MKV Aaron

Wow, what a difference. The B7 is a huge improvement over the B6. All of the parts of his B6 that were rough/crude, they polished up.

The most noticable differences are the suspension, being very compliant and much more daily driver friendly than the B6. It still had harsh impacts over large bumps, but the overall feel is a great deal better. The B6 was too stiff for the handling it gave, and bounced too much over repetitive bumps. The B7 felt much smoother.

B6=6.5/10
B7=8.5/10

Another difference is the steering effort/feel. The B6 steering effort is very high at all speeds, not a good thing for a daily driver. The B7 was great, much more assist, and made the car feel 500lbs lighter, felt like it had better turn in also. It is amazing how the effort of the steering makes the car feel so heavy on the B6.

B6=7/10
B7=8.75/10 lol

The third and least noticable was the clutch feel/stiffness. The B6 has a very on/off clutch stiffness. Very light when first pressed, and then firms up closer to the friction point. This teamed with the iffy DBW made it not the easiest car to drive smooth every day. The B7 had a constant, consistant pressure feel. It made the DBW much easier to deal with. I imagine the B7 with a chip to deal with DBW would be a dream to operate every day.

B6=5/10
B7=7.5/10

Overall I loved the B7. It looked just as good, a little newer looking. I have put many miles on my dad's B6 and have loved it, but the above issues made me wonder how people could live with this car as their only car. The B7 is an amazing difference. There is no doubt in my mind that this is far superior to anything in its class. Also, the updates from the B6 made it feel like a car I could drive for 100k miles and not think twice about. My dad also felt that it was a great update.

B6=8/10
B7=9.25/10

We also drove another MKV R32, which is #1 on my dad's list to replace the S4 with. Selling at invoice at about $32,300 it will be $5,500 cheaper than the 20k CPO S4 sedan we drove. $39,900 which we could get for at least 38k. #1 on my list for him is a CPO 2006 2.0T Quattro 6 speed Sline A4 2.0T, which would be chipped with a test pipe and exhaust giving a total of about $27,500. He is also considering a 2007 loaded GTI DSG for the low end of about $22k.

Redfoot

B6 steering effort heavy for dd?? First I've heard that.

hyperionguy

I think that at lower speeds its way too light in the B6, and THAT'S the complaint I usually hear.

I also regularly drive a B6 3.0 and the S4 steering effort is way less at lower speeds.

It's also less connected feeling than my B5 S4. I like that steering for sure. More communicative than servotronic steering. <shrugs>

Redfoot

Exactly. He'd need help driving a 3/5 serise.

MKV Aaron

I have never been in them long enough to evaluate the steering feel/weight. Just a 15 minute test drive. Maybe it is something to do with my dad's car, the tires, or something, but I liked the B7 better.

stick_it

lol!!

You sound like a friggin wimp: steering effort too much...waaaaaaaaaaaa..suspension too stifff....waaaaaaaaaaa

Go buy a friggin taurus...lol

banana s4

looks like a totally subjective review...i think the b6 is > b7 (rs4 not inc)

Car Crazy

tires and inflation pressure.

hyperionguy

it's little more than a freshening, not worthy of a new chassis ID, IMO.

It isn't evolutionary like B5 ==> B6 or B7 ==>B8.

codewhore

intersting... i keep thinking of pulling the servotronic relay to decrease the assist in my B6