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From YourSITE.com Reviews & Road Tests Autumn is coming. The leaves are starting to turn and the morning air is crisp. With this change in season, the year of quattro’s 25th Anniversary enters into its twilight. 25 years ago, the first quattro products powered onto the scene and Audi will cap the celebratory year off with the delivery of 250 special ‘25quattro’ edition S4s like the one seen here.
With only 250 cars slated to be built, there’s only one package spec for the celebratory car – pretty much loaded. Those keeping an eye on European models will notice the body changes from the standard North American S4. This Audi’s bumpers have been changed, utilizing kit first shown on Europe’s special A4 ‘DTM Edition’, named for the Euro-only DTM racing series in which a purpose-built V8-powered A4 competes. But unlike the DTM racer, the A4 DTM Edition is powered by a 2.0T 4-cylinder, perhaps making these limited S4s closer in relation to those German racecars.
Front and rear bumpers wear non-functional brake ducting that pays homage to the DTM racecar, as does the contoured lower rear valance with its aero-ducting. A functional red tow-hook can be seen from the rear of the car, adding to the racecar look. The unique bumpers have been changed slightly for the US market, adding North American sidemarkers to the sides.
To accommodate the new bumper covers, Audi has deleted the lower-mounted foglights and changed the exhaust to a dual outlet design from the standard B7 S4’s quad tip.
Perhaps the most race-inspired touches, the 25quattro also shares a carbon-fiber trunk spoiler and matching chin splitter. Carbon fiber body trim, more often than not, can enlist a bit of a boy-racer look that many feared might not mesh well with the more grand-touring feel of the S4. Any fears of a garish look are now quashed. The kit looks handsome and understated, even with its prominent use of the composite material. Another element from the A4 DTM Edition parts bin is the use of a new 18-inch 15-spoke wheel design. The wheels are modeled after the OZ race wheels on the DTM racecar, but bear a strong resemblance to the original Quattro coupe’s Ronal alloys, making them a fitting addition to this special edition with as much an eye on history as any current motorsport campaign. They’re pain to clean, but look incredible.
Other new touches also differentiate this S4 from past models. A V8 badge underneath the Euro sidemarker on the front quarter panel is standard fare for all 2006 S4s, but the high gloss Phantom Black painted grille with “quattro” emblem is unique to the 25quattro. Avus Silver will be the only exterior color in which the special edition is painted. It’s not a new color to Audi, having graced cars such as the previous generation RS 4 in Europe, as well as the TT ALMS Edition and RS 6 here in USA. It’s also on the palette for Audi’s new RS 4, due stateside sometime next year. The only other way to get it on an S4 is to do a special order that’ll run you a premium well over $1,000.
For those Audi owners who have a passion for the classic look of the original Quattro, Audi will include a pair of black fadeaway decals for positioning on the lower door – an obvious knod to the Ur-Quattro. Our car didn’t have the decals, but drew plenty of looks for its handsome appearance regardless.
The 25quattro isn’t just an exterior trim package. These cars are crafted by Audi’s in-house special-build division quattro GmbH. This group is responsible for the A4 DTM, as well as Audi’s venerable RS models. If you want a specific shade of leather or special trim in your new Audi, they’re also the people to talk to. As such, the inside of the 25quattro is as special as the outside.
Like the standard S4, the 25quattro features a full Recaro interior. However, in the case of these limited S4s, the seats, door panels and steering wheel all feature contrasting jet-gray silk napa leather. From the RS 4 partsbin, Audi has sourced a fatter weave carbon-fiber trim for the beltline. Silver stitching accents the seatbacks, shift boot and e-brake handle and each of the four seats is embossed with the ‘quattro’ logo. We hear that for production, the back seats will not have the ‘quattro’ logo, as our prototype test car did.
There’s even a special aluminum-faced shift knob that notes the car’s limited build numbers. Each car is not numbered on the knob, rather they all say ‘1 of 250’ on the shifter. Thos wishing to know exactly which car of the 250 model run will be able to do so by checking the VIN number. All 250 of the limited run will be equipped the same. This includes all the special equipment noted, the cars will be essentially loaded with S4 options. This includes DRLs, compass, glass Sunroof, HomeLink, folding/dimming polished mirrors, rain sensing wipers, driver side memory and mirrors, advanced front lighting, heated front seats, Bose premium sound system Bluetooth preparation/voice control/phone prep, glovebox 6-disc CD changer and Audi’s slick Navigation Plus with Sirius Satellite Radio. Owners wanting XM Satellite Radio should be able to change to an XM head unit at their dealership.
The one option Audi will not equip is Tiptronic. All cars will have a 6-speed manual transmission – aimed squarely at the enthusiast owner. On the road, the 25quattro felt familiar, but improved. Several components and elements could be distinguished as different during test drive.
Firing the car up, the exhaust sounds deeper and with more bass than our 4-Seasons 2005 S4 Cabriolet. This was cross-checked with Audi and it was confirmed that the only difference between this car’s exhaust and a standard 2006 B7 S4 is the tip configuration. It’s possible that this could cause a different audible note. Regardless, it sounded menacing, but not obtrusive. Also different from our ’05 droptop was the precision and length of shift throws on the transmission. There have been some running changes made to the transmission, and it’s rumored that these could be in thanks to development for the RS 4. Whatever the reason, this is one of the best-feeling Audi manual transmissions we’ve driven to date.
Like other ’06 manual transmission-equipped S4s, the 25quattro comes with Audi’s new 40:60 split quattro system. On dry pavement, you’ll have to pay very very close attention or drive it like you stole it to note a difference. When the tarmac turns wet or you hit some loose gravel though, a more notable change can be felt where neutral handling is welcome and a bit of controlled tail-wagging can be induced. When the sun set, driving with the new advanced front lighting was a surprisingly intuitive experience. At speed, the HID headlights of the S4 turn with the steering wheel, lighting precisely where the car is headed.
As with most games worth entering, you have to pay to play. Sticker on the ultra-limited S4 25quattro is $60,250. Add in a $720 destination charge plus a $1,700 gas guzzler tax, and you’re just below the cost of an equivalent S4 Cabriolet. Is it worth it? We were a bit skeptical before seeing or driving the car. Even though we expected to like it, the exterior is much more handsome than had been anticipated. The car drew its fair share of attention and lustful looks from other drivers on the road. We even had a few folks ask if it was an RS 4.
Combine the aggressive-yet-subtle looks with this special hand-made interior, the new tranny and the plethora of S4 options and it becomes very compelling indeed. We love our S4 Cabriolet, but blasting through traffic and cutting the off-ramp apex at ticket-inducing speeds in this tin-top made us realize just how good the S4 has gotten. Combine that with the exclusivity that such limited numbers command and we think it’s a winner. If you agree, hurry to your dealer. Orders are already being taken, and when they’re gone… they’re gone.
CounterPoint by: David Herlihy When presented with the opportunity to land the keys to an S4, I rarely put up an argument - even better when it's a limited production version. Perhaps not the darling of the “tuner” crowd, the mighty 4.2-liter V8 that powers all S4s has nonetheless become a favorite in this office. It can be docile at low RPMs with its stump-pulling torque, yet willing to rev freely, which is where all the fun really begins. The A4 DTM-sourced body kit is immediately noticable and just the right combination of vents in the right places and aggressiveness that suits a car of this stature. Boy-racer it’s not, but it borders on that territory in a tasteful fashion (if that's posssible). Inside, the two-toned Recaro seat are the right combination of support and comfort, but I suggest in the future to add more padding to the seat bottoms for those long extended drives like the one I did with this car to the H20 International enthusiast show in Ocean City, Maryland. While at the show, I was most commonly asked by other S4 owners, “Is the car really worth the premium over the standard S4?” Truth be told, yes... it is. Given the sum of the whole: the body kit, Recaro seats, satellite navigation, and carbon fiber trim, you'd have a hard time reproducing this car in the aftermarket at this price. Better yet, there's no question of maintaining your warranty, and you won't have to endure the occasional hassle and down time of having to install parts. To top things off there will be only 250 of these cars built. Exclusivity is generally well worth it for the right buyer, and the small build count means it'll have its fair share of that. At a show like H20, most stock cars go fairly unnoticed amongst the more flashy modified versions that show in large numbers. The S4 25quattro got plenty of looks and attention from a crowd typically bored with a bone stock automobile. As far as performance, the 25th Anniversay Edition is supposed to be virtually identical to a standard S4, though I'd swear the exhaust is somehow different. It sounded deeper, with more bass. This is the first time I've driven a new S4 with the updated 40:60 front/ rear split. What I found was that initial understeer is all but tamed. I drove the car in a variety of on road experiences and found I could now drive the car more using the throttle versus the 50:50 split on previous cars I've driven. With 50:50 torque, I'd be battling too much understeer and having to get out of the throttle more than I preferred. With the new split I found myself getting on the gas that much earlier to drive the car that much harder out of a corner- even in the rain.
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