or 60,000 miles (versus 35 per cent for the Mercedes C63 S 4Matic). The RS4’s emissions of 228-221g/km CO2 amount to BiK of 37 per cent; the highest levy possible. Ouch.
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