Audi has done a great job in keeping the ride quality high, even with the car's sport-tuned suspension and 40-profile tires.
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Audi has done a great job in keeping the ride quality high, even with the car's sport-tuned suspension and 40-profile tires. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press)
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Over all but the most pothole-cratered streets does the S4 ride supply, and it does so with zero body flex and minimal scuttle shake. Joy also comes from the exhaust note, a soft, fluttery mechanical warble - music to the ears. Unfortunately, with the convertible top down this refined melody disappears, drowned out by the wind and traffic noise. For once, we're talking about a car that could actually use more engine noise.
Should early morning lows, wet weather, or a general dislike of the hot ball of gas we call the sun occur at any time, the cloth top roof can be raised in just 24 seconds. Like a true luxury car, there are no latches to clasps to fiddle with, the entire roof raises and lowers at the touch of a button located beside the hand brake. And once upright, the three-layered cloth top makes it as if the cabrio were really a coupe, with wind and road noise suppressed to levels nearly as quiet as the
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| The S4 Cabriolet's upper dashboard is unique, featuring five chrome-ringed circular air vents as opposed to the standard rectangular units. (Photo: Justin Couture, Canadian Auto Press) |
regular sedan. Just make sure that rear seat passengers duck when operating the roof, as they might get the unpleasant surprise of being whacked upside the head.
Though the S4 Cabriolet shares the B6 A4 architecture, its interior is slightly different to distinguish it from the four-door and five-door models. The upper dashboard is unique, featuring five chrome-ringed circular air vents as opposed to the standard rectangular units, and a modified centre console that features a dash-top cupholder and a storage cubby for sunglasses. Because of its convertible status, the S4 also features a single button which lowers and raises all four windows at the same time. Interior volume has decreased for rear-seat riders, and capacity drops from five to four, but what space is available is capable of carrying people, not just expensive shopping bags and small dogs.
