Audi S4 Avant review
Audi A4 S4 Quattro Road Test
Test date 14 May 2003
Price as tested £37,355
For Engine, grip, traction, desirability, build quality
Against Harsh ride, odd steering, motorway noise
Audi first used the S designator on its competition cars two decades ago, but the first road car to wear the S badge was the S2 of 1991 - the successor to the legendary Ouattro coupe. By the decade's end, the S moniker had been applied to hot versions of the A3, A4, A6 and A8, although their reign as flagships has recently been undermined by the appearance of even more powerful RS models. The first of these was the RS2 Avant which appeared in 1991, and proves that Audi certainly has plenty of experience of making fast wagons.
Limited to just a one-word epitaph for the old S4, we'd probably settle for 'competent'. Never a bad car, it was never in danger of being accused of greatness, either. Which wouldn't have been a problem had Audi not been charging more than £36k for the saloon towards the end of its life. Big money, when BMWs more involving M3 costs a similar amount.
But the S4 offered something the BMW never did: the option of a practical estate format. Now the speedy five-door and its four-door brother are back, and this time with a naturally aspirated V8 up front and priced at £37,280 and £36,150 respectively. And with no official Touring version of the current M3 available, and the equivalent Mercedes C-class wagon costing several thousand pounds more, Audi has a chance to find a strong foothold in the rapid junior estate market before Volvo's V70R hits UK showrooms later this year.
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