2021 Audi RS4 Avant: Better than the RS6 - Full Review

so guys the last time the rs4 b9 was on the channel it was before rbr leveled up to the unique automotive channel that you guys enjoy so much today so i've never really had a chance to give it the treatment that it deserves on my canvas over here so today we're going to explore the full history of the car that essentially links back to the origins of audi sport and that is the rs4 event it's in the facelift version and it comes in a world where strange things are happening with its rivals we've got an m3 with a really strange face we've got a c63 that well really doesn't deserve the name 63 anymore going down size to a four cylinder and in between sits this rs4 looking well rather quite tasteful so today we're going to explore the full history of the audi rs4 and then dive into this facelift and see what it's like [Applause] [Music] so guys big thanks to creptive notify for sponsoring today's episode they're a community that notifies you of the best and rarest items to either keep for your own collection or to sell on for extra income we're talking about stuff like the newest gadgets like the ps5 and the xbox series x all for nerds like me the latest and rarest pokemon cards and these stuff like home weights or rare shoes and sneakers that are difficult to otherwise get a hold of we've got a code down below which is ccn10 for 10 pound off subscribing well worth looking at if you want to make some extra income to splurge on cars or just to get some rarer items so guys the history of the rs4 it links back to the first ever rs car the first proper one that was this car now i haven't nicked doug demuro's rs2 but yes it was the audi 80 rs2 a very bold statement by audi this was a sports wagon that was co-developed with porsche in fact it was even built at zuffenhausen after the mercedes 500 had stopped being built there and it was a very special car you will notice it even featured porsche wheels porsche brakes it featured a sports suspension and when you looked around the car you would find porsche parts in various places as well the best part of course was the engine it had a 2.2 liter five cylinder which of course audi are now renowned for in terms of their five cylinders but porsche massaged it to be even more powerful 315 brake horsepower 0-60 of a very quick 5.4 seconds back then an even more impressive fact the zero to 30 was even faster than the mclaren f1 as tested so it set the trend for the fast ahadi wagon five years later with the b5 came the first rs4 and this was a special car again because of the engine co-developed by cosworth who were recently acquired at that time by audi this had a twin-turbo v6 nicely linking to our car's engine today that 2.7 liter produced 380 brake horsepower and an impressive 0-60 of 4.9 seconds and this car was so popular that audi had to double their production numbers because people just couldn't get enough of it and bear in mind this came before the rs-6 did so this was the fast audi wagon i still believe myself that it is today the one to have we'll get on to that later after this the next generation this was the naturally aspirated v8 this was in the b7 version of the rs4 and this was a big change going to the v8 it was a lovely naturally aspirated high revving engine that produced 420 brake horsepower although a similar zero to 60 more interesting was the asymmetrical torque controlling quattro system which gave up to 60 percent power to the rear and 40 to the front so a bit more rear-wheel drive than before is the last time we had the manual only it was the only car in class to offer carbon ceramic brakes and in that generation you could get the avant a sedan and later a cabriolet as well and this stopped in the car that followed on from this so then came again another v8 version of the rs4 still naturally aspirated but this time producing more power 450 brake horsepower in this one the same power as we have in our car today this time of course the v8 was linked to a dual clutch gearbox the s-tronic which made the car quicker 0-60 which was great but it was the last time sadly that we saw that lovely v8 though what i do like about this iteration is just how muscular it looks it looks like that guy at the gym who never gives up bulking season he's forever looking a bit larger than he really should then we jump forward to our pre-facelift of the b9 today and this is the last car that we had on the channel this links a little bit more back to the rs2 in the sense that it shares something with porsche which is the twin turbo v6 but of course that links more to our 1999 car in the b5 with the v6 twin turbo so we lost the lovely v8 but this car does shave 35 kg from the last one we have a hot v setup v6 linked to now a torque converter and that whole package i found to be really responsive and very much like a natural engine so i was very impressed by that element of the car and this time the quattro system was much more clever giving up to 85 to the rear giving much more of that rear wheel drive feel that you would like in a sports wagon then we come to our facelift today and i really think it does look fantastic particularly in this red finish we'll go into the design in a minute in terms of what's changed not a lot it's a bit more of a nip tuck just like what amg and m did with their face lifts of their car and indeed alpha with the quadrifoglio if you want to compare it the main news is a revised gearbox software to make the torque converter even snappier and even more weight shedding getting rid of sound deadening within the car the difference compared to the previous gen is over 100 kg now so we have a lighter nimbler feeling car hopefully that we'll see later in the drive of course there's a load of tech changes inside the car features the new 10.1 inch mmi system as you'll see in all other new audi's and more importantly in the audi virtual cockpit you've got a load of rs specific screens which are quite customizable and all suit the theme of the rs4 quite nicely the rest of the interior still up there with the best love that steering wheel especially in terms of the outside we've got new matrix led headlights on the front sadly still with the fake vents i think they look really good versus the old ones actually they're a little bit more simple but in line with the newer audi sports stuff and speaking of being in line with the recent audi sports stuff the front end is very very rs6 to me they've really made those front intakes very very large i'm loving the wide arches as we always do with the audi sport cars an extra 30 millimeters sticking out they are and they look fantastic particularly in this finish the entire stance is best in class at the moment we'll talk about the future in a minute but it looks a lot more aggressive in person than i can try and capture on the camera and hopefully you'll see a bit of that when it's shooting around our rbr studio later in terms of the rear not a huge amount has changed the rear lights yes again are more in line with the rest of the audi lineup and those lovely round pipes that were also envious of looking fantastic on the rs4 now in terms of the future it's a weird place for the rs4 to exist but perhaps it'll be advantageous for this car because the m3 is coming with a wagon and with all-wheel drive to take the fight to the rs4 which is going to make life a bit difficult for this car but of course it's got a really weird looking face on the other side we've got the c63 which probably doesn't deserve to be called such anymore with a force in the hybrids though this time with four wheel drive drift mode and potentially over 550 brake horsepower which is insane and sound is going to be less of an issue with all of these cars in the future because they're all going to sound rubbish where does that leave the rs4 well i think it's sitting pretty because it's still got the engine it should have it still has the looks that it should have it still has the driveline that it's always had but maybe they'll need to be a bit more clever in the future where will they go will they go for a fully electric evr in the future or will they keep this same formula and add a bit of hybrid tech to it like amg are doing we can't say but i'm excited to see before that this might be the sweet spot of the entire generation one of the lightest cars with excellent dynamics a really really nice feeling engine let's see what it's like outside on the road right guys there we go new rs4 facelift let's see what it's like i'm not expecting huge changes but i'd like a refresh on what this car feels like having driven so much of c63 and m3 now i've lived with this car for the best part of a week now and alongside all the other cars that i test and that i own i kept coming back to the rs4 and i think part of the reason is a it's an estate an advance which is so so useful particularly for a family man like me but the knowledge of the existence of the quattro system in a car that has the performance of something like an m3 made me come towards this car every single time that plus the lovely rs6 style styling of the exterior as well and it's something we've discussed in the past how good a daily this car is i wouldn't call the rs6 as good a daily as the rs4 it's that much more horsepower not as good on consumption this will give me kind of 18 in and around town on a longer journey i've gotten well above 30 mpg so it's decent in terms of economy as well you're not going to be chucking all your money into fuel costs but when you compare it on speed this thing is so rapid despite just being 450 brake horsepower with this car it feels as quick and as rapid as the julia a lot of that i think is the mix between this great engine the tiptronic gearbox and the quattro system so much so that i don't really think you're going to come out of an rs6 and feel that this is slow and i really think there's a lot of benefits to getting this car over that one particularly how you're not going to get that much more sound out of the rs6 and daily driving this is so so quick in fact in the automatic mode of the gearbox which can decide whether you're driving comfort or more dynamically the car is too on edge you have to be really really careful with your foot not to jar yourself or your passengers because it does just want to take off but then conversely when you do want to take off sometimes it lags so i feel it's better to either go completely into comfort or go completely into one of the rs modes that we're in now so i'm in rs1 and everything is tuned up apart from the suspension the other side is the brakes now these are the standard steels and i found that the stopping power just hasn't been enough so maybe you do need the carbon ceramics or maybe this press car has been ragged quite hard now the pre-placed lift handling wasn't really the strongest suit versus its rivals and of course nothing really has changed technically in that aspect what you do get there when you have conditions like this which happen frequently in countries like the uk the quattro system becomes the deciding factor on whether you use a car like this or not and indeed compared to the m3 and the c63 it doesn't have that same finesse of handling it does feel a heavier car you do get more body roll you do feel the understeer if you're coming too fast into a corner like my line there was a lot wider than it would be in a c63 or an m3 but you begin to get into a flow where you know when to put the power down you know when to break and then the traction and speed you get coming out of the corner is really brilliant and there is masses and masses of grip when you need it now it is so wet out here but the rs4 is so happy to put down all the power to the road in a way that inspires confidence so when you begin to get into the flow of braking at the right time turning at the right time and then planting the power down you really begin to have fun in this car and i think it's the engine and the gearbox together with the quattro system that gives me that feeling it really feels rapid and i wouldn't say that there's huge differences between this and the rs6 dynamically either another factor that you can bring into that whole rs4 versus rs6 scenario now in terms of sound we're in the highest setting in terms of performance we've got the sports exhaust i'm in manual and you're not getting a lot of sound now when i did the pre-facelift review i spoke about how audi have kind of preempted the upcoming regulations and made their car suitable for it and i was right because this facelift sounds very very similar there's not that many pops and bangs the v6 doesn't give much of a rumble either when when you're driving faster one thing for sure it's got a lot more sound than the rsq8 had which is of course flagship rs spearhead according to audi they've still got pops and bangs which you can discern you can make them play they're very very muted but they are there and you get a nice kind of rev and a kind of a far on up shift as well so there's enough there to kind of keep you entertained and as i said even versus rsq8 there's more in the rs4 so as an all-round daily i think i'd really love to have an rs4 i'm a huge fan of c63 but i have seen its limitations in the winter months i've owned 11 of them so i should know i don't really daily my c63 i tend to use my a45 so as a pure daily car i would be more tempted to go towards rs4 because in this the quattro system with that 450 brake horsepower gives you a great daily in that mid performance tier bracket with really really exciting looks and up-to-date interior and some of the best speed in the segment so guys i hope you enjoyed this full review of the face lifted rs4 it's been great fun to live with i've done some long journeys it is a fantastic car so if you've enjoyed this please do like subscribe hit the bell icon i'm going to shoot off into the distance as always see you next time

Channel: Remove Before Race

Views: 126,853

Rating: 4.8921833 out of 5

Keywords: new rs4, rs4, audi rs4, rs4 avant, rs4 b5, rs4 b7, rs4 b8, rs4 b9, rs4 b9 review, rs4 vs rs6, rs4 vs c63, rs4 vs m3, audi, audi sport, rs4 2021, rs4 review, audi rs4 sound, audi rs4 2021, audi rs4 exhaust, rs4 b8 vs rs4 b9, Audi RS4 b9, rokenr, remove before race, rs4 etron, rs4 e tron, e tron rs, history of the rs4, audi a4 2021, audi a4 avant, audi a4 review, audi rs, audi rs4 avant review, audi rs4 avant 2021, rs6, audi rs6, rs6 avant, rs6 2021, supercar

Id: GEEW9Oe1Afs

Length: 14min 32sec (872 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 21 2021