Road Test: Audi RS 4

By Feann Torr - 14/Dec/2006

There are a handful of cars in existence that are surrounded by an almost mystical aura that makes them so utterly desirable it's almost offensive. Cars like the Porsche 911 Carrera, the Mitsubishi Evolution series, the BMW M3, the Nissan Skyline GT-R and the Ferrari F430 are all in this category.

And now there's another - the Audi quattro RS4.

Audi's high performance group, simply named quattro GmbH, doesn't quite have the street cred of BMW's M division, let alone Italy's most famous sports car maker, Ferrari, but that could be set to change with the release of the high potency RS 4.

I'll get straight to the point: it's fookin' mad!

Packing a punch the likes of which has never been seen before in a mid-sized luxury saloon, this RS 4 is the latest weapon to emerge from the quattro garage, and at first sight it's hard to tell if it's a 2.0-litre A4 or really the bahnstorming RS 4. But start the engine, tickle the throttle, and all of a sudden people turn and stare, and that almost mystical aura begins to glow, pulsating rhythmically from every particle of this car's being.

For most people who see their car as a means of transportation and little else, spending $164,500 on a small-ish car may seem ludicrous, and I've got to say it, there was a part of me that was concerned about value for money with this vehicle. With all the on road costs and stamp duty, spending $170,000 on a car isn't piece meal, and is only likely to be affordable by those on six figure salaries, or perhaps the recipients of huge lawsuits.

Whatever the case, this kind of cash can buy you a decent amount of property out in the bush, and before I'd driven it, I was convinced a nice plot of land out in Wup-Wup would be better value than this.

But - and I know it may sound a bit crazy - the RS 4 is worth the money. Sure, it's hard to qualify whether a car or any material object is worth a certain amount of money, because everyone's idea of what is good and necessary, and what is not, will surely differ. But what this car delivers - super car levels of performance - can be had for half the price of the average exotic, and is far more practical in every respect.

The Audi RS 4 is one of those extra-special pin-up cars that young boys and grown men alike pore over. It's got that mythical aura, that indescribable coolness to its every action, all of which is, in turn, passed on to the driver, and now I can count myself as one of the lucky few who has driven one of these amazing Audi's.

Drive: 4.5/5

Where to start with this review? How do I describe what it's like to drive this road rocket at full tilt? Let me think... I know, how about this:

Ohmygod-ohmygod-ohmygod.

Yes, it's true, the RS 4 does make grown men turn into lobotomised gerbils, because it's just so good. Every male I showed the car to starting drooling or running around in circles or gave it endearing sidelong glances. And every female I showed the car to said it was very yellow.

It seems this vehicle holds a particular appeal to the XY mob...

Day 1: Upon clambering into the RS4 for the first time at the somewhat demure Audi car warehouse, I was instantly impressed by the comfy and incredibly supportive sports bucket seats. And soon after adjusting the mirrors and scanning the centre console I was instructed by a friendly Audi engineer to let the engine idle for a minute or so after ignition. Why? Because the engine will flood.

That's what happens when an engine is capable of drinking thousands of litres fuel per second.

Once the revs drop below a thousand at idle, pop it in gear, let out the smooth clutch and away she trundles. No wrestling the gearstick and clutch, a la Lamborghini Murcielago – it just rolls on like any other Audi A4. Very nice.

During my half hour drive from the Audi car warehouse to the Web Wombat security garage, it was quite an occasion driving the Audi RS4. During this brief stint behind the wheel it garnered plenty of attention, what with its wider track, flared wheel arches, extended bodykit, the large oval exhaust pipes and of course a beefy V8 rumble, which is exactly what most people don't expect from a car this small.

Powered by a 4.2-litre V8 with an incredible ability to keep on revving beyond the point of sanity, it's hard not to blip the throttle when you're sitting at traffic lights and watch the people everywhere glance about in perplexed wonder.

Before I got back to the Web Wombat HQ, I found something that doesn't appear in the normal Audi A4, upon which this car is based. "What’s this?" There was a small button on the steering wheel with an ‘S’ emblazoned across its small spherical face, and when you push it a number of things happen, most of which reassure you that the car you are driving is far from commonplace.

Firstly, the fuel injection mapping gets a tweak, to improve engine response, then the electronically adjustable seat bolsters grip your body with even tighter, and the twin exhaust system has flanges that open up in combination with the fuel injection changes, to allow the engine to breath a little better (and it changes the car’s acoustics, giving off an even more bassy exhaust note). There's also a lap timer button on the steering wheel which, again, is indicative of the car's purpose.

Day 2: The next day bloomed and it was time to acquaint myself with the vehicle's everyday drivability. Though the overall ride and general feeling of the RS4 in placid driving conditions is best described as firm, it comes standard with an advanced dynamic ride control (DRC) system that works by pumping oil between the opposing diagonal shock absorbers. Before we look at how this system works (see Day 4) - which gives it remarkable pliancy at slow speeds and incredibly rigidity at high speeds - I will simply say that in the real world this is easily the best suspension system I’ve ever experienced. Forget your advanced magnetic, electronic, ultrasonic suspension systems, this one is completely hydraulic (pressure based) and it works brilliantly and you don't have to adjust a thing.

On the freeway, for instance, the RS 4 is remarkably relaxed. It feels more like a luxury model, than an out-and-out sports car that can accelerate from zero to 100km/h in just 4.8 seconds. It's quiet, smooth and ultimately effortless to drive.

Because of it's size, it's also far less intimidating to drive through traffic than say, a Ferrari F430 Spider. It's not excessively wide at 1816mm, nor hard to see out of thanks to a fairly upright seating position. It generally behaves like the entry-level A4 ($47,800) at slow speeds and save for an average turning circle (11.1 metres) it's relatively easy to punt around at slower speeds thanks to the wealth of low end torque the V8 engine provides.

The steering isn't too heavy, and has speed sensitive power assistance which unlike a lot of over-assisted power steering rigs doesn't mask what the front wheels are doing.

Day 3: Time to push the car, and here is the excerpt from the first performance drive I recorded on my dictaphone: "Okay, I’ve just punted through the first section of the Great Ocean Road and it’s official – the RS 4 is f**king mad."

I remember that moment well. It was the first time I’d really pushed the car as far as thought it would go (which as it turns out wasn’t anywhere near it’s limits), and my first thoughts moved toward incredulity. I remember feeling shit scared and incredibly joyous at the same time – I laughed like a cheeky monkey for quite some time as I turned the flame down a few notches to catch my breath.

Tipping the scales at 1650kg, the car feels much lighter than it should - it feels about 1200kg when your guiding through corner after corner. You can quite honestly throw this German gentleman into bends at silly speeds and it just grips and goes. I noticed the tyres squealing quite a lot, but the wickedly competent 4WD (Torsen) system keeps them on track. Together with the radius-linked anti-roll bars and Dynamic Ride Control (DRC), the suspension does a truly sensational job of keeping the car stuck to the ground and gripping.

And the strength of the engine? Incredible, particularly when the tachometer needle heads beyond 6500rpm. The engine never struck as manic, because there was no surge of torque that sometimes accompanies larger 8-cylinder engines and turbocharged motors, but because of it's creamy smooth power delivery the feeling of increasing G-forces on the body can be deceiving. It only takes a quick glance at the speed to see how quickly 100km/h is reached.

Furthermore, the engine never overpowers grip. The combination of the 19-inch light alloy wheels shod with 255/35 ZR19 Pirelli P Zero Rosso tyres works with the Torsen differential and the almost-as-clever DRC system to keep the inside wheels gripping as well as the outsides, and the result is a beautifully neutral attitude through corners, with a touch of oversteer at times.

The brakes, too, are massively powerful, able to decelerate the car in from high speeds (and very, very high speeds) with alarming urgency. The disc rotors are huge, and fill out the 19-inch alloy wheels very nicely. Measuring 365mm up front and 325mm at the rear, the discs brakes are cross-drilled and inner-vented, and are kept cool during intense workouts via what Audi calls "flow-optimised ventilation geometry" which includes underfloor Naca jets. The massive discs are clamped by huge Brembo callipers, with not six but eight pistons. Yeah, they're big and bad.

On the road, they provide very strong response and there's naff all fade, and even under brakes from high speeds the car feels planted and rarely gets the shimmies that some cars get (as the shift in weight occurs from hard acceleration to hard deceleration, lifting the rear wheels). The brakes are progressive too, something I wasn't expecting from massive 18-inch discs clamped with 8-pot callipers (again: 8-pot callipers!) with good feel through the pedal as you apply more pressure.

Another great thing about these whopping brakes is that they inspire supreme levels of confidence to push deeper into a given corner before having to hit the stop pedal, and because they're diagonally linked, they rarely unbalance the car if you have to brake mid corner.

Simply put, the RS4 is stunning cornering machine, eclipsing every other car I’ve ever driven in its ability to keep accelerating into, through, and out of corners. Before driving this German road rocket, the Mitsubishi Evo VI TME was the quickest cornering car I'd ever driven, and though it's hard to pick the quicker of the two through a corner, the Evo was much more brutal to drive through a bend at full tilt, and took a lot more strength, endurance and focus to drive it at the limit. The Audi RS 4 is effortless. You can almost drive it a 9/10ths with just one hand. It’s svelte and smooth, but devastatingly rapid through corners, and even moreso in a straight line. It takes a lot of courage to wind out second gear in this thing...

Combine it’s relatively small footprint with it's massive 309kW V8 power (that's more than the new 6.0-litre HSV engine), 4WD and big tyres, and you have one of the most potent performance machines this side of an exotic car. And I tell you, it's an absolute ball to drive. Not only well mannered and easy to operate, the wickedly intelligent Torsen system gives the car a touch of oversteer when nearing the car's adhesion limit, and the steering tightens up the faster you go, all of which makes for one of the most rewarding drives this side of an open wheeled race car.

Even when the wheels skip just a little bit over a bump or a corrugation buildup through a corner, it gets back and grips – it's just so positive to steer. It's almost like it fixed any minor mistakes you made, and has one of the flattest attitudes around corners of any car I've driven, yet won't rebuke you for slamming the throttle before you can see the corner's exit. The Torsen is stunning. Even on dirt it’s hard to get it unstuck. One wonders why you need ESP? The more I drove it, the more impressed I became with it. Phenomenally quick, incredibly secure - the RS 4 is flabbergasting.

Day 4: Here's another snippet that I've left unedited from my recordings of the RS 4, and I should also mention that this voice recording made me laugh when I heard it after the event, because I was talking really rapidly and in a higher pitch, such was the adrenaline increase: "I’m sitting here, sweaty palms, totally swamped in adrenaline, kind of freaking out because I’ve just swathed my through a collection of corners at speeds I don't think I've ever reached before. This is the best drivers car I've ever driven in my entire life. It is just so quick and so easy to drive hard. Logic tells me it shouldn’t be so, but it just is…."

The Audi RS4's ability to slam through corners at insane speeds is effortless. Most sports cars tend to lean on their outside front wheel and understeer when power increases and corners tighten, but the this thing has the kind of mid-corner poise that defies all logic. The car's nose tips into corners with alacrity, especially for a 4WD. And again, often these 4WD systems cause cars to understeer even more, but with its 40:60 [front : rear] torque split the RS 4 feels very dexterous, and rarely shoots wide of an apex.

And the more time I spent with the RS 4, the more and more I began to worship the Torsen differential. For mine, this is the key the car's dynamic handling (and to a lesser extend the diagonally opposed pressurised oil shock absorber DRC system). It can take extreme amounts of torque and do with it in milliseconds what most AWD systems take a lot longer to do. And I know this sounds illogical, but when you put your foot down and dial in more power the Torsen differential gives you even more grip. I couldn't see any rips in the space time continuum, so this must be physically possible in this universe -- but how?? These Torsen (Torque Sensing) differentials are heavy and complex and completely mechanical in operation (there's no computer control - it's all reactive to inertia and torque) and fair dinkum, they really do work a special brand of magic.

Even on dirt, it's hard to get the RS 4 unstuck, and one almost wonders why Audi included ESP? I noticed it kick in once or twice (though my eyes were on the road most of the time), but I must say that the more I drive it, the more impressive I am with it. Phenomenally quick, incredibly secure.

The RS 4 will sit on its outside two wheels through fast, tightening corners, and where most cars would begin to slide sideways on their tyres with the increasing lateral forces being exerted on the car's mass and on the outside front and rear wheels, reducing grip, the RS 4 gracefully asks "More steering lock, sir?" and just keeps on gripping. Together with the Torsen feeding engine torque exactly where it will most benefit the cars current trajectory, the diagonally opposed shock absorbers feel as though they take weight away from the outside wheels and diverts it the inside wheels through a corner, increasing mechanical grip and reducing body roll.

In practice, you can feel the inside wheels working up extra grip and traction the more you push and it feels as though it is defying the laws of physics. I really am struggling to describe what it's like to plant your foot through a corner in this vehicle, because it's like nothing I've ever driven before.

According to Audi, this dynamic shock absorber-suspension set up, or DRC, works thusly: "When DRC is installed, the diagonally opposed shock absorbers on the car are linked together hydraulically. A central valve varies the shock absorber operating characteristic, for instance when the steering wheel is turned and the car is cornered, so that movement around the longitudinal axis (roll) is significantly reduced. DRC uses the same principle to counteract body movement around the transverse axis (pitch) when the car is accelerated or braked."

Ultimately, I found it troublesome to concisely describe what it’s like to drive this car the way it was meant to be driven, at it's limit, besides using terms such as “fully sick” and “off the scale”.

All told, there were precious few moments when the car felt out of sorts - for 98 per cent of the time the car is just so communicative, both through the steering wheel feedback and suspension, and this makes flogging it hard not only easy, but incredibly enjoyable. The intense G-forces that wrack your body as you slingshot through corners at speeds the human body was not meant to withstand are addictive - it's like being a kid and riding a roller coaster for the first time, only the seats are more comfortable, more supportive, and there's a wicked V8 bark reverberating off guide rails.

Day 5: Is the RS 4 flappable? Can it become flustered? Not really. Perhaps at the race track the car can be pushed into unhappy situations, but the only scary moment for me came when I was gunning into a corner with a little too much heat on my fifth day in the saddle, completely confident that the car was invincible. I had to hit the brakes fairly hard mid corner, and the supremely strong Brembo brakes that come as standard on the RS 4 work very well. As I discovered.

The result? Well, the inside rear wheel lifted clean off the ground, and this put a lot of pressure on the outside rear wheel, which was a touch unnerving. In any other car, I would have slid off the road, smashed through the barriers, over the cliff and into the Tasman sea in a fireball of molten metal and shattered carbon fibre. But not this car. It just quietly told me what was happening via the incredibly communicative chassis. In the end, the rear wheel squealed a bit then settled and ESP blipped on for a second and all was back to normal.

And then I decided to give the car a rest for the day...

Day 6: When you push it beyond 6000rpm, the car accelerates like a rocket. A rocket on anabolic steroids. You don’t really get that massive torque punch that some cars like the XR6 Turbo and Mitsubishi Evolution provide, which makes it feel as though you're not going quite as fast, but in reality this thing is devastatingly quick. It’s so smooth and there’s no super car 'hard to drive' thing about it. Your grandma could drive this car.

With only 10Nm more torque than the S4 however, which is a good $40,000 more affordable, you'd think this car would be only marginally quicker than the S4's 5.8 second 0-100km/h dash. But how about a whole second? Yep, 4.8 seconds is the claim, and having drilled the car pretty hard, I have no reason to argue.

On the freeway you can be in sixth gear at 100km/h, where the engine revolves at 2600rpm, and still overtake other cars with ease. It's eye-opening not just how powerful this 4.2-litre V8 engine is, but how tractable it is.

Day 7: On the final day of testing, I relaxed a bit and just punted the car around and got a feel for it's everyday usability. And lamented the fact that I had to hand the keys back. I really didn't want to...

Sure, $170k is a lot of money, but for something that's so incredibly rewarding to drive, so calm under pressure and so refined in its power delivery, it's hard to argue with that price. And it's practical too. Remarkably so. Not only comfy, and easy to drive in the suburbs, it's also a quiet and almost frugal cruiser on the open road.

There's a lot to like about this car, and very little to dislike. It's got an ungodly amount of power that doesn't always feel strong, but that's because the car is so well sprung and so neat and tidy in the way it drives and accelerates. But more impressive still is it's ability to transfer this arcane power to the ground in such an effortless yet efficient manner.

Lightning quick, and silky smooth - this car is fabulous.

Engine: 5/5

Firstly I'll get the negative bit out of the way - the 5-valve V8 from the S4 has a much crisper bark to its 8-cylinder symphony.

Everything else is brilliant.

When you read on a motoring website, or in a car magazine that this 4.2-litre V8 engine can rev beyond 8000rpm, you go “Oh yeah, fair enough. That’s pretty hardcore.”

And that’s exactly what I thought when I first read about the new RS4’s powerplant. But nothing prepares you for what this engine is ultimately capable of, and how it goes about it. The thing rockets between 2000 and 5000rpm providing a steadily building wave of torque, and then you've got that top end where the 309 kilowatt crescendo exists, which is just f**king scary – there’s no other way to describe it.

Open the engine bay and you'll be greeted with scads of carbon fibre, so much so that Maserati drivers will wander over and arrogantly quiz you about your German ride that "looks crap". Sounded like jealously to me...

The 309kW (420hp) V8 will peak @ 8250rpm, with maximum power @ 7800rpm, and engine manages to break the 100hp per litre barrier, which is quite a feat for a naturally aspirated engine.

The very compact V8 motor develops 430Nm @ 5500rpm, and Audi claims that some 90 percent of the maximum torque comes on at 2250rpm and stays there until 7600rpm, which feels about right.

The key to the Audi RS 4's arresting power development is the FSI technology, or direct petrol injection. Simply put, the direct-injection system can more efficiently combust the air-fuel mixture, hence it's 50kW+ power rise over the the S4's 4.2-litre V8 engine, which is exactly the same size.

When this motor sport derived V8 engine is combined with the AWD, 6-speed transmission, the RS 4 can slingshot from 0-100km/h mark in just 4.8 seconds, and will hammer from 0-200km/h in 16.6 seconds.

Crazy? Like a freakin' coconut!

This is the same engine that will power the new Audi R8, the German company's exotic mid-engined coupe, but this is the first time the engine has been used in an Audi. It has a supremely smooth but eminently strong power delivery that lacks a real torque kick - the kind that squeezes you forcibly into your seat - but still feels dangerously fast.

Compared to the older 5-valve engine in the S4, this advanced model gets new camshaft lobes, modified pistons and con rods, a new crankshaft and bearings, and new cylinder heads.

The sport mode, which is initiated via a steering wheel button, opens up a pair of flanges on the dual-branch exhaust system, which can actually see actuating if you lie on the ground, and also improves throttle response and alter the fuel injection map for a more responsive drive. It's very cool.

Winding out any gear (expect for first) all the way to the redline is maddeningly scary, such is the engines remarkably long rev range. And let's remember that this engine has no centrifugal supercharger, and no exhaust gas-driven turbocharger to give it an extra wallop. It's naturally aspirated, and it rocks.

It's also a fairly frugal engine when driven to and from work, and around the suburbs. At 100km/h in sixth gear the engine sips about 9L/100km (that’s very good for a super sports car) and does about 2600rpm in 6th gear.

The gear shift mechanism feels very tight and very smooth, with small distances between the gates, so you can snap it in and out rapidly. It's not as tight as the 350Z's shifter, but the shift mechanisms feel very sure and swift, and there’s bugger all notchiness to speak of.

It has a long clutch pedal, but wasn't as heavy as I thought it would be. The throttle is pretty sensitive, and beyond not sounding quite as guttural as the S4's 5-valve V8 engine, the only minor gripe I could find with this otherwise sterling engine is that it takes a bit of time for a 4.2-litre engine with 8-cylinders to reach it’s sweet spot where the thing really begins to sprint.

This sweet spot begins at about 6000rpm, where the engine begins to really take charge, and sometimes it feels like it takes a long time to get there. And you don't realise how quickly you're going when do get to the sweet spot...

So, this means you have to keep the revs on the boil if you want maximum performance, and this can get a little scary at times. However, while it does takes its time getting to its upper rev ranges, the engine is one of the most tractable I’ve ever experienced.

The Mitsubishi 380’s 3.8-litre V6 was probably one of the few engines that rarely bogs down in any gear, but this thing is just light years ahead again, with copious amounts of torque from low in the rev range. Here’s an example: this engine revs to beyond 8000rpm, yet in sixth gear the car will happily trundle along at 60km/h as the engine ticks over at just 1000rpm. And if you prod the throttle the car just starts to speed up. No driveline shunt, no juddering, just smooth acceleration. This direct injection system on petrol engines is simply phenomenal.

This is a very classy piece of kit, hooked up to one of my all-time favourite automotive doodads, the Torsen differential. As a colleague mentioned "Not slippery when Audi" when we flew past a 'Slippery when wet' sign, and he was quite correct.

Because it's an all-wheel drive vehicle, you don't get that "right foot steering" aspect of a high powered rear wheel driver, but the standard 40:60 front:rear torque split ensures the car has a positive attitude when tipping into corners. The Torsen differential also does an amazing job of diverting the power to exactly where it will most improve cornering traction and acceleration.

Grinding every last kilowatt of power into the bitumen is taken care of by the Torsen differential, which is the centrepiece of the RS 4's quattro AWD system, and is arguably the best system in the world. Unlike a lot of AWD systems that use the computer software to work out which wheel is slipping and where torque should be applied, the Torsen is completely mechanical - there's no computer chip overriding its decisions.

Though I can't even begin to try to explain how it works (lots and lots of intermeshing gears and thrust washers that work on inertia and momentum and torque forces would be a start) it can add or remove torque from individual wheels as torque requirements and traction conditions change - almost instantaneously. As I mentioned in the S4 review, it's a traction manager of sorts, and is very expensive, very heavy, and very hard wearing.

There's only one company in the world that produces these Torsen diffs - JTEKT Torsen, from memory - and few car builders beyond Europe's prestige marques use the full locking centre differential like in the S4 and RS 4 in their passenger cars due to costs. The old RS 4 featured a twin turbo 2.7-litre V6, which is undeniably potent, but this engine takes things to another level.

Exterior: 4/5

To a lot of people, the RS 4 is sex on wheels. That said, some people I spoke to told me that the Audi RS 4 didn't convey the brash and brawny attitude that something so devastatingly powerful should. Personally, I kind of like the subtle styling, the bulldog stance, and the huge wheels, which are set off wonderfully by a 30mm lower ride height than normal A4 vehicles.

As well as it's low riding stance, the car features nicely styled seven spoke 19-inch alloy wheels and a wider track. Compared to the standard model A4, the RS 4's wheels are pushed out wider, by 37mm at the front and 47mm at the rear, and this brings with it slightly new bodywork in the form of blistered wheel arches and protruding side skirts that give the road rocket a tough German touring car look and feel.

The metallic wing mirrors feature an aerodynamic design with twin stalks that help reduce noise (and drag/wind resistance) and they look wicked. But looking at its overall shape, you wouldn't think this car is very aerodynamic, but it seems to sticks to the road the faster you go. There's a little bit of road noise from the super-sized (19-inch diameter) 255 profile tyres, but in general the car is very quiet at cruising speeds.

The downside to having aerodynamically efficient wing mirrors is that they are by necessity quite thin and therefore don’t provide the most encompassing view of the road behind you.

At the front of the car, the RS 4 features Audi's now familiar single-frame grille flanked by a pair of slightly angle headlight clusters with xenon main beams. With it's massively flared wheels arches, lower fog lights, front 'gills' and RS 4 badging on the grille, the front end of the vehicle is very imposing, yet has the uncanny ability to blend in when the time calls for it. As I said in the S4 review, "It’s a performance sedan of magnanimous proportions covered up in an unambiguous shell," and same holds true here - yet with even more muscle.

At the rear the car is distinguished from both the S4 and lesser A4 models by a pair of large oval exhaust pipes and RS 4 badging, and there's also an small deck lid spoiler integrated into the bodywork.

Combined, the car's various styling cues create a paradox of sorts. There's the muscular appearance of the car that most enthusiasts will spot from the get go, but if you're the kind of driver who wants people to know your driving a very expensive piece of machinery, the RS 4 won't always fit the bill, as it has a remarkably restrained demeanour. To my mind though, this subtly aggressive styling works tremendously well, and I reckon this car looks awesome.

Interior: 4/5

When you’re paying almost $170,000 for a small-ish car like this one, you'd expect to be able to see this investment in its appearance, but it's quite subdued in reality. The flared wheel arches are bold, but unless you know you cars and can spot these or the chunky 8-pot Brembo brakes, you'd think this was any other Audi A4 with a typically frugal 4-cylinder engine.

The first time one really gets an idea of what kind of car this is – and what it’s capable of – is when you open the driver's door and have a squizz at the cabin.

The first place I noticed the cash was in the front seats. They're stunning - nay - stupendous. Though they make ingress and egress a right royal pain in the bum (sticking into it sometimes), you quickly forget about the hassle of shoehorning yourself into them, because the seats' extreme side bolsters (with adjustable side-torso and lower thigh bolsters) are not only surprisingly comfortable over long distances, but they also work a treat when you're thrashing the car to within inches of its highly advanced mechanical life.

These customised Recaro sports seat are very supportive, even on long journeys, and though they don’t have much adjustment, there's a good amount of cushioning on the seats, particularly on the upper headrest section. They may be one-piece racing seats, but they are very comfortable.

Traditional Audi buyers may be thinking these seats are too sporty, but I'd suggest trying them before judging them.

Like most Audi vehicles, the interior is the epitome of ergonomic. You need never stretch to reach a control, even on the centre console, and everything is where you expect it to be.

The interior is beautiful, but never cluttered. It's an unfussy setup and everything is within easy reach. Our model was equipped with a TV too, which was good for watching reruns of Speedweek on SBS and the Ashes cricket, though the screen cuts out when you move, leaving only the audio.

Red dials are slightly sportier than the standard A4 equipment with RS 4 logos, and the doors are trimmed with soft leather, featuring metal door handles and a smooth trimmings of dark obsidian material that blends in well with the luxury interior. The obsidian accents also run the length of the dash and came across as rather conservative for a car such as this, but aluminium, woodgrain or carbon fibre garnishes can be had.

The dash plastics are good, not brilliant, but fit and finish is exemplary with nary a millimetre between join lines nor a rattle or shake anywhere to be heard, and we were the last media outlet to get the RS 4 before it was taken off the press fleet, meaning that it had been drilled by all the mags and newspapers on and off the track. Indeed, the build quality and durability in this quattro rocket is tank-like. It's also remarkably quiet in the cabin, and if you didn't rev the engine to beyond 5000rpm you'd barely know there was a motor sports-derived V8 chomping at the bit.

The steering wheel is quite small, upholstered with top quality leather, is flat bottomed in true motor sports style (to give your legs more room) and has lots of metal that's cold to touch, giving it an overtly luxury and somewhat weighty feel every time to place your hands on it. The other main input device, the 6-speed manual gearstick, is has a great tactile sensations with a metal stalk and round leather-covered knob on top (so your sweat doesn’t make it slippery).

As I said, the ergonomics are very good, but on right-hand drive models like this one the handbrake is hard to reach to sometimes, especially if the centre armrest is down. In the boot there's an emergency triangle to warn other drivers away (presumably when you’ve got a puncture on the autobahn) and there's also an air compressor to pump up the wheels – but no spare. The battery is also in the rear for improved weight distribution, and a 10-speaker stereo system provides top class audio quality.

The rear bench seat has enough room for another two adults, and the boot is also quite large with a 460 litre capacity, though it is quite narrow. Safety systems include ESP (which has twin-stage switchable functionality), ABS, and a total of 10 airbags covering both front and rear seat passengers. Though not technically a safety feature, I must make mention of the Torsen differential too - it keeps the car on the road when most others would be scrabbling for grip.

Overall: 5/5

There's something about this car that makes me very happy. It is unlike any I've ever driven before. Instead of going on about all the mechanical wizardry that whirrs away beneath the car's skin, I'll say this: I feel like a child again, a child with the best toy in the world, the kind of toy that makes you feel so undeniably alive.

The almost mystical aura that surrounds a handful of highly desirable cars, from Porsche's to Evos, is almost a solid-state skin that covers the RS 4. It's an awe-inspiring car that makes everything else appear lame. I know it sounds a bit daft, but this car is incredible. It's stunning, it's out of sight, it's the most amazing driving experience I've ever had, yet even with it's awe-inspiring performance levels, the car is still highly practical. If you've driven an A4 of any type, you'll know what to expect in terms of its everyday ease of use.

I understand that no car can be truly perfect, and I agree that this car is not quite that - but it is so tantalisingly close.

This first ever 5 wombat score on the Motoring Channel any car has received, and for good reason. Everything about this vehicle is stunning. And the hefty price? It's a veritable bargain, considering this thing can keep up with some exotic cars, and outpace others.

If you want to know why the next generation BMW M3 is taking to long to come to market, the RS 4 is the reason why. BMW will be benchmarking their upcoming M3 sports sedan against the RS 4, but with the incredible dynamic ride control and the magical Torsen differential, it's going to be tough race for BMW to win.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: buy it for the badge value, drive it for the thrill.