visualguy

The noise that I'm talking about in the S4 is from the Soundaktor and the exhaust. I wish it was as quiet as the A4 (or the 540i)...

Regarding comparisons between cars... What matters is the configuration that you need. I'm not making generic statements that one car is better than the other for everyone in all configurations. AWD is irrelevant to most people in the most populated state in the country (and quite a few other states), so it's not a rare thing that RWD does the job well. So, yes, the price difference is less than $6K, and the weight is the same for the configs that matter where I (and many others) live.

If the price was the same, the 540i would be my choice without hesitation after test driving both. When considering the price difference, I'm still thinking about it because the S4 is also very good.

markcincinnati

It is correct to state that the configuration YOU need/want is what is important. I think the issue that we're perhaps talking over each other here is that we (speaking as if I can speak for "us") perhaps were assuming that we were talking about COMPARABLY spec'd vehicles.

If I put my car in full COMFORT mode, it is very quiet. I have driven an A4 (prestige) and I'm not certain it is demonstrably quieter than my S4, but I have not driven them back to back.

BTW the Soundaktor can be turned off.

visualguy

I've driven the A4 and S4 back-to-back. The S4 has more engine/exhaust noise, but not road/tire noise. How do you turn off the Soundaktor? Do you need to pull a fuse?

These "enhanced" noise features like playing engine noise on the sound system, Soundaktors, and loud exhausts should really be optional. Either offer an optional "sport sound package" or make it possible to disable all the noisy stuff with a setting instead of forcing it on everyone. Other manufacturers (including BMW) are guilty of it too in some of their cars. For example, the BMW M550i has annoying "Active Sound" played on the sound system, but the 540i is quiet.

They put so much effort into insulating the car well from noise and installing great sound systems, and then they add artificial noise... Why? If some people really like it, at least make it optional.

millersntx

I've had mine for about a month - 2108 Prestige and Sport packages. I love it. I think it's a significant improvement from my 2012 B8 S4. It feels quicker than my B8 had an APR stage 1 ECU and TCU tune.

• I love the interior. I dig the VC. Interested to see what the tuners to with additional features in the VC down the road. for example, I like how APR put the gear into the display in the D and S modes.
• I think the car handles MUCH better than the B8. it's much more balanced and Audi has done a great job of reducing under-steer in the new platform.
• I love the exhaust sound as it winds through the gears. I'm impressed with the power and looking forward to the APR tune, where is that, by the way?

Only downsides to me

• Bit of exhaust drone on the freeway (I put in comfort mode to quiet it down)
• Engine/Trans - not quite as responsive to the initial throttle tip in, but I love the exhaust sound as it winds through the gears. But once the engine is on boost and the ECU recognizes you want to play, I think the car is super-responsive
• Center Screen - I wish the center screen folded into the dash, like the A6 and up.

My misses

• I do wish mine had the driver assist package. I think the pre-sense is a great feature and I'd like to see how some of the other advanced features (cruise control, traffic sign recognition, etc) work in the real world.

mdwcreative

If you guys have missed it on the other forums, the ACC is basically the only feature that can't be programmed into the software (because you need the front facing radar components). Traffic sign recognition, Auto High-beam and Lane Keep assist can all be turned on with the OBD11 tool.

Though. It sounds like ACC is the best out of all those extra functions.

zamboni27

I saw a previous link to an A4 forum that discussed changes that can be made, but it does not reference many of these changes. Can you provide a link to any resources on OBD Eleven? I'm trying to get familiar with it and am extremely interested but I can seem to find anything you can do with it other than change some lighting or sunroof opening, which I am really not interested in. The biggest things I want are automatic high beams and lane assist!

markcincinnati

I have been told several times that the folding screens are or soon will be a thing of the past. The reason? They cannot be made "quick enough" to turn on the camera if they have to articulate out from their hiding place.

The 2014 S4 I had, of course, had the screen built in, much cleaner look -- then again, I love the B9's interior and the VC. Not sure why so many of the Germans decided to put the iPads on the dash -- it looks like an aftermarket deal.

That's about my only complaint. I do wish the MMI had a "secret" screen so that we could turn on and off some of the features that we all know are there -- the ODB 11 or VAG Com or whatever other "tech weenie" (I know, I am one) stuff you have to do is such a bunch of "do do"!

There's the ability to display the tach in color -- so as the needle sweeps up the color goes from green to yellow to red (shift now, man, shift now). I've seen several other cool features (yes, they are largely cosmetic -- but, "you're so vain, you probably think this song is about you.") I had turned on several things on my 2009 A4 and I turned on cornering lights on my 2014 S4, you know, stuff that I liked but for some reason you couldn't turn on yourself via MMI. I turned my 2009's needle sweep feature on. Again, cosmetic -- but I liked it.

Anyway, best Audi ever. This one has now replaced my S6 with the 20v i5 as my all time fave. I'd love to have this body style with the new RS5 engine (450HP) -- nothing against avants. I'd also like to see this engine put into an A4 allroad, they could call it an S4 allroad, natch.

mdwcreative

You can usually use the search function at the upper right of the site to find terms that have associated posts, but this link here is a good place to start:

https://www.audiworld.com/forums/a4-...sense-2907906/