I have gone through plenty of cars so far in my life.. however I usually have 1 sportscar and 1 daily driver (31 and not married).. Right now I have a 03 v8 Lotus Esprit (at 450hp/430TQ) and a Audi TT (modded to 265 hp)...
I want to keep my esprit for at least a few more years but was considering upgrading to the RS4.. I take both my cars to the track...
The RS4 is great looking, and well designed but I am a bit upset at it's QM acceleration numbers, for a car that costs only 10-15k less than an M5 I am seeing most magazines score over 13.0 in the QM test.. while the M5 can do it in 12.5.. I was considering the M5 but the outer design if very unappealing to me.. I am trying to have it grow on me but.. just tough to do that..
I also live in philly and the weather could be a little more AWD friendly for a DD..
My question is how is the car on the track and do you think (besides the weight) that it is achieving 13.0+ on most QM tests? I am quite happy with the 0-60 time but the QM time should be lower (at least in the 12's) for the money the car costs..
Any opinions? I noticed Road and Track did 12.8 but that was with a 5k clutch drop..
If you are considering taking the car to the track I don't think there is going to be much comparison as to what's more fun to toss around... the RS4 is going to be WAY more fun to drive on a track. Sure the M5 may be faster in a qm test but who cares... the RS4 is going to catch it going into the corner and pass it going out giving the M5 the middle finger as you go flying by...
I don't understand why anybody would even consider a rear-wheel-drive sport-car since there is quattro. The point of the RS4 is not simple pure performance but the advantage of the quattro system in driving turns and in driving on wet or snowy pavement. A all-wheel-drive car can drive turns faster than a 2-wheel-drive car. I did not get the wheels to spin yet even on wet pavement. And I'm not driving calmly. Audi seems to have put some energy into the differential locks -- they seem to work great.
No comparison in my opinion.....The RS4 is a monster coming out of corners, feels more composed and is just a better looking vehicle comapred to the M5 (My neighbor has one - he drove mine and i drove his). We had a little BS session afterwards and compared the two cars. Our final thoughts......RS4 more precise and quicker in the twisties and The M5 a little hotter off the line and it's nice to slide the car out of corners. Though he did admit that my car looked more menacing. The RS4 was a no brainer for me as I live in Denver and the quattro is great(with m&s tires). I have to admit that the M5 is a great car as well.
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Considering an RS4, question about performance - 
