Motor Australia – September 2019

38 september 2019 whichcar.com.au/motor

MAINEurope

remainsa diesel

bastionforeven

sportycars,but

marketssuchas

Australiahave

increasinglyturned

backtopetrolandour

S4willagainbea TSFI

ITDOESN’TSEEMallthatlongago
thattheAudiS4waspoweredbya
4.2-litre253kWV8.Infact,it wasn’t
allthatlongagothatallofAudi’s
S-badgedmodelsseemedtobeusing
engines that would look preposterous
by today’s standards. Just look at
the old C6-generation S6; that had a
massive 5.2-litre 320kW Lamborghini-
derived V10 at its nose, and even then
it wasn’t the fastest or most powerful
version you could buy at the time.
How times have changed. These

beguilingengineshavenowlargely

disappearedfromAudi’srangeof

S cars,andevensomeofthehalo

RSmodelshavebeenshornofa

fewcylinders.

That, however,is thewayofthe

world. Attitudeschangeandpriorities

shift. That’swhy,underthebonnet

of this newEuro-marketS4sedan,

instead ofthepreviouspetrolengine

you’ll finda 3.0-litreV6dieselengine

supplementedbya 48-voltmild-hybrid

system. It’sa movewe’veseenAudi

➜

Upgraded favourite debuts withV6 diesel mild-hybrid

AUDI S4 TDI

BY• SIMONDAVIS

ENGINE 2967cc V6 turbodiesel, DOHC, 24v

POWER 255kW @ 3850rpm

TORQUE 700Nm @ 2500-3100rpm

0-100KM/H 4.8sec (claimed)

4.0 WEIGHT 1785kg • PRICE $ 105,000 (est)

Rating

LIKE: Brutal torque and

acceleration; refined cruising;

economy; refreshed interior

DISLIKE: Narrow

performance band; artificial

steering weight and feel

make with updated versions of its other

S-badged sedans and coupes, but Audi

Australia hasn’t really engaged. This

diesel model won’t be coming here, but

the new petrol-engined S4 will arrive

next year.

Regardless, there’s little denying the

fact this new S4 packs quite a wallop.

That V6 diesel kicks out 255kW and

a whopping 700Nm of torque, which

is spread across a relatively narrow

2500-3100rpm window. For the sake

of comparison, that’s the same amount

of torque as a Mercedes-AMG C63 S

Coupe gets from its 4.0-litre, twin-

turbo V8. In typical Audi fashion, this

performance is directed to all four

wheels via an eight-speed auto and

a self-locking diff that can funnel up

to 85 per cent of that torque to the

rear axle.

While I don’t doubt the S4 is more

than capable of hitting its claimed

0-100km/h time of 4.8sec, it’s the way

it accelerates while locked in-gear

that’s the most entertaining aspect of

its character.

M