Reviews & Road Tests
Driven: 2006 S4 Sedan AT6
By by: George Achorn, photos by author
Aug 21, 2006, 20:56

Look at the stats and it’s pretty clear, the S4 as a model has decidedly evolved. Once the most radical in its A4-series lineup, the first-generation B5 S4 was a bit more extreme with its twin-turbocharged and incredibly tuner friendly 2.7-liter V6. Today, the S4 is no longer the king of the A4 lineup, nor is it as easily tunable by the aftermarket. The car’s spirit has evolved ever-so-slightly to be more of a grand tourer, and that’s never more evident than in an S4 equipped with Audi’s 6-speed Tiptronic transmission.

Tiptronics have always been looked down upon by the most ardent performance enthusiasts. Manuals are faster, yes, and an enthusiast just doesn’t feel like an enthusiast when he or she can’t row his or her own gears. Still, move to a high-density population area, start getting serious with a girl who doesn't drive a stick and/or have a kid and your priorities might just change a bit. With less time or patience to dedicate to shifting, the torque and luxury-laden S4 Tiptronic becomes the best of all worlds. Strap junior in to a baby seat in the rear, preferably one made by Recaro, make sure the groceries are snug under the baggage net in the trunk and jam the throttle down so that the throaty growl of the S4 drowns out Elmo and his singing friends for a glorious moment as you break out into the HOV lane.



In all seriousness, you don’t need kids, traffic or groceries to justify an S4 with a slushbox anymore. Spend a week in one as we did and you might just fall in love. Sure, the most ardent performance guys will still grouse, but we found we liked the setup and, even better, it’s quite improved over previous Tiptronic-equipped S-cars we’ve driven.

Why better? Well for starters, the shifting is much faster these days. Memories of the Tiptronic-only C5 S6 that would go on for 1000 more RPM before shifting cogs are soon replaced. This box is a bit more snow than slush, shifting quickly after input is given.



Even better, the S4 has paddle shifters on a multi-function wheel. Now standard fare in the B7 S4, you don’t have to forego all the niceties of a multi-function wheel just to get a sportier 3-spoker with paddles. Sure, the paddles aren’t cool polished aluminum look as they are in the S8 and even the A3 3.2 S-line, but they are paddles… and paddles are infinitely more convenient when you need to make that shift than the still-somewhat-clunky gater. We can’t be too critical about the gater though as we’re still waiting to see anyone in the car industry with a really cool Tiptronic gater. We think we’ll be waiting for some time though as the whole notion is a bit oxymoronic.

With 340hp on tap out of the S4’s 4.2-liter V8 engine, the car doesn’t exactly feel sluggish, even when paired to an automatic gearbox. However, gas consumption isn’t sluggish either, sipping down an EPA estimate of 15 MPG city and 23 mpg highway. We averaged around 21 MPG.



Our tester was a Brilliant Red 2006 S4 sedan with ebony black Silk Napa leather interior and brushed aluminum trim. For 2006, Audi made a few minor tailoring changes to the S4, including the optional wheels from BBS and a “V8” badge underneath the European side repeater on the front fenders.

This particular S4 also included Audi’s Premium Package ($2,900) with glass sunroof, Homelink, Auto-dimming mirror glass with compass, auto dimming exterior mirrors, memory driver’s seat, memory for mirror positions, rain sensing windshield wipers, adaptive front lighting, heated front seats and 18-inch wheels with summer high performance tires. It also had Audi Navigation Plus ($1,950), a Premium Audio Package with Sirius Satellite Radio and Bluetooth preparation ($1,500) and Cold Weather Package ($400) with ski sack and rear heated seats. The base price for the S4 is now at $47,600. Optioned up to the spec of our car, and the sticker tally is $56,370.



In a perfect enthusiast world, perhaps all S-cars would come with manual transmissions. However, those who can’t or won’t go for a manual gearbox don’t have to explain themselves anymore – at least not to us. The so-called S4 “AT6” is a respectable and enjoyable car with which one could easily spend a lot of time behind the wheel. It won’t win many fuel economy races, but it will most enjoyably and handily outpace a Prius on the way to the HOV lane, and still give you a satisfying day at the track. So crank up the Elmo, or better yet crank up the throttle and enjoy the ride.

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