Avant_to_remember

S4 guys, I need some help here. My wife is from Finland and takes pride in the Finnish nation's over-representation in motor sport. There are only 5 million Finns after all, and there are a quite a few of them in the sport. Anyway, her last two cars were a 1997 M3 and a 2006 M3, both manual transmissions.
Since we no longer need two cars, I got her to test drive a 2010 S4 and she was sold. We bought one with the 7-speed S-tronic and the sport differential and sold her M3 and my A4 Avant.
The problem is lately she is complaining that the S4, even in dynamic mode, doesn't hold the road on the curves and corners like her last M3 did. Everything I read about the S4 and the differential suggested it would be superior in handling. I'm not the right person to judge--I am more into gadgets than cars.
Can I get any help here? Are there other M3 converts that can help convince her that the S4 is the one? Is she not doing something right when she feels it to be unstable in the curves? Is there a custom setting that will make her happy? We don't have the Drive Select package, so that isn't going to be an option.
Any help will be sincerely appreciated..

rktskicar

If she doesn't like it, then get something else. I think she should have drove a B8 S4 with a manual transmission. How come you got a S-Tronic? Dumb IMO. Driving a DSG is not like driving a 6MT.

Bruce

Zed 2.0

Coilovers will probably change the situation for the better, but the S4 isn't going to handle like the E46 M3. It might be able to post better numbers thanks to the technology, power and AWD, but it has a softer suspension and a steering system geared more towards comfort than communication. It's also ~600lbs heavier than the E46.

Zed 2.0

Weren't you just trolling this over on quattroworld, too? The OP didn't say anything about the car's transmission, he was talking about how the car corners.

Avant_to_remember

Thanks, but it's not an issue with the transmission. The S-tronic was one of the things that sold her on the S4. She says the car isn't sticking to the road on the curves like her M3.

rktskicar

I am not a troll, only an enthusiast. I have been around these forums for a long time though. I have never driven a E46 M3. I have driven a E39 M5 though. I only know that this car corners pretty well in all weather conditions. If she likes her E46 M3 better, than let her stick to it, I do not care.

Bruce

koobah

I had an E46 M3, but can't compare it to non-ADS S4 as I've never drove one. Stock ADS equipped S4 > stock E46 M3. My suggestion would be to get coilovers for the S4.

DrVolkl

Perhaps she needs to learn how to drive an AWD car.... tell her to hammer down into the corners... the sport diff will do the rest.

(Just saying, AWD vs RWD is different... trust the AWD a bit more)

Oh.. and assuming you got the sport diff... you got the sport diff, right? I mean, prior M3 owners and all..

DeanS4

Are you kidding me? Who is this woman?

To separate the two cars in question at the limits of their performance takes immense ***** and a bit of insanity on public roads. I've catapulted the S4 into corners at warp speed and it stays glued to the road - I can't possibly imagine what she's doing to end up disappointed.

MadMadS4

I'll challenge the statement.

Per wikipedia, the E46 M3 skid-pad is 0.89g.
Per Road and Track, the B8 S4 skid-pad is 0.96g.