Audi S4 Cabriolet looks conventional but packs a powerhouse
Bob Plunkett
Date Posted: 5/10/2005
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VALLEY OF FIRE, Nev. -- With a zippy whirr from the powerful engine and the swish-swish sound of four high-performance tires wrestling with oh-so-tight slalom curves, the souped-up and low-slung S4 Cabriolet by Audi of Germany romps over roller-coaster blacktop that runs through scarlet sandstone canyons at Valley of Fire in the Nevada desert near Las Vegas.
This sleek bullet-shaped convertible, derived from Audi's A4 compact series, skews toward that rare and sporty realm of refined European muscle cars with its big V8 engine aboard plus a six-speed gearbox.
Weight-saving aluminum components make the suspension, tuned and tweaked for precise and predictable action, feel light and lively, while Audi's Quattro system for traction grip on every tire sets up a curve-craving machine which seems to defy the inertial laws of physics.
It's downright wicked when sent into a snaky set of turns -- which explains our exuberance while guiding the S4 through the Valley of Fire.
And on an asphalt straightaway -- such as a straight-arrow stretch of U.S. 93 shooting across a desert devoid of on-coming traffic -- this car feels like the swiftest sled on the planet.
Even at such a furious pace (okay, it's perhaps twice the legal limit), the S4 runs with bedrock stability as if rooted to the road with not a twitch of doubt that it can handle uber-speeds of an autobahn racer.
So much strength, such corner-cutting agility and the ability to virtually fly across the land.
All of these attributes apply to the S4 Cabriolet, yet the car camouflages well to all but educated eyes, as it resembles a conventional convertible, rather roly-poly round and svelte in shape for all body parts, with the four-seat cockpit -- lined in leather and studded with power-everything tools -- of a refined luxury vehicle.
Rising from the open-roof but reinforced body, S4 Cabriolet provides a power-motivated retractable cloth top with heated rear window.
And the tap of a single console toggle is all it takes to lower or raise the lid -- an electro-hydraulic mechanism drives the fully automatic top to fold up or down in less than 25 seconds.
Yet S4 varies from the A4 Cabriolet, not just for the powertrain and special suspension tuning, but the additional body parts and premium touches in the cockpit.
Look closely and you'll spot subtle variations from convention, like curt front and rear overhangs of a race car and oversized tires filling the wheelwells, a blunt prow lined with massive below-bumper air intake port and the broad but narrow grille, each inset with egg-crate screens in shiny chrome-like aluminum.
High-intensity xenon headlights flanking the front grille show a titanium-tinged surround behind the glass in clean rectilinear housings.
Windshield pillars also gleam from the chrome-bright treatment, as does a large rearview mirror in aluminum on each door, the special visual cue for S4.
At the rounded tail, conspicuously smooth in the absence of any type of spoiler, two round exhaust tailpipes subtly convey the message that this is indeed a car of contentious strength.
Wheels also play the performance tune.
They're six-spoke rounds of cast alloy measuring 18 inches in diameter and capped by low-profile Conti Sport Contact 2 235/40 tires rated with a Z for top speed work.
The suspension, intensive in lightweight aluminum components, is independent at all corners and dropped 30 mm lower than A4 iterations.
In front, the four-link design with upper and lower control arms promotes agility but also manages to isolate road harshness and noise. In back is a sophisticated self-tracking trapezoidal-link arrangement that keeps back wheels planted squarely on pavement.
The system sets up a compliant and forgiving ride quality which, in European touring car tradition, encourages an active style of driving. Yet it's stiff, and you feel undulating nuances of a road surface translated through suspension and steering to driver's hands and body.
Steering, using a rack and pinion arrangement, is quick and Servotronic power assistance is standard, varying the degree of boost according to road speed.
Brakes, with a disc at each wheel, rely on electronic and computerized links to tame the tires. Anti-lock brake (ABS) controls are standard, along with electronic brake distribution (EBD) plus Audi's electronic stabilization program (ESP) that stems lateral slippage and skidding.
And S4 also comes with Audi's Quattro all-wheel-drive (AWD) system, a permanently engaged device which distributes the engine's power to all four wheels.
Like all Audi models, the S4's rigid chassis integrates energy-absorbing crumple zones fore and aft of a steel safety cage ringing the cockpit. Dual frontal air bags are in place, along with side-impact air bags mounted in outboard edges of front seatbacks.
Audi overlays the safety gear in the convertible with an automatic rollover protection system (ARPS), which includes sensor-controlled steel hoops that pop up behind the two rear seat positions if the sensors detect a potential roll.
Now check out the muscle package.
It consists of an aluminum 4.2-liter V8 engine with dual cams on top and five valves per cylinder.
Expect it to deliver 340 hp at 7000 rpm with torque of 302 lb-ft at 3500 rpm. Also expect it to pin your shoulders to the seat if you step on it -- you'll soar from zero to 60 mph in less than six seconds.
There are two different six-speed transmission choices -- manual or automatic. The manual has a console-mounted sport stick, while the automatic adds a Tiptronic manual shift mode with shifter paddles on the steering wheel.
In a spacious cockpit there are four individual seats.
Leather coats these quarters, with multiple-position power controls and memory settings on the driver's bucket.
Cabin inlay trim choices include carbon fiber, piano finish, brushed aluminum and birch wood.
Audi undercuts price points of competitive sport convertibles, establishing the S4 Cabriolet MSRP at $54,570 with a manual transmission and $55,720 for the automatic.
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| 2004 AUDI S4 CABRIOLET VEHICLE SPECIFICATIONS |
| Description: |
Compact sport convertible
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| Model Options: |
Compact sport convertible
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| Wheelbase: |
104.5 inches
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| Overall Length: |
180.0 inches
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| Engine Size: |
DOHC 4.2-L V8
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| Transmission: |
MT: Manual/6
AT: Auto/6 Tiptronic
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| Drive: |
AWD Quattro
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| Braking: |
Power 4-disc
ABS/EBD/ESP
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| Airbags: |
2 (front)
2 (side)
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| Gas Mileage: |
MT: 15/21 mpg
AT: 18/23 mpg
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| MSRP Price: |
MT: $ 54,570, AT: $ 55,720 |
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