Audi RS4: Geared for excitement

Another nice review of the Audi RS4, this time from South Africa.

This Audi hasn't been on the market for long but its reputation precedes it. I lost count of the number of times I was asked: "Gosh! Is that the new RS4?"

You just can't buy word-of-mouth buzz like that; the product has to be very good, and in this case, it is.

But the most obvious throwback is the presence of a manual transmission, complete with clutch pedal. These days most cars with serious sporting pretensions have some sort of fancy, complicated gearbox.

Sometimes it's an automatic that can be used a bit like a manual. Sometimes it's a clever mechanical gearbox that can be used like an automatic. Usually, it involves operating fiddly paddles or buttons if you want to change gear yourself. Clutch pedals do not figure.

Audi itself produces the DSG transmission, the only one of these trick gearboxes that everyone likes, so it's perhaps all the more unusual that the company has chosen to go manual in this case.

Whatever the reasons for the choice, they're good; the RS4 is a supercar that's as easy to drive as a Nissan Micra. The engine has a typical V8 throb but it isn't rumbly or lazy like the American variety.

This one really zings, as the claimed 0-100km/h acceleration figure of 4.8sec shows. And the RS4 adds excitement and agility to the safety and stability that generations of quattro drivers have been able to take for granted.

Related news: GermanCarBlog, P4MR, Audi RS4

Source: Motoring

Audi RS4: Geared for excitement

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