Hi everyone, I realize there are a few of these threads (on the front page, even) but there are a few questions I'd like to ask that I haven't seen.

First, I will tell you what I have now. It's a 2003 Toyota Matrix XRS. I'm sure somebody will comment on that... whatever. I am a college student and it was helpful bringing stuff to campus. Now I am realizing that the cargo room given by the hatch isn't really that great. Then, I found the sport known as autocross. I've driven it a couple times autocrossing and it's not the slowest vehicle out there but it comes close. Anyway, I'm hooked now and I need a better car for this. I begin searching for a 4 door sedan with some speed... I find the Audi S4!

I've decided I'd like to find the biturbo version used. Now, I think I can get ~$16k out of what I have now because it's still in excellent condition. I'd like to only have to go up a few thousand if possible. First, would anyone trust an S4 coming from a private seller? I understand some things are less than reliable if abused. It looks like if I go with the private seller I could get an '00 or '01 with 30-45k in miles for maybe $18-20 grand, maybe less. Those 30,000 miles could be hell though if it's been treated harshly. Should I bite the bullet and get it from a dealer?

What is the degradation like over time? Does it keep gas mileage and performance as it ages? This is always important, heh.

Perhaps I should ask this in the racing section but has anyone autocrossed this? It's classed in D stock and its competition consists of the Celica GTS, Integra Type R, 330Ci, Neon SRT-4, and the Lexus IS300. Can it beat these on the twisty autocross course unmodified? I don't have enough seat time to be competitive yet but starting with a nice car always helps.

Thanks guys, I will ask more as I think of it. The more I read about this car the more I drool. It's got a nice interior and it's fast. It's not bank-breaking either. As long as it can keep together fairly well I can't think of a reason not to get one.

 

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Your question is fairly typical. Search the archives on that. Bottom line: Dealer sale with the Audi Assured Cerified Pre-Owned warranty is a great piece of mind amenity. Private ownership would be OK, most of the time. Most S4 owners are connoisseurs of the car, so they will have taken care of the car.

For autocross, the S4 would tear up the twistys, probably leaving the others behind - if you're a good auto-cross driver.

 

best way to get a car if you are buying it used is from the black book auction. Key is only way to get in is to know someone with a dealers license, but that shouldnt be hard cause they are all looking for commission. My cousin happens to have one so thats what i did. Bonus is that you will get 3-5k off whatever the price should be, cause its meant for dealers to go buy cars there and get a discount and be able to turn around and sell it and make a profit.

 

Thanks for the info, guys.

What do you all think of this from Autotrader? It's a bit out of my price range but man has it had some nice work done on it. The downside would be I would have to go in street modified in autocross, but this thing would have so much kick. It has certainly got a few miles on it, but it sounds like the owner would have kept up with the maintenance.

 

Not sure why the seller says 420hp at the top of the ad, then says dynoed at 365whp in the description.

Even if the 365 is accurate, the crank would be more than 420.

 

This looks a little suspicious.

On Apr 11, 2005 8:10 PM, xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Hello, I have seen your Audi S4 on autotrader and was wondering if it has a
> custom ECU installed. If so, does it have multiple modes for different use,
> such as running on 100 octane? I am also curious if you have tested it for
> a 1/4 mile or 0-60 time. Thanks!
>
> xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Reply :

Hi xxxxx,
The programming on the ECU was customized for the car. It does not
have multiple modes, however. Since the ECU is adaptive, it may be a
little faster on 100 octane, but probably not a whole lot. I have
never done a quarter mile or gotten 0-60 time b/c that stuff is too
hard on the car (clutch, transmission, etc). If you have any other
questions, let me know!

xxxx

----------------------

Hmm, seems kind of odd to replace the clutch and put such a powerful turbo system in and not run even one 0-60 run. If it were closer to my pricerange I would go see it in person but as it really isn't I think I'll just avoid the headache altogether.

 

If this is the same seller, remember, it says it's a woman owner.
I know plenty of people that have heavy mods, but have never taken the car to a track to test the performance.
I wouldn't let those comments get in the way at all.