Bobby D

How much more comfortable and less sporty is the A6 2.7T over the S4?

april

The S4 has sharper steering, lighter weight, and shorter wheelbase as well as being a collectable.

The A6 is more comfortable, has more features, lots of of space, and a great money factor on the lease.

You need to choose,
April

Steve Bollinger

I made the decision for the A6. It is significantly larger. The A4 has the smallest rear seats I've ever seen on a 4-door. If you plan on carrying more than 2 people (including yourself) often, you probably need an A6.

I don't think the steering is less sharp in action, but the A6 is definitely less precise. Simply put, its a bigger car. So it has more mass to throw around. I'm happy with it, but its far from a sports car. With the normal suspension, its a powerful, sporty luxury car. With the new (in the US) sport suspension, it may be more of a real sporty car.

As to just plain comfort. There isn't a real big difference in the front seats. They are a little nicer, the leather door panels are a little nicer, the aluminum trim around the vents in the dash is nicer. But really, you're paying for a larger car, very nice back seats with lots of headroom, their own vents, cupholders and available heaters, and a subwoofer. More distinct styling, also.

For me, I wanted the larger car, and the S4 is going at a premium (around here) right now, so A6 2.7T's are actually cheaper than S4s. I win both ways.

I can't agree with april that the S4 is truly collectible. Any car produced in that great of numbers isn't really collectible. Look at past S4's, look at the M3. Neither has returns like a truly rare car. It will depreciate in value like any other production car.

Old M3s aren't that much more expensive than a 328i. Expect S4 values to fade to just over an A4 2.8 after a 5-7 years, especially with typical drop-off in value that turbos exhibit.

I had my 2.7T up to 110mph today. It was still pulling strong, but I was approaching another group of cars too fast, and had to slow down. At 110mph, the steering gets a little wonky, any left or right turn leads to a little wallow, as the body shifts on the rear suspension. I also tested my 2.7T 0-60mph. I didn't have a scientific test or a real smooth road (and I was going very slightly uphill). But, it got there in 7.6 seconds (Tiptronic). This isn't the speed advertised, but I didn't do a neutral drop, or hold the brake as I revved the engine up to get the turbos going either. This was just flooring the pedal from stop. It felt fast, but not sports car fast.

Patrick H

I have driven the 6-sp A6 hard and my brother the auto and have both been very impressed. They were almost frighteningly easy to flick around. The example I drove had the oddest paring of the manual 6-speed with the least sporty tires Audi fits on Americanized cars (Conti’s VERY soft eco-touring) that tend to numb-up the steering and put a bit of a shimmy in the chassis. I have not driven the S4 (can’t fit) but the press has criticized it’s steering for the same issue.

The objective numbers indicate that there is not much difference between the two. C&D test numbers and Audi claims less then a 0.1 sec and a .01/.02g difference in 0-60 and G-max. Breaking numbers are similarly different (not much at 2’ or so from 70 mph). Though the A6 is 175 lbs heavier these object differences could be explained almost solely on smaller, less sticky rubber (hmmm, there is that fix for the numb steering).
Hence my order for 17”x 8.5 Ronals with Bridgestone SO-2 PP for immediate placement upon receipt of my new 2.7T. (anyone want to buy the standard issue 16” sports setup?)

About two years ago Audi’s chef Engineer (Prof. Bernd Hessing) poached two top BMW chassis Engineers (Jos van As and Martin Reihter, now under Ewe Bleck) to better tune Audi’s ride and handling trade-off**. They knew they needed to do some dramatic work to position Audi as serous competition to BMW - and what better way then to hire their top talent away.

This latest production run of A6’s is the first car these engineers have been able to effect chassis, breaks, ride, handling and steering. I bet that this is the major reason this A6 perform so closely to the S4. A year from now I’m sure Jos and Marin will place the new A4 platform a leap forward in chaise performance.

Pete D

It all depends on what YOU want. I drove Neilm's 2.7T with the (new) S4 17"w/ 225/45 Bridgestones...a rare moment when Neil was "between" tires...and was simply AMAZED at the difference! The car rode a bit firmer and seemed to be "sportier" in cornering, braking, and acceleration behavior. Granted all "seat of the pants" but still a noticable improvement over my 2.7T with "sport"/non-sport (Goodyear Touring) tires. IMHO my car rides like it has jello for suspension and seems better suited for luxury driving than sporting. Chris B has put the 17" S4 wheels with sport tires on his car. It is an understatement to say he is pleased. Neilm is going with a coil-over set-up for his car, with 18" wheels for sport driving.
So, what is your definition of sport? Soft? Firm? Hard? (oops, keep it clean...) I think your particular definition is available as aftermarket changes to your car as the basic chassis is VERY good and will respond as well as the A4 does to suspension/wheel/tire tuning. Oh, yes. The steering of Neil's 2.7 became more responsive with better feel with just the wheel/tire change. I'm letting Neil and Chris go first with changes and will learn from their experiences. Then it won't be long before my 2.7 becomes all I want it to be.

!

Jim

I have driven two 6 speed 2.7t's; one non sport package (Conti touring tires) and one sport package (Dunlop SP9000's). The tires make all the difference in the world, leading me to believe that 17 or 18" wheels and sticky tires would make the 2.7t behave very similar to the S4.