The extra weight is mostly because of Audi's quattro AWD, to many well worth the penalty. No matter what the weather condition; dry, wet, ice, snow or in between, the S4 darts away from standstill with an eagerness that borders on the ridiculous. Not that I didn't like it, please don't get me wrong. I quickly became enamored, stoplights becoming new opportunities to show the world I really hadn't matured much in my first 40 years.
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| No matter what the weather condition; dry, wet, ice, or snow, the S4 darts away from standstill with an eagerness that borders on the ridiculous. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
It was easy to get giddy in the corners too. Its grip is simply astounding; again no matter what the road conditions thrown in its way. For test purposes I regularly take advantage of an almost deserted twisting mountain road that snakes its way up to the ski resort a short distance from my home, but compared to the last time I overstressed some domestic appliance beyond its physical limitations the skies had opened and fresh white powder had dusted the trees and heaped into the ditches at the side of the road. While it looked beautiful, it made for some slippery patches with the need to rein some caution back from the wind - even 4WD doesn't help when attempting to stop on icy surfaces.
The brakes are good though, easily up to the task of repeated panic stops with little fade evident. The discs are gigantic too, measuring 345 mm (13.6 in) at front and 300 mm (11.8 in) in the rear, with standard ABS of course.
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| But while it goes fast and stops even faster, the S4 is extremely civilized. (Photo: Shawn Pisio, Canadian Auto Press) |
But while it goes fast and stops even faster, the S4 is extremely civilized. It rides a little firmer than the A4, as would be expected considering its P235/40ZR18 performance rubber and more rigid sport-tuned suspension, but it's nowhere near as punishing as the racecar replica style M3. Jennifer, my wife, complains bitterly when in the passengers' seat of BMW's road racer, but I never heard a negative peep out of her in the Audi.