Audi S4

The Audi S4 is Audi’s response to BMW’s 335i. I personally feel that these are the two best cars in this niche segment which blends luxury and performance and caters to a very unique clientele.  Starting at $48,100 for the Premium Plus model, this comes standard with a whole lot of goodies that rivals BMW & Mercedes Benz will make you pay for . For people with deeper pockets, the Prestige model starting at $54,000 offers standard navigation system, Bang & Olufsen 14 speaker sound system, parking system with rear view camera, Bluetooth and so on and so forth.  The car offers a variety of driving modes from comfort to dynamic and the drive actually feels different in different modes.  The Audi S4 is based on its little brother, the well-known “A4” and on the face of it, has subtle distinguishing features. It gets a slightly more aggressive front grill, aluminum finished side mirrors, quad exhausts and that deceptive V.6 T badging on the sides which makes you think it is a turbo charged engine. In reality, it is a supercharged V6 which churns out an impressive 333 BHP and is capable of doing 0-60 MPH in 4.4 seconds. It does raise a few eyebrows that a vehicle capable of pulling such impressive 0-60 times has a mere 333 BHP. I know of other vehicles which can pull such impressive times, but they all have well over 400 BHP. So either the Germans are underselling this car or they have really come up with something astonishing.

It is hard not to talk about the interiors of this car.  Even though the current generation S4 has been around since 2009, the interiors are just gorgeous and don’t look dated. Audi has used high quality material all throughout, including leather, alcantara, soft plastics and the overall fit and finish is definitely worthy of an expensive luxury car. The navigation system now comes equipped with google map capability which is a great plus for Audi. Mobile hot spot, DVD play capability and an immensely intuitive infotainment system are some of the prominent features. I feel that the three spoke flat bottom steering wheel is one of the best in the class although Audi draws some criticism over the relatively numb feel the steering offers while driving. For me, the best feature about the S4 is that it is still available with a 6 speed traditional stick shift!! This manual transmission is one of the best in the class. The s4 comes equipped with Audi’s world class All Wheel Drive system “Quattro” and further enhances the driving pleasure apart from coming handy in the snow and rain. There are rumors that Audi will be releasing its next generation S4 in 2015, so you might want to wait until the end of 2014 to check out the new 2015 & possibly manage some discounts if you decide to settle for the 2014 model. The S4 is not quite a BMW “M series” or Mercedes “AMG”, but who cares about the M’s & AMG’s of the world when you are getting an incredibly capable sports car which can indulge you in luxury at the flick of a switch and keep your wallet happy at the same time.