Difference between Audi A4 and S4

Jmai22 · 12-21-03, 01:59 AM

i hate there forums, don't like the way there threads are setup, and there not very informative and tehre search engine sucks. man i love this place

anyways can somoene tell me the difference between the a4 and s4. there body seams to be exactly alike? is it like a 330 bmw and a M3 bmw???

also which one would be a better for me a 1.8 or the 2.8. i live in cali so no snow and barely anyrain, but i plan to go up to the mountains 1-2 times a year.

fvellani · 12-21-03, 03:56 AM

Yes, the difference is basically the same as b/w the BMW 3-series line and the M3.

Audi A4 1.8T quattro:

1.8L 4cyl Turbo, 170hp, 166lb-ft., AWD

A4 3.0 quattro:

3.0L V6, 220hp, 221lb-ft, AWD

Now for the good stuff

S4:

4.2L V8, 340hp, 302 lb-ft, AWD

Jmai22 · 12-21-03, 12:22 PM

wow. thanks. now which of the 2 a4 is better for me. the 1.8 or the 3.0(isn't it 2.8??)?? i'm planning to get a 99.5 model.

DaveGS4 · 12-21-03, 12:32 PM

I'm no expert here, but I know there is a lot of aftermarket for the 1.8T motor. Pretty easily tweakable.

squarehat · 12-21-03, 01:35 PM

The 3.0 V6 engine is for the current body style, the last gen (I think they were 96-02) had the 2.8 liter V6. Like Dave said, there is pretty good aftermarket support for the 1.8T (especially since it appears in other VW products). I know that the 1.8T motor is chip-friendly, and there are likely kits to increase the boost on the stock turbos. Hopefully EGainer will chime in on this thread, he traded his ES for a A4 1.8T but still checks in on CL.

The awesome 4.2L V8 FVellani mentioned is only found in the current body style S4; the last gen had a 2.7 liter bi-Turbo V6 that put out around 250HP. A co-worker of mine has one with a chip (the old bi-Turbo model), and that thing is anything but slow...

I personally am a big fan of the A4/S4--understated elegance (very un-bling), nice interior, quattro for the snowy great lakes winters, but reliability was my concern when buying used. If the reliability was even at BMW levels, I very well may have chosen a late-90s A4 2.8 over the ES.

Jmai22 · 12-21-03, 01:37 PM

i thought audi's were pretty reliable? am i wrong?

D2-AUTOSPORT · 12-21-03, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by squarehat
The awesome 4.2L V8 FVellani mentioned is only found in the current body style S4; the last gen had a 2.7 liter bi-Turbo V6 that put out around 250HP. A co-worker of mine has one with a chip (the old bi-Turbo model), and that thing is anything but slow...

I personally am a big fan of the A4/S4--understated elegance (very un-bling), nice interior, quattro for the snowy great lakes winters, but reliability was my concern when buying used. If the reliability was even at BMW levels, I very well may have chosen a late-90s A4 2.8 over the ES.

Square you are dead on man! I think the first year for the S4 was 2000 (?), and a kid I know just picked one up. Its a auto (

), silver/black leather, very very clean. I think he picked it up with higher mileage (100k+) so I will be very interested to see how it holds up for him. My little brother drove it and he said it is very fast once the boost comes on!

Also, I think Audis are for the understated as well, and if they had better reliability, I would love to have a go at a 4.2 A6!!

squarehat · 12-21-03, 01:46 PM

Dug up an old JD Powers reliability post (how problematic 1998 year models were in 2002), Audi is listed at "below industry average," and therefore unranked. http://www.clublexus.com/forums/show...ght=j.d+powers

EGainer · 12-21-03, 02:21 PM

jmai, what is your name on audiworld.... their forums are actually awesome once you get used to them.... and there are soooo many more members so your questions get answered within minutes.....

s4 also comes in a biturbo 2.7 liter.... not just the 4.2 v8, which isnt turbo'd.... the rs4 has the 4.2L v8 with bi turbo

a4 comes in the 1.8t, which i have, and the 3.0L

1.8t is much more tunable and can reach the speeds of the 3.0 with some money

3.0, the biggest mod is a supercharger, PES sells a good one for a few thousand....

try to get quattro if you buy the audi, its awesome....

how much money do you want to spend on tuning the audi? if not a lot, get the 3.0, if you wnat to spend some, get the 1.8

hit me up on AIM at EricDevon1

Jmai22 · 12-21-03, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by EGainer
jmai, what is your name on audiworld.... their forums are actually awesome once you get used to them.... and there are soooo many more members so your questions get answered within minutes.....

s4 also comes in a biturbo 2.7 liter.... not just the 4.2 v8, which isnt turbo'd.... the rs4 has the 4.2L v8 with bi turbo

a4 comes in the 1.8t, which i have, and the 3.0L

1.8t is much more tunable and can reach the speeds of the 3.0 with some money

3.0, the biggest mod is a supercharger, PES sells a good one for a few thousand....

try to get quattro if you buy the audi, its awesome....

how much money do you want to spend on tuning the audi? if not a lot, get the 3.0, if you wnat to spend some, get the 1.8

hit me up on AIM at EricDevon1

ok,

well for others info.
i'm planning to spend around 12k on an 99.5 audi a4 1.8t quatro. the reason why a 99.5 is because i heard they are the most reliable out of all the years.

For sure if i get the a4 it has to be quatro and it has to be turbo.

i'm planning to just probly lower it for better handling and probly just chip it. nothing serious.

if you know anyone who is selling one. i'm looking for a 99.5+ black/black 1.8t quatro under 12k.