2008 Audi RS 4 Review (video)

The front seats could benefit from a little more side bolstering.

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.

Power comes from this thumping great 4.2 Litre V8.