kgorman

I promised a writeup, so here it is...Note the video on this page is H.264 encoded <a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/">Quicktime 7</a>. The audio track is AAC non-compressed so you can appreciate the sounds. I also posted for Windows people in mpeg4 (files are bigger, and less quality)

I just attended the <a href="http://www.quattroclubusa.org/news/05_barcelona-rs4.html">ACNA Audi Driving Experience</a> in Barcelona Spain, with the new Audi RS4. This program was opened up to the North American club this year, and there was enough attendees that two groups were setup to go. I was in the second group. I am by no means an automobile expert, driving expert or anything of the like, but since a lot of people expressed interest in hearing about it, I thought I would put together some of the high points for me. I am assuming there is already a working knowledge of the RS4 and what is different than the b7s4, so I wont be talking about all that stuff. Just things I think were new to me, and might interest everyone else. I am going off memory so I might get things a bit off, or leave something out, so be patient w/ me. Also note that basically this was an on-track experience, so keep that in mind.

<a href="http://www.gormanz.com/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album09">Photo Album</a>

<b>The Audi b7 RS4</b>
Since most people are probably most interested in the car, I will start with that. First off, this new car is just amazing. I currently own a <a href="http://www.gormanz.com/albums/bw/DSCN0070.jpg">2004 b6S4</a>, and the new b7RS4 is worlds above it in many ways. It also retains some of the great things I love about the b6s4, for instance, the wonderful v8 engine (but tuned differently), and the general layout, etc.

My first visual reaction:
When we walked into the track paddock area, there were <a href="http://www.gormanz.com/albums/album09/DSCN0319.jpg">20+ RS4's lined up</a> and ready to drive. It literally made me weak in the knees. The new car is very striking because of the new low stance, the 19 wheels and such. The new b7 grill and tail looked very cool and now I actually like the look.

The new engine:
The new engine is fantastic. It's the same <a href="http://www.gormanz.com/albums/album09/DSCN0355.jpg">4.2 litre v8</a> as we all know, but it tuned differently than the v8 s4, putting out 420hp. From a dead stop the car rockets away. The clutch felt the same as my s4 and I am not aware of any improvements over my existing clutch (yipes, perhaps it's needed). I think this car is probably not too much faster 0-60 than my existing b6s4, however somewhere around 80MPH (I am not sure because the speedo was KPH) you really feel the car keep, and keep and keep accelerating. It makes you smile immediately. 1 drive is all it took to convince me that this car is faster, damn the numbers (at least 0-60). It just does not matter what they are, the physics that this car applies on your body is brutal and smile inducing. The engine also looks very cool with carbon fiber accents, and new red valve covers. One interesting note is that the redline is 7900RPM (or so). So 0-60 you basically run right trough first gear very quickly. Am not sure exactly, but I suspect some different gearing might make 0-60 numbers better in this regard. By the time you hit second, you are flying. One technique the instructors used was to shift out of first early, then hold second all the way up to redline. This type of launch felt very, very fast.

<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/kgorman/Audio/RS4_rocket.mov">Video of the RS4 launch</a> (h.264 2.4mb Quicktime 7)

<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/kgorman/Audio/RS4_rocket_c.mov">Video of the RS4 launch</a> (mpeg4 16mb Quicktime 6.5)

The new exhaust:
Perhaps the most noticeably and frankly perhaps the most thrilling part of the new car. The new note sounds (to me) very similar to the noise the ALMS Corvettes make. If you have ever been to an ALMS race then you know what I mean. It's intoxicating. At one point the line of cars was coming down the straight and echoing off the grandstands. Just brilliant noises! The computer opens up a flap around 40MPH and the exhaust note changes under normal mode. This feature is disabled at speeds lower than 40MPH by using the
'S' button. More on the 'S' button later. But when you hit this button, and the car is sitting and idling, the note change is very cool.

<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/kgorman/Audio/RS4_exhaust.mov">Video of the RS4 Sounds</a> (h.264 2.7mb Quicktime 7)

<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/kgorman/Audio/RS4_exhaust_c.mov">Video of the RS4 Sounds</a> (mpeg4 17mb Quicktime 6.5)

Suspension/Handling:
The new car has either the identical or very similar suspension to the RS6 called Dynamic Ride Control (DRC). So not only is the suspension stiffer in general, the DRC alters the level of fluid in the suspension making the car stiffer when cornering, etc. The effect that I (and many of us) noted was that the car felt flat, and progressively stiff when cornering. The improvement over the b6s4 is dramatic. Now I am not sure how much better it would be than the full Stasis setup for example, but I suspect it would be better for someone who is not only going to drive on the track. The effect is very noticeable at the 11 corner complex where the line requires decreasing radius steering into the apex. The car just grips and is flat, and very controllable. Taking this corner (along with 2,4, and 7/8) there was a huge increase in the ability to rotate the car and keep the throttle on, vs having an understeer situation (like the s4's) requiring you to remove throttle to get the car to steer. In the case of the RS4, you can stay on the throttle and feather it very lightly and the car powers right through with a slight bit of oversteer. I suspect this is the combination of the DRC and the new 40/60 split Quattro. Whatever it is, it's a large improvement over my b6S4 in terms of handling. Under braking, acceleration, the suspension gets progressive as well, this is very confidence inspiring, and in the case of hard braking helps keep the car neutral (or at least it felt that way to me).

We did get a chance to briefly drive on regular roads inside the circuit perimeter. The car is fairly stiff, but it IS dynamic. It's much more stiff when you throw it into a corner than when you drive over a rough road. I am not sure what RS6 owners feel (because they have DRC too), but it might be similar. Perhaps better said some.

Braking:
The <a href="http://www.gormanz.com/albums/album09/DSCN0324.jpg">brakes on this car</a> are a huge improvement over the S4 in almost every way. First of all they stop better. This is compounded by the DRC effect as I mentioned above. I didn't have any fade over the course of the day and I didn't hear anyone mention they felt any fade. Many of us also noticed the mechanics performing (I think) a pad replacement, and all they did was pull out a couple bolts, replace the pads, and put the bolts back. This is a MUCH better than the process for the S4. I am not sure how these brakes differ from the RS6, they look the same to me. I did see a stack of used rotors sitting in the parts area, so I am not sure on reliability as of yet. The instructors kept hitting our brakes with the temperature gauge, so perhaps they were worried about pad deposits and overheating? Not sure to be honest.

Computer stuff:
The RS4 has some different computer controlled features than the S4. First off, I noticed even with the 'S' mode OFF, that the drive by wire throttle control is much better. It feels more lively and less 'heavy'. Once you turn the 'S' mode ON by hitting the button on the steering wheel, first of all you notice the exhaust note change. It's badass! Then when you blip the throttle, you notice the pedal feel is near instant, and the revs come down quicker after you let off. The 'S' mode controls to the best of my knowledge the following things: 1) exhaust damper when &lt; 40MPH, 2) the throttle map, 3) seat bolsters tighten up. The instructors said it did NOT control the suspension in any way. The RS4 also has the ESP button just like the S4, however, it has three distinct settings, ON; kinda OFF; and OFF. I am not sure if the cars we were driving had the production ESP 8.0 software or what so it may change come production time. If you hit the ESP button once, then the icon on the dash illuminates and blinks. This turns 'down' the ESP. I believe it still uses the brakes a bit to correct oversteer and understeer situations. Then when you hold the button down for 4 seconds, the ESP is totally OFF. In all cases you retain anti-lock braking. With the ESP OFF it's somewhat easy to spin. As we found out when our instructor performed the lane change drill with 4 people in the car and purposely spun 2 or 3 times. What a blast that was. I wish I knew exactly what each setting changed, but I believe it's not widely known, or if it is, Audi personnel are vague about explaining it. So to review, the 'S' mode changes the exhaust, seats, and the throttle map settings, and the ESP button has two OFF modes, kinda OFF, and OFF. We ran kinda OFF most of the lapping sessions, and ON in the wet (just a little damp at some points).

Sport Seats and Steering Wheel:
The new steering wheel is nothing all that special to be honest. The 'S' button is mounted on it, but it does not really need to be there since it's not something you fiddle with while you are driving. The seats however, and really amazing. They have air bladders inside them (I think) that can be adjusted by a switch on the side. So you can manually adjust the bolster in the seats. In addition, once you hit the 'S' button then the seats automatically firm up. I can't remember if they firm up once you get above 40MPH to be honest. They hold you really snug, especially in the shoulder area. The USA probably won't get them, but oh well, they are nice.

Overall driving experience:
First and foremost this car handles much better than the S4. It does not tend to push or understeer as bad, it's much more neutral. It's also very controllable. You can play with the throttle to get the car to rotate with out having to get on the brakes (or off the throttle anyways) to get the car to steer. It felt much faster, and was less of a handful to drive. I was able to concentrate more on the lines, more on subtle diving nuances, and less on gross understeer situations. The car predictably oversteered using the throttle with the ESP switched to 'kinda' OFF. The car also remained very flat during cornering, braking, and acceleration. It was a damn go-kart!. Overall, a much more FUN track car. Other things that are really nice is the acceleration, and exhaust note during said acceleration! Just brilliant. Beyond the S4. Imagine the first time you drove a v8 S4 (if you have not, you should ;-). Remember that kick-*** v8, the growl both in front of you and behind? The G-forces, the grin you had? The RS4 has that feeling, but more like 5 times that feeling. It's a magnificent car, and a nice improvement over the already bad-*** b6, and b7 S4's.

&lt;B&gt;The Audi Driving Experience:&lt;/B&gt;
This was my first event of this type. I have been to ACNA driving schools before, but this event is different because it is put on by Audi AG, not the ACNA club. They have experiences in Finland for ice driving, and general track events like this one. This event got my attention because of the RS4 being the car for the event. You pay a fairly hefty amount of cash for the privilege. But the overall experience was very, very good. We were put up at the Hotel La Florida in Barcelona. This place is super-posh. It's up on the hill and we had panoramic views of Barcelona from our room. The hotel has a nice restaurant, a pool with views, topless French women, you know, everything! Audi had setup activities for non-drivers during the day, and my wife went to some of those, and reported back that they were nice. The group dinners were very nice, and it was very cool that there were people from different countries in the group. We had a mix of British, American, Swiss, and German folks. The Americans were the fastest by the way.

The instructors were very experienced, and helpful. They had good patience with us thrashing on there brand new (and probably hard to get for this event) RS4 cars. Our group blew up two clutches, lost coolant on one car, and shredded a couple tires. Other than that we were fairly gentle. The maintenance chaps were really on the ball, they were taking the cars into the garage during our breaks and fixing tires, brakes, and basically any mechanical issue. It was a very professional setup end to end.

The instruction was very good. We started off with 3 distinct drill areas. We were split up into 3 groups (American, British, and Else) and had two drivers per car. Then we rotated through the drills. The drills were, Lane Change, Slalom, and Corner Braking. The Lane Change was different than most ACNA;no lights were used. We changed to the same lane each time. The idea was to feel the ESP take control of a spin. Taking ESP all the way off almost guaranteed a spin. Leaving it on allowed for VERY rapid lane changes. The slalom was just as it is at ACNA events. The Corner Braking drill was different than I am used to. The idea was to take the ESP all the way OFF by holding for 4 seconds. Then take a corner at a very fast pace, the idea was to feel the oversteer and correct OR feel the understeer and correct. Basically getting a feel for the handling of the car. The difference over the b6S4 is very noticeable in this drill.

After the drills we went out to 3 distinct parts of the track, and practiced just those parts independently. The instructors were in cars by themselves in front of us. They would drive the proper line, instruct us, and tell us what we needed to fix via a two-way radio in each car. The instructors impressed many of us with the ability to instruct via the rear-view mirror, drive, and use the radio all at once. They also rotated out and would stay near a corner and give detailed advice as we passed them. By then end of day 1 we were running the full track in a lead-follow manner.

On day two we did more full track driving in a lead-follow manner increasing speed as we went. The instructors gave us feedback as we drove real-time. Then we switched out where they followed us. This part was nerve racking as now was the first time you were in control of your own speed. Near the end of the day, it was a free for all and we all just ran w/o any instructors in front or back. They manned the flag stations and gave some input via the radios. What a blast. Running the RS4 full tilt up to 230KPH is really fun.

<B>The Circuit De Catalunya:</B>
The <a href="http://www.circuitcat.com/ingles/index.asp">Circuit De Catalunya</a> track itself is very fun. I was expecting it to be wider than it is. It's very technical with good elevation changes, and long straight sections too. My co-driver Terry is an ACNA instructor, so it was very cool having him in the car with me. We had good discussions of the lines, braking, and our new fondness for progressive steering (per instructors suggestions on corner 11).

A lap basically goes like this:

<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/kgorman/Audio/RS4_lap.mov">Video of a lap with Terry</a> (h.264 14mb, Quicktime 7)

<a href="http://homepage.mac.com/kgorman/Audio/RS4_lap_c.mov">Video of a lap with Terry</a> (mpeg4 37mb, Quicktime 6.5)

Driving down the straight to corner #1, 220KPH, lots of braking, shift down 6-3, and turn in. Give up #1 to make #2 smooth to #3. Go a bit late on #2, and full throttle, going to middle track, shift to 4th, and start in for #3 progressively coming in to the apex, feather throttle as needed, car rotating, going uphill a bit, then full throttle past apex to track-out, throttle, throttle, then brake hard then progressively less for #4 going late around the apex full throttle, drift out, unwind slow to track out cone, full throttle now to #5, heavy brakes, brake, brake, down to 3rd, sight #6 and turn in downhill coming on throttle to track out, throttle, throttle going under the bridge then drifting the left side, braking now to #6, look for the #7/#8 corners and come on to the throttle, slow with the hands, up uphill, throttle, unwind to #9 small tap on brakes to settle, turn on to #9 keep on throttle (brain says no, it's blind) throttle, don^TMt lift, throttle to straight, full throttle, shift to 5th throttle, your blazing now, start braking, shift to 3rd, turn in early, throttle out a bit and ascending radius the corner, keep on throttle, stay in 3rd past #10 on to #11, bring in to R hand side, brake hard, then less hard, turn in Left, feather throttle, it's off camber, turn in harder, harder, throttle, past #11 apex drifting out, car is rotating mad, slipping mad, use all the track, throttle up to #12, hit 4th, keep on medium power, ***** in stomach, watch the line around #12 keep on it, once past apex full throttle, some rotation whee! Brake down to #13, smooth through apex bringing power on, once past, full throttle and down the front straight up to 230KPH, 6th gear! Rinse and repeat.

<a href="http://www.circuitcat.com/ingles/circuit/imagenes/mapag.jpg">Here is a map for reference</a>

India Whiskey Charlie

How do we get H.264? TIA

kgorman

follow my link to get quicktime, it's the first link on the page

Sia Bani

It appears that the RS4 will, in fact, maintain true to the RS tradition of being badass!

Good to hear.

Thanks.

kgorman

Thx! I will try to make some mpeg4's as well for old-skoolrs

Stl4

Now some sort of miracle needs to happen to me so I can get my hands on one!

meisterkleef

Thanks for the awesome write-up!!!

crespo

Get Quicktime 7, link's in the Quicktime site somewhere..

India Whiskey Charlie

But, I have 6.5 which is the latest version for Windows XP. Am I missing something?

kgorman

I am posting mpegs now.. standby...