First of all let me start by saying.. I REALLY MISS MY 2008 911 Turbo. Due to having a house built, had to take a big step backwards... Blah!

I purchased a 2012 Audi S4, Prestige, Ice Silver Metallic with all the bells and whistles... yep... paid $60k for this thing, but that was pretty easy compared to the Porsche... (have I mentioned I miss that thing?). After a month of driving this car I certainly have ALLOT on my mind. Leaving the dealership was interesting as I put thge car into D and it didn't go anywhere... I was like WTF is going on here... then touch of the gas pedal and there she was! As I drove away from the dealership I found myself being overly cautious about putting the pedal down as "break in" kept creeping into my mind like the "angel" in animal house. Although, the little "devil" also crept into my head saying... nail the freaking thing you ***... see what she has. Regardless, I kept it pretty sane for the first 300mi.

During those 300mi I kept wondering what in the wordl was with this transmission??? Did I make a big mistake buying this 7 speed, dual clutch machine? It doesn't engage at all from a stand still... extremely clunky, and downshifts at lower gears were pretty abrupt. I decided to start getting on the car a little more here and there, getting the RPM's higher and higher. After all, this car doesn't wake up until after 4000 RPM's!

Anyway, I wasn't very impressed with the car, so I called the dealer and had them install the STaSiS tune, figuring it would help some. And of course, it helped some... but not as much as I would have liked. I guess adding 77HP to the car isn't all that much... considering a tune on my 911 Turbo brought me 600HP... so I might be a little harsh about the gains. What I found after the tune was that this car feels much better AFTER it shifts into third and starts hitting between 4500 and 7000 RPMS... that is when she opens up and says Ahhhhh! Even then, the transmission still has its issues.

Going back to the shifting... I find that no matter what mode, no matter what you do... 1st gear shifts at 6000 and second gear ALWAYS short shifts you at 5500 to 6200, which does you NO good at the lower end and in my opinion.. is when you need it the most. WTF is that all about??? Another issue, that might just be with this particular car, is that I am finding when I am cruising at any speed and I kick the gas pedal to the floor, the car will NOT engage the proper gear... I get a major 2 to 3 second delay before the transmission and motor decide they are together ( RPM's go up... no transmission for seconds) ... its REALLY weird (more on that as its going in for possible bad TCM next week).

Last week I took the car over to AWE Tuning for the intake to be installed... and oddly enough, that actually felt like it opened the tune up much more. At least much more than I expected. I have the Exhaust also on order from AWE (best sounding in my opinion and local). The stock exhaust note on this thing is awkward especially when that 7 speed dual clutch is shifting... you get the farting sounds everyone is talking about... certainly annoying if you will!

THE DRIVE: I do have to admit, this car drives amazingly. I love the feel, the comfort and the handling. Audi got this one right. Coming out of the Porsche I obviously had some high expectations. I can't say enough about how good this car feels on the road. The vehicle I purchased has the 19" wheels, and typically you get allot of road noise and discomfort with the low pro's, but this baby is a great mix of "road feel goodness".

As to the interior styling, I agree with many... there are some things Audi did slightly cheesy, but overall it all works. If you get the upgraded leather and leather and carbon inlays... (delicious) it seems to all work! The seats with Milano leather are absolutely incredible.. I can't say enough about them. Worth the money.

My overall opinion is: If Audi or SOMEONE can work out the transmission kinks, this car would be AMAZING... its a great car, just not amazing. Worth $60k? Ehhhhh but whatever.

MODS: STaSiS Tune, AWE Intake, AWE Exhaust and Downpipes. Someone please come up with a TCM tune... pretty freaking please!!!!!

 

Good Review, cant speak for the porsche but i love my new S4!

 

Only have 400mi on mine so limited experience / havent redlined it yet.....that being said, concur with your comments on the chassis/handling/ride comfort - fabulous....re interior, i do like BMW idrive and ipod/iphone integration better (11 x5)....re transmission i have noticed that at slow speed stop and go (commute) that i get a bit of 1-2 jerkiness/hesitation (wasnt sure if it's starting in second and going back to frist or just clunky).....and mine isnt anxious to kick down, granted trying to break in so i havent matted it yet so unsure if it will or not.....i find that i use the downshift paddle to get it to get in the right rpm's for power now.....i would have thoguht that the "dynamic" mode would drop the mileage programming and keep the car in a lower gear for more sporty driving/instant response (something the BMW Sport programming does very well)...but instead it's still in 7th going 45mph....

Still need to play around to make sure i understand what it will / wont do.....

 

Haven't been to a dealer in 5 years. Doesn't the S4 come with a manual 6-speed option? Would that not solve all the shifting complaints? (It's the reason I won't give up my A6 and won't buy another. But I was thinking the S4 in a couple years, off lease after it loses about $30k in depreciation...)

 

nice review... yeah, why not a manuel trans?

.... my s4 is 6spd and i have a g37s tip... the trans in the g37car is very impressive actually...shifts fast and downshift/rev matches extremely well...even in corners!!!


...i've had a Porsche 911, BMW Mcoupe, S4, and the infiniti.....i'd have to say the 911 was one of my favorites....handles like a dream =)


...although my s4 with it's new STaSIS coilovers / hotchkis sway bars is feeling pretty dreamy, haha

 

I just purchased a 2012 S4 Prestige with Titanium package in white. Sweet car with only 8,900 miles!

Any pros and cons I should be on the lookout for?