B6 S4 totaled. Now what? B7 S4, S5 or S6? Help please!

[Jonathan G.]

Greetings to all, I am a long time reader of this forum but now a first time poster. Sadly, my B6 S4 was recently totaled by an uninsured driver. Fortunately, I have a solid insurance company and they are sending me a nice check. I started looking at some B7 S4s as affordable replacements but then wondered whether or not I should use the opportunity to move (up?) to a more modern interior and B8 platform of the S5. It would probably require my adding $10k to $15k to the insurance check for my B6 S4 where as a B7 S4 would require $0 to $2k added. For fun, I did a search for 07 & 08 S6s with the 5.2 L V-10 and found that they were with in a few thousand dollars of 07 & 08 S4s!! Should I be considering these S6s based on their better used value given their originally higher $ msrps, higher quality interiors , more features , more room & "more car" for the money?? I do love the smaller dimensions of the S4 and it's greater tossability though I will never track the car. The S4 or S5 would have to be a tip tonic anyway due to my daily metro commuting requirements.. My B6 S4 shared daily driver duties with my M-B CLS55 AMG which I still have. The S4 was used more for winter and foul weather duty and when I wanted a car to run on narrow, tight, curvy roads. I am concerned that the S6 will be too similar in size to the CLS55 but a second slower in 0-60 times.. At the same time, I am not married to the CLS55, though I do like it, and with an S6 in the stable, the CLS could be replaced with a sportier coupe like an M3 or C63 or..... Is the upgraded interior ,Mmi, B&O stereos, nav, Ads, 40/60 power split with tip tonic, 354hp etc of the 09 S5 worth the $10 to $15k premium over a B7 S4?? Any advice would be appreciated and my apologies for the long post !

[2005AUDIS4]

Have you considered an RS4?

[C4RL_S4]

Last February, My wife and I was sitting at a red light when I looked into the rearview mirror just in time to see a Jeep Wrangler bearing down on us.

Driven by a newly licensed teen driver, the Jeep SLAMMED into the back of my 2005 S4 cabriolet. With my foot firmly on the break the Audi lurched forward and hit the car in front of us, but not hard enough to activate the airbags. As you can see in Photo Y, the car was hit hard enough to deploy the rollover protection.

This is what makes me an Audi owner for life - I was completely unhurt and my wife had a small bruise on her head (which was superficial). Despite taking a fully force, zero-brake, 40 MPH hit to our stationary vehicle, we walked away with no serious injuries.

My beloved Audi S4 wasn't so lucky ...

[C4RL_S4]

The worst part of my S4 getting totaled was that it happened right after I had begun the process of changing jobs and moving out of state (from NJ to FLA). So I decided to wait until after the move and job change to replace my S4. For the past 12 months, I've been driving a Nissan X-Terra (which was supposed to be our P.O.S. vehicle for really bad weather driving, pet taxi, etc ... All the while, I was setting aside $$ to add to the total payout from the S4.

This month, my suffering through the X-Terra paid off ... with a S5!

I've only had the S5 a few days, but I absolutely love it. It feels more "coupe-like" than my cabriolet, but is still a composed, confident driving experience. If you don't need to use your backseats everyday, I unreservedly recommend it.

If you're back seats are more of a daily requirement, then the S6 looks like an excellent sedan. But you already have the CLS55, so my suggestion would be to go Coupe for the 2nd car ...