Audi S4 CABRIOLET
The
Audi S4 Cabriolet Is The First Seriously Powerful Soft Top Audi. Andy Enright Investigates
The Beaufort Scale for measuring the force of wind is an intriguing thing. Starting at 0 where smoke rises straight up in the air, it proceeds through twelve stages to Force 12 where winds clock up to 75+mph, trees are uprooted, major structural damage occurs and the sea is whipped into a foamy maelstrom. Now double it. This sort of elemental bombardment can be yours sitting in the back
seat of an Audi S4 Cabriolet at its 155mph terminal velocity.
Major structural damage to your coif could well prove terminal.
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With no less than 344bhp to call upon, the
Audi S4 Cabriolet is devastatingly powerful. Those of you who know a little too much about cars may have spotted that this figure is an all-important 1bhp more than the benchmark car in this class, the soft top version of BMWs M3. As well as offering more power, the Audi also offers more cylinders (eight as opposed to six) and more driven wheels (four versus two), but the asking price is usefully less. Youll still need to find £41,310 for the privilege of this topless typhoon, but its worth it for the S4 Cabriolet is the only four
seat, eight cylinder, all-wheel drive convertible available.
Performance is suitably bludgeoning, the S4 hitting 60mph in a mere 5.7 seconds if you choose the manual car or 6 seconds for the six-speed tiptronic transmission. Although wind intrusion at high speed is quite noticeable for taller rear seat occupants, the driver and the front seat passenger are well insulated from buffeting. The suspension is firm but seems to be well tuned to the convertible body.
Big expansion joints, drain covers and potholes can pierce the S4s armour but never cause any shimmy in the body. Audi have worked hard at ensuring the S4 Cabriolet is more than twice as torsionally rigid as the old cabriolet predecessor. A bolted on subframe at the front and additional diagonal reinforcing struts help to prevent scuttle shake and the steering column is connected to a cross member which in turn links to a girder that affixes the windscreen.
"Pop the bonnet and it seems as if Audi have put a quart in a pint pot"
Instead of providing rear seat accommodation good only for kids or lifts down the pub, German coachbuilder Karmann (who also build the Mercedes CLK Cabriolet) have worked with Audi to create a true four-seater. They claimed that about the original first generation Audi Cabriolet of course, but as anyone who had to endure a back seat perch on long journeys will know, they lied. This time, thanks to a body thats 207mm longer, 50mm wider and 99mm longer in the wheelbase, the designers have at last delivered. According to the figures, theres 52mm more rear shoulder space and 66mm more rear knee-room.
So yes, you and your drinking partners really can go touring. Mind you, dont go carrying too much baggage: though the boot capacity is 26 litres up on the old car, that still only means 246 litres with the roof down (or 315 litres with the top up): enough space for two golf bags in real terms. On to the beautifully lined three-layer roof which hides beneath an aluminium-trimmed solid tonneau cover when not in use. Electrically operated of course, it opens or closes in 24 seconds and there are no fiddly manual latches to break your nails on before you can press the button. The whole thing can also be done from the outside of the car by using the remote control keyfob.
Unfortunately, the wind deflector (essential if you want to comfortably drive with the roof down at speed) costs extra and, to add insult to injury, it effectively reduces your car to a two-seater. The rear window is a proper heated glass affair and there is of course an optional hard top, should you want to drive your car day-in, day-out all winter. Pop the bonnet and it seems as if Audi have put a quart in a pint pot, the big V8 filling the bay to such an extent that theres little more than finger width around its perimeter. It wasnt merely a case of taking the 4.
2-litre V8 from the A8 and bolting it into this soft top S4. It has been thoroughly re-engineered, with all the mechanicals responsible for driving the pumps, valve gear and so on taken from the front of the engine and squeezed into a gap at the back between the engine block and the flywheel. The net result is a far more compact arrangement, but Audi have also aimed at cutting weight. With lighter pistons and conrods, this engine weighs no more than the old S4s twin turbo V6.
With all wheel-drive traction and a whole raft of electronic safety measures, its effortlessly secure, offering less of the heart in mouth moments that often accompany a combination of big power, damp roads and an enthusiastic approach. Thats not to say the S4 Cabriolet is a fuddy-duddy thats forgotten how to entertain. Learn to drive it properly and youll be able to use more of that power more of the time than you ever thought possible. Its so addictive that only the realisation of quite how much Optimax unleaded youve burnt per session could possibly quell the temptation to repeat ad infinitum.
A hard blast in the S4 Cabriolet can easily see fuel consumption dip to around 12mpg! Audi quote an overall figure of 21.1mpg, but if you use that throttle pedal anywhere like how it was intended to be used, expect that figure to head south pretty quickly. Its worth it though. As well as sporting 18-inch Avus alloy wheels and low profile tyres, the S4 Cabriolet adds polished aluminium exterior mirrors, grey instrument dials, carbon fibre fascia and door inlays, electrically adjustable sports eats trimmed in alcantara and pearl nappa leather as well as a leather trimmed steering wheel with the S emblem prominently displayed.
By the age of 22, Sir Francis Beaufort had risen to the position of lieutenant. Whilst on assignment in 1812, which was a combined hydrographic study and patrol mission against the pirates operating out of the Levant, the mission came under attack and Beaufort got hit in the groin by sniper fire. If he presented a faster moving target he may have proved luckier. One suspects Beaufort would have approved of the Audi S4 Cabriolet.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Audi S4 Cabriolet
PRICE: £41,310 on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 20
CO2 EMISSIONS: 321g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 5.7s / Max Speed 155mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (urban) 14.5 / (extra urban) 28.8 (combined) 21.2mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin airbags, side and curtain airbags, ABS
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: (length/width/height) 4573/1777/1391mm
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