[Harbir]

2 pedal 3 series are always a big disappointment. get one with 3 pedals and the you won't remember which was 2nd best. They are absolutely brilliant. unless of course you expect a sport sedan to in fact be a luxury car with a mushy ride a huge back seat

If the 3 was available in india with a stick shift, I would consider no other car. As its available only with an automatic, it is one of the cars I will never consider.

[petroguzzler]

The 330i, if with the stick shift would be showing a clean pair of heels to the competiton. The stick shift coupled with that hydraulic steering could annihilate the S4.
P.S., The E90 and other bangle'd ones(not the bangle'd 7) were so good in the design department compared to the current BMW's, especially the upcoming 3 series, which is horrid.

[Harbir]

If the S4 will be offered with the manual transmission and, very importantly, the torque vectoring active rear differential as offered in western markets, I would be happy to consider the car in the absence of a 3 pedal 3er. If not, then I have even less interest in it as I do in the 2 pedal 3er.

[Sn1p3r]

Originally Posted by Harbir

If the S4 will be offered with the manual transmission and, very importantly, the torque vectoring active rear differential as offered in western markets, I would be happy to consider the car in the absence of a 3 pedal 3er. If not, then I have even less interest in it as I do in the 2 pedal 3er.

Manual, nope it's the automatic version thats being offered albeit with Quattro with integrated torque vectoring. Source:Audi on twitter.

Cheers!

[speedy]

Originally Posted by Harbir

If the S4 will be offered with the manual transmission and, very importantly, the torque vectoring active rear differential as offered in western markets

The S4 has the Audi Drive select, Paddle shifters, Sports differentials and has 18" wheels with 245/40/18 size tyres. IMO for the price you wont get anything better soon.

[Harbir]

That's too bad. Based on my dad's a6 3.0T, I've no interest in flappy paddle Audis.

I dislike flappy paddle boxes anyway. I had considered making an exception for the evo X on the reports that in hard driving it chooses gears better than the driver, that using the flappy paddles is actually less effective than letting it choose the gears. I was willing to consider it based on that aspect. But I am a three pedal man by instinct and have no interest in dct Audis and bmws. Even if I was considering the R8, I would ask audi to supply a 3 pedal car and if they refused, I would not buy the car. 2 pedals are ok for luxobarges and urban commuters.

[dipen]

Originally Posted by Harbir

a 3 pedal car

Harbir,
There is a 323i for sale in carwale which might interest you (and maybe 90% of bhpians). A black beauty with a Stick Shift DL registered in Mumbai.

[speedy]

Originally Posted by Harbir

That's too bad. Based on my dad's a6 3.0T, I've no interest in flappy paddle Audis.

I dislike flappy paddle boxes anyway. I had considered making an exception for the evo X on the reports that in hard driving it chooses gears better than the driver, that using the flappy paddles is actually less effective than letting it choose the gears. I was willing to consider it based on that aspect. But I am a three pedal man by instinct and have no interest in dct Audis and bmws. Even if I was considering the R8, I would ask audi to supply a 3 pedal car and if they refused, I would not buy the car. 2 pedals are ok for luxobarges and urban commuters.

I am a three pedal man too..but do drive the S4 if you get a chance. The drive select has four options and they do make the gear changes faster and prcise. On the track the car was a tiger and one the street can be a pussy cat. A stick shift is a stick shift at the end of the day but this does come close. Audi does give the R8 with the three pedals too, My friends porsche and R8 are both 3 pedal cars.

[Harbir]

Thanks for the comment, but I've no interest. While in the US I drove many DCT/DSG cars, including the 911 PDK and the E92 M3 DCT. They bored me to tears (though the M3 is deeply impressive chassis, engine and steeringwise)

I'm not interested in 2 pedal cars for sporting work. About the only exception I can think of was at race tracks at some very difficult slow speed corners where I couldn't consistently nail the braking steering and shifting perfectly all at the same time. In those corners, it always felt like DCT/DSG was made by god for these corners. But, outside of that, for me, DCT/DSG is just a stupid automatic without the rubber band windup effect that torque converter equipped automatics have, which is a good thing on the move, and not so great in creep situations where the DCT's clutch slipping and engaging/disengaging isn't nearly as linear and consistent as the smooth take up of a torque converter.

All in all, for luxury cars and commuter cars in India, DCT/DSG is alright. For sporting cars, no way in hell.

Then again, our road infrastructure is so meager, in such poor condition, so overfilled, there isn't anything you can do with sporting cars here except pose in them. Frankly, I think the sort of sporting cars India is really suited for are 90-120hp sportsters, anything from the first and second generation MX-5 to the Peugeot 205GTi to the Renault Clio Williams. All of them are extinct now unfortunately and there are almost no cars like that anymore that provide you with adrenaline overdose producing thrills within the limited room that Indian infrastructure allows.

[Sahil]

Has anyone tested the S4 with regular petrol in India? How large is the performance drop?

[Sahil]

Audi India has been known for frequent goof-ups and misleading info such as typos and wrong features on their brouchers in the past.

I have been researching the S4 this week and even though the badge says V6T on the fender the car is not turbocharged, it is Supercharged as per several sources and also the Audi UK website: Audi S4 Saloon - Powerful V6 engine - Audi.co.uk

However, the Audi India Director claims it is Turbocharged in this video:

Could you please elaborate on the engine in the Audi S4? #AskAudi - YouTube

Several other websites confirm that the car indeed is Supercharged not Turbocharged. If indeed this is true then it is unacceptable for the head of Audi India to make such mistakes !

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by Sahil

Audi India has been known for frequent goof-ups and misleading info such as typos and wrong features on their brouchers in the past.

I have been researching the S4 this week and even though the badge says V6T on the fender the car is not turbocharged, it is Supercharged as per several sources and also the Audi UK website: Audi S4 Saloon - Powerful V6 engine - Audi.co.uk

However, the Audi India Director claims it is Turbocharged in this video: Could you please elaborate on the engine in the Audi S4? #AskAudi - YouTube

Several other websites confirm that the car indeed is Supercharged not Turbocharged. If indeed this is true then it is unacceptable for the head of Audi India to make such mistakes !

Yep you are right , it is supercharged.
The A6 3.0T is also supercharged at 300bhp and this is the same block in a higher state of tune in the S4. The nomenclature is rather confusing/misleading.
A6 3.0T / S4 V6 T , both supercharged units with T's on the fender/rear portion.
Not happening, Audi.

[Harbir]

It is not a higher state of tune. it is the same engine in every case, but audi is quoting power ratings from 295hp to 333hp for marketing reasons, but the 3.0T supercharged engines are in fact all identical.

The measured performance of all the various models fitted with this engine, taking their weight and gearing into account in all cases indicates about 330-340hp.

The A6 3.0T measured performance is too rapid for 295hp and that rating is certainly too conservative.

[PlatzdaTurbo]

Originally Posted by Harbir

It is not a higher state of tune. it is the same engine in every case, but audi is quoting power ratings from 295hp to 333hp for marketing reasons, but the 3.0T supercharged engines are in fact all identical.

The measured performance of all the various models fitted with this engine, taking their weight and gearing into account in all cases indicates about 330-340hp.

The A6 3.0T measured performance is too rapid for 295hp and that rating is certainly too conservative.

No pal the S4 infact is in a higher state of tune than the standard 3T A6.
The S4 has the engine tuned to 333bhp where as the A6 is at just about 300hp.
It is pretty evident through the performance figures.
Also the S lineage of cars would never had identically tuned engines to standard A's.
Even the new A4 V6 petrol has the same engine but tuned to 270bhp.
In short, A4 3.0T / A6 3.0T & S4 have the same block but at different levels of tune to distinguish themselves in terms of performance

[Harbir]

These figures are from Car and Driver. The S4 had a manual transmission, while the A6 had the torque converter automatic (not the DSG).


0-60mph:
S4: 4.9
A6 3.0T: 5.1

0-100mph:
S4: 12.0
A6 3.0T: 12.8

1/4 mile
S4: 13.4
A6 3.0T: 13.7

Given the advantage of the manual transmission and lower weight, these numbers do not show a ~40hp advantage for the S4. The A6 is rated at 310hp in the US, but the fact is that given the lower weight and manual transmission of the S4, this performance difference is what it would be with identical engine performance.

In my view, the 295hp, the 300hp, the 310hp and the 333hp ratings are all marketing driven ratings for the same 333hp engine.