I go for a Quick Drive in the 2018 Audi S4. A great sounding, fun and comfortable sedan. What do you think of the new S4?
What’s up everybody!? matt maran, here, for another quick drive video. and, so, this is my first time driving one of these new s4’s. it has the 3 liter turbo v6 engine, does 354 horsepower, i think, 369 pound-feet of torque, something around there. pretty quick cars. a little bit on the heavy side, you know, these are, i think, around 30- 3,850 pounds, but, you know,
It’s a nice sized car. it’s a good-looking car. i think, you know, the s4’s have always been a little bit more conservative … than some of the competition, you know. it looks like a more aggressive a4, nothing too wild, though, but, i gotta say, i think it actually looks very attractive and quite nice. same goes for the interior, here. the interior in these audis are
Really some of the best out there, i mean, i just, you know, love this red leather seating fad that has been going on recently, i think it looks great. i love the quilted leather you have, here, in the s4 model, looks really sharp. i love the steering wheel, here, with a small airbag cover, really nice 9 and 3 grip, just a really cool steering wheel, here, in the s4.
Gauges are also great with the audi virtual cockpit that is, really, one of the coolest out there. but, anyway. let’s turn down onto this straight road, and see how the acceleration is. transmission took a second to get the idea, and then it takes off. i mean, it’s been a long time since i’ve driven the previous gen s4, but this has a lot more sound to it. and, i’m
Assuming that’s all real, i don’t know, maybe they’re cheating with some fake stuff, but, whatever it is, i don’t care because it sounds great. and, you can even hear a faint crackle and burble from that exhaust, too, from inside the cabin, here, i’m sure if we had a go pro on the back, there, we’d be able to hear exactly what’s coming out of the back, there. but, overall,
I mean, it sounds really good, it’s punchy, … they switched from the dsg, i believe, and now i think it’s the 8-speed tiptronic automatic, … but, it’s pretty quick, it’s just, you know, it doesn’t want- it can’t decide, it seems, whether it wants to rely on the turbo’s torque, or whether it wants to just give you … higher rpms. it seems like, it’s like, fighting
With itself trying to decide what to do. not razor fast, but i would say it’s probably about the same as a zf 8-speed. it’s- it’s quick enough, you know, i think, for most people that are gonna be driving these things. it sounds great, though. i’m really surprised. i mean, this thing sounds really, really good. i’m impressed. and, now that we’re just cruising in traffic,
Here, it’s a very comfortable thing. i haven’t driven the current gen a4 to compare, but you know, it has a little bit- you get a little more communication from the chassis, as far as what’s going on, but it’s not stiff, even in dynamic mode, here, you know, it still is very befitting of a luxury vehicle, … and certainly, you know, is a little softer than the rs3 that i
Just drove, for example, … so of course it’s gonna be comfortable to- to cruise in, it does have great performance, but it’s still all about having something that’s comfortable, and a great daily driver, but, this engine, you just leave it- i’m in manual mode, here, just cruising in 4th gear and having it hover around 3,000 rpms, go, i mean, you gotta wait a split-second
For that turbo to kick in, but then it pulls really strong. and, also, i am happy to say that the throttle response is a good bit sharper. and that review will be going live probably later this fall, because i have such a long backlog, but that, the throttle response wasn’t as sharp; this, the throttle is really sharp. so, a lot more dialed in than the sq5, in my opinion,
Which i personally love, just … but, anyway. we’ll put it down onto this back road, here, in a minute, and see how it handles. alright! so, it’s a little bit softer, you get a little bit of lean, there. but it does handle very well, you know, for, again, a little bit of a larger, luxury sedan, you know. but, like i said, 3,850 isn’t a heavy weight, really, especially
When you’re talking about a luxury sedan, like this. you know, but it’s- it feels pretty good on this back road. so i can’t really get too good of an idea of how this thing handles, honestly, but, you know, from the few corners, here, that i have gone around, it feels pretty buttoned down. i mean, the s4’s have always been pretty good handlers. i would say this feels
Maybe a little less aggressive in its set up than the previous gen s4, just, again, i’d have to drive one of these for a longer period to do more of an, you know, accurate comparison, but it just seems like it’s- it’s a little softer than the previous gen s4, … you know, from, again, my memory of many years ago driving that. but, this sounds better, i think, for sure.
It’s great. but, yeah, down-shifts are really quick. this transmission might be a little quicker than i originally thought. it’s pretty good. but, yeah. i can see how this could be a very fun daily driver. it’s really well-rounded, you know. it’s good enough, it’s still very soft, comfortable, so it’s a great, you know, commuter vehicle, but it’s also pretty good on a
Back road, if you want to do that kind of stuff with it. sounds great. i really am enjoying how much sound i’m getting, here, which is something a lot of these other, you know, performance luxury sedans, they don’t give you as much of the sound, and i really love- this doesn’t have any kind of active exhaust, or anything like that, it’s just, somehow, i’m getting lots of
Sound, and- and i appreciate that. so, yeah. overall, i’m pretty impressed with this thing. and now, i think, for 2018, you can have apple carplay and android auto, here, in the audis, the interior’s- the other parts of the interior, i didn’t mention yet, you know, the climate control, all that kind of stuff, it’s very nice, very well done, and i will get more into the audi
Interior in the sq5, which is fairly similar, and i’ll talk more about that, you know, later on this fall in my full review of that. hopefully, i will get a chance to do a full review of an s4 eventually, down the road, as well. but, like- overall, like i said, my first impressions are very positive of the s4. like i said, maybe a little less sharp from the previous gen,
But you just get a lot more comfort and great sounds, and just, overall, much more refined car in many ways. but, anyway. let me know your thoughts about the new s4, in the comments below. thank you guys very much for watching, and i’ll see you next time. take care!
Transcribed from video
Quick Drive: 2018 Audi S4 By Matt Maran Motoring