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From YourSITE.com Reviews & Road Tests As July waned this summer, Waterfest loomed ahead in the early stages of our S4 ownership. The S4 Cabriolet is no slouch, but its understated looks might easily be looked in an over-the-top event like Waterfest where some seriously modified cars fight for awards and attention on the grounds of New Jersey’s Raceway Park in, New Jersey. Fourtitude’s S4 was on the docket to do exhibition duty in the VWvortex / Fourtitude display at the event, and we didn’t want it to go overlooked. The show proved an excellent excuse to convince the keeper of the household budget that an upgrade of wheels and tires was “needed”.
By adding a wheel like this to the car, we managed to up its aggressive looks while still maintaining a more factory appearance. Audi center caps don’t fit the wheels like they do on the Audi ‘Challenge’ wheel, though the BBS centers are not offensive in appearance –rather they offer a bit of status. Tires were also up-rated to a relatively new player in the North American market by the name of Avon at the suggestion of our friends at the Tire Rack. The 245/35 ZR 19 Tech M500s you see on the S4 are a non-directional tire that is popular in Europe and starting to catch on here in the United States. Tire Rack suggested that directional tires tend to get loud, something we can attest to, and that these Avons would offer good performance and a compliant ride. They were right. The ride is as quiet as it is with the stock 18-inch wheels and tires. Even better, the combination of the Avons and the S4’s versatile suspension make the car ride surprisingly well, with hardly any harshness at all.
4 Season Driver’s Log Notes 2,167 S4 returns to Rockville Audi Porsche for mounting of our new 19-inch BBS wheels and the second reset of the Service indicator. I can’t bring myself to put the spare set of wheels in the back seat, making travel to and from the Rockville for our appointment a bit of a production. – George Achorn (managing editor, Fourtitude.com) 2,405 Miles The only real complaint about the car is this recurring service light. It’s gone on now for the third time after having been reset at the dealer twice. I’m opting to let it go until the car’s 5,000 mile scheduled maintenance. – George Achorn 2,654 Miles The only car with a Navigation system, I commandeer the S4 for a quick trip from our Waterfest hotel near Englishtown, NJ to pick up a diverted staffer at JFK Airport. Torque is wide and usable, not requiring much shifting for passing. The A/C blows cold on this hot summer night and the 19-inch wheels aren’t that hateful on expansion joints as I cross the river. Navigation routes me through Manhattan on the return trip. I dodge potholes so as not to bend the new BBS wheels, though the tolls are killing me. I thought this car had an EZ Pass in it… apparently not. – Jamie Vondruska (managing editor, VWvortex.com) 2,891 Miles An older Rabbit GTI in our display breaks a clutch cable on the way back from Waterfest. We decide at 11PM to hit the road for the car’s home in Hershey, Pennsylvania, editor Joslin matching revs and nursing it back to central PA on a virtually straight and traffic-free run down Route 78. The S4 makes a capable chase car when Bryan takes an exit going the wrong way as we enter the highway. The rest of our caravan splits going the intended route. The S4 has oodles of torque and reels the Rabbit in with ease. We plod on through the night following Route 78 and somewhere outside Allentown, PA the skies begin to dump an insane amount of rain onto our convoy. Maintaining 75 mph, I begin to think about how both the S4 or our Project A4 Avant could greatly benefit from a faster high-speed wiper setting. I can feel the wide tires beneath me begin to lose some traction, though quattro claws at the drenched tarmac like a beast. This breaks my dreaming though and I look in the rearview mirror to find I’ve left most of our convoy well behind us, unable to keep pace in the driving rain. Only a quattro B5 A4 has held rank. No surprise. – George Achorn 3,625 Miles I’m flying out of Dulles tonight and the plan is that I should leave the S4 with the Valet service at the airport. Our staff Forum Administrator Anthony Garbis flies back from Europe tomorrow morning and lands at Dulles. The idea is that he will pick up the car and use it for the week I’m in Chicago and Seattle. He’ll take it to the beach and “get some seat time” as he tells me. Because I’m leaving it in his name, they keep the ticket. Noting all of the 911s and cars of that type in the parking lot makes me feel better. But, when a valet shoots an amorous look at the car and inquires with me if it’s Audi’s first convertible, visions of ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ and the air born Ferrari pop into my head. I ask for a copy of the ticket. In all seriousness, I’m most confident in the valet. Now Garbis, one of our younger staffers, is another story. I hear rumors that he managed Autobahn speeds on much of the return trip from Waterfest, and he IS flying back from a trip where he spent time on the real Autobahn. Recipe for disaster? Nah, he’s a pretty upstanding guy. – George Achorn
3,724 While out with one of my friends on a friday night, he said "God, it would be so easy to pick up chicks with this car!" The amount of looks this car gets, especially from women, is truly something else. – Anthony Garbis (forums administrator, Vortex Media Group) 3,902 I’m headed for the Eastern Shore of Virginia from suburban Washington, D.C. for my girlfriend’s birthday. I plug Cape Charles, VA into the DVD-based navigation system and it calculates a 233 mile trip with an arrival time 4 hours later. On the highway, gas mileage is low. This car is one thirsty ride. The onboard computer indicates an average mpg rating of 18.6, and that was all highway driving. My daily driver is a Volkswagen R32. In comparison, the stately composed torque curve feels lethargic compared to the angry acceleration of the Golf. The engine almost feels a little lethargic for a 4.2l V8 at 340hp. I do notice while going over the 24-mile long Cheseapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, that there is some cowl shake, but minimal for a convertible. – Anthony Garbis 4,287 On the way back from the shore, I-64 West is shut down because of an accident, and after baking in the sun amidst 100-degree heat, I decide that I'd have to break down and put up the top, perhaps bringing the average fuel consumption lower. Hey, atleast I got a nice tan. – Anthony Garbis 4,718 Conributing Editor Jim Sykes of our SpeedArena title is headed for a SPEED World Challenge race in Denver, then will spend a week in Chicago before attending the Road America ALMS race. He’s asked to use the S4 for the trip. Rockville Audi is able to fit us in for a slightly early 5,000 mile service, which seems to have cured us of our Service indicator problem. – George Achorn 4,736 We pull the BBS wheels from the car. Our full-size spare is on an 18-inch Avus and in case Jim has a problem on his way to or from the Denver, we want to make sure he’s as prepped as possible. Plus, why put the added mileage on the new tires? Jim comes to pick up the car and I walk him through the Navigation and audio system. We plug in Denver and surprisingly it doesn’t come up. Regions west of Illinois don’t appear to be available. I thought the whole country was on the DVD. That’s puzzling. Jim later calls me to say he ejected the DVD from the Navigation and it clearly stated that it included the whole United States. After re-inserting it in the unit, it works fine. Related Links: The Tire Rack BBS Avon Tyres Report 1 Report 2 Report 3 Report 4 Report 5
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