Audi RS4 B9 review – performance and 0-60 time
Acceleration is faster than rivals only due to Quattro, and it is out-gunned by most direct rivals
Aside from the obvious benefit of improved wet-weather traction, all-wheel-drive also meant the RS4 was quick from a standstill, reaching 62mph in 4.1sec – near-identical figures to both the old Mercedes-AMG C63 S Estate and Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio. The obvious traction advantage of Quattro in RS Audis of old was of course extinguished by comparison to the M3 Touring, which remains on sale and was always exclusively all-wheel-drive.
Unfortunately this parity doesn’t last, as the Audi will quickly lose ground to almost all of its direct rivals in the mid-range. In-gear response isn’t prohibitively worse, but compared to the hypersonic responses that both the AMG and Alfa are able to muster, the Audi can feel a tad more cumbersome. When on boost, the V6’s willingness to rev right through to its red line was also less apparent than in its rivals.
There’s an industrial feel to the powertrains of B9 RS4s, like they’re extremely well-executed executive cars that have been given some aggressive mapping rather than an inherently performance car package. Unsurprising when you remember this engine’s shared parentage and the role it played in two Porsche SUVs and a mid-level Panamera.
The transmission was always well mannered when just pootling around, yet capable of impressively quick changes when the correct mode was selected. Gears change cleanly and smoothly, but select manual mode from the transmission’s Sport setting (the selected gear will turn red on the virtual cockpit) and the aggression rises in the RS4, with ignition cuts, fuel dumps into the exhaust and short, sharp downshifts.
The engine noise in the cabin was always underwhelming, but drive with the windows down and the turbochargers make themselves known with plenty of wooshy noises and pops coming from both in front and behind you. At least some induction noise would’ve been nice, though.
