Audi RS4 Edition 25 years (2024 - 2025) review – a fitting farewell to the BMW M3 fighter?

Farewell, Audi RS4 – for good this time. Audi sounded the swansong for the B9 generation, which ended production recently, with last year’s RS4 Competition: a special edition limited to 75 cars in the UK, with rebelliously low-riding, manually adjustable coilover suspension, plus lighter, louder exhausts and faster shifts from the reprogrammed eight-speed auto transmission, among numerous other enhancements.  

Now it’s saying a final, more emphatic goodbye with this even-more-limited runout special, the RS4 Edition 25 Years. Production is limited to 250 cars worldwide, with 50 allocated to the UK. The quarter-century label is a reference to 2001’s RS4 Sport, the fastest version of the original B5-generation RS4, as is the Imola Yellow paintwork, first applied to that car. 

Whereas the UK’s allocation of RS4 Competitions were any colour you wanted so long as it was Sebring Black, the 25 Years is available in Nardo Grey, Mythos Black or the aforementioned yellow, which looks pretty damn good to these eyes. A bold choice, but then so is dropping more than £115k on an estate car, so you may as well lean in to the collector’s item ethos and pick a special colour. 

Yes, that really is the asking price for the 25 Years. (In grey, that is; £119k if you go for the yellow.) Rarity and significance notwithstanding, that’s a not inconsiderable sum when the Competition – with which the 25 Years shares the vast majority of its components – was priced from £86,400, and the regular RS4 another £16,000 below that.

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To differentiate the 25 Years, power is increased to 464bhp from 444bhp (the output for both the standard RS4 and Competition). Torque remains a plentiful 442lb ft. Top speed is lifted from 180 to 186mph and carbon-ceramic brakes are now standard rather than optional. Fantastic looking (and feeling) carbon-shelled seats with diamond stitching are now standard, too. 

There are some neat touches such as the RS4 Edition 25 Years moniker engraved on the glass between the C- and D-pillars and a further ‘N of 250’ engraving on the centre console, together with white backing for the digital ‘dials’ to echo the instruments from the Audi RS2, extra yellow stitching and yellow Audi Sport and RS logos. 

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The RS4’s advancing years are felt in the cabin in terms of the user interface and infotainment system. Having a range of buttons to control vital functions instead of touch controls six menus deep is a delight, but the visuals are a little dated. The BMW Curved Display in an M3 Touring looks, feels – and is – a generation ahead.

There’s unique matt carbon trim and black badging on the exterior, too, but it’s the suspension’s stance that catches your eye. The beautifully milled, 20-inch front wheels are tilted with a couple of degrees more negative camber than the RS4 Competition’s. Like the Comp, the suspension is three-way adjustable and features a bespoke rear subframe, though the 25 Years has also been given stiffer control arms.  

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It sits so low (10mm lower than a regular RS4 in its baseline set-up, with the option to sink a further 10mm if you get the spanners out) that it looks like a tuner car, in the best possible way. You half expect it to run out of travel everywhere and struggle over speed-bumps, yet – like the Competition – it copes remarkably well even on the roughest surfaces. It’s considerably stiffer than the standard RS4, but it’s far from uncomfortable because the quality of the ride and the sense of control are top-drawer.

Soft Pirelli P Zero Corsas with asymmetrical tread and a bespoke construction as per the Competition are standard fit (Trofeo RS track tyres are also available), clinging rubber-band-like to the wheels. They bite into the tarmac with a healthy appetite and the steering is keen without being oversensitive. Front-end response is excellent, and the rear follows nicely, too.

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Hit the ‘RS’ button on the steering wheel and you can cycle through the two preset modes, RS1 and RS2. As standard, they’re set to put the car into its sportiest settings, with the transmission more eager to hold onto gears and the throttle more eager to respond. The last barrier to accessing everything the RS4 Edition 25 Years can give, is the traction and stability control, easily deactivated though it is. Now we’re ready to get the RS4 up on its toes.

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The fast-Audi stereotype of understeer-biased handling certainly doesn’t apply here. Again as with the Comp, the rear diff has been recalibrated for a less inert feel both on- and off-throttle and a more rear-biased torque split. The RS Sport exhaust lends a more expressive snarl to the 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 than you get with the standard car, and as much performance as you could reasonably need or want is readily on tap.

There’s definitely something here, over and above the typical brutal effectiveness with which Audi RS products can demolish a road. There’s a life to it; sophistication to the damping, personality to the powertrain and balance to the chassis. The brakes too, are monstrously effective. What it lacks is some of the togetherness and cohesion you feel in an M3 Touring.  

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In short, it feels very much like the – you guessed it – RS4 Competition. Practically the same, in fact (based on my memory of driving the Comp back in March 2024, at least). Which is to say, very good indeed. The B9-generation RS4, launched back in 2017, wasn’t a memorable driving experience from the get-go but in limited-run Competition and Edition 25 Years form, it’s evolved into a truly superb one as its life cycle comes to a close. 

What next for the species? In line with Audi’s new naming system of even numbers for EVs, odd for IC cars, its replacement will be an RS5 Avant (which looks a little odd written down) with a plug-in hybrid powertrain. 

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Price and rivals

As well as supplying the foundations for the 25 Years, the RS4 Competition is also perhaps its biggest sticking point, given the price differential. While the Comp was priced from £86,400 new, there are a couple for sale at the time of writing for £68,000 and £70,000. And the BMW M3 Touring (now available in hardcore M3 CS Touring spec) is still, for us, the more rewarding driving experience overall. 

But for those who missed out on a brand-new Competition and for those most dedicated within Audi Sport's dedicated fanbase, it’s a chance to own a brilliant fast estate, a genuinely great driver’s car and one of the last fast Audis of its kind.

Audi RS4 Edition 25 Years specs