Lowered suspension and attention to detail with racing-style solutions, even faster gearbox and quattro all-wheel drive that favors the distribution of thrust at the rear: thrills with anger and precision
Gianluigi Giannetti
October 11th
– MArbella
In the Audi galaxy the sports car is premium, balance on the road is the principle from which one does not deviate, the processing is not tuning, but almost a turn of the chisel on models that already say a lot. On the Audi RS 4 Avant Competition and Competition Plus then there is more. The even more extreme pursuit of precision. There remains the strength of a car that has transformed the station wagon formula almost into a brand of its own, where the competition does not reach. RS 4 Avant has always been played on agility in driving in tight mixed conditions, but now it is beyond, with two evolution packages with the true taste of sports cars with technical details from specialists. Adjustable set-up and suspensions, the work of the four-wheel drive that enhances the traction at the rear, the engine with a new map that enhances the work of the gearbox. The Audi RS 4 Avant is in the price list starting at 98,600 euros, to which the 10,000-euro Competition package or the 15,000-euro Competition Plus package can now be added. Both are still indicative prices, pending the start of pre-orders in November. Our test on the Ascari fast circuit in Andalusia anticipated the effect. Splendid, even more incredible for a station.
understatement and technique
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20-inch wheels in black with mirror-turned finishes, carbon package that includes the exterior mirror caps, the front blades, the lower section of the skirts and the composite fiber extractor. We did not expect more for a matter of understatement, which is repeated in the passenger compartment, with gloss black lacquer moldings for the seat side bolsters and the RS seat upholstery in Dinamica microfibre and Nappa leather.
The Competitions can be recognized by something else, this is the message, and they are unequivocal signs. The lowered suspension of 10 millimeters is visible to the eye, which can go down by a further 10 with the Competition Plus option. The manually adjustable coil-over shock absorbers are a racing derivation for real. Until now, as an alternative to the standard RS suspension, there was only the RS plus sports suspension with Dynamic Ride Control which, thanks to the hydraulic roll and pitch compensation, is designed to quickly counteract both lateral lying and longitudinal alterations.
The Competition packages, and especially the Competition Plus package, also convey more extreme sensations visually. The increased preload of the springs offers the possibility of adjusting the shock absorbers according to three different calibrations, with anti-roll bars in any case stiffer than those used on the “normal” RS 4 Avant. As if that weren’t enough, the steering now has a ratio of 13.1: 1 instead of 15.9: 1, which is technically more direct.
engine and amazement
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The Competition accelerates from 0 to 100 km / h in 3.9 seconds, or two tenths faster than the standard version, with a top speed that rises by 10 km / h, up to 290 per hour. The 2.9 V6 biturbo engine with 450 Hp and 600 Nm of torque has been affected by an extremely refined upgrade work in the delivery map, which does not produce increases in power or torque but enhances the eight-speed tiptronic gearbox right at the moment of the passage of gear, with reduced shift times.
In the quattro permanent all-wheel drive, the self-locking center differential has a new adjustment that favors the distribution of thrust at the rear, while with the Competition Plus package there is also a more stringent setting for the rear sports differential, which actively distributes torque between the wheels of the same axis.
Audi RS 4 Avant Competition, how it goes
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The enthusiasm comes immediately, with the words of the Audi technicians who tell of the work done to eliminate most of the sound-absorbing coatings that isolate the V6 biturbo from the passenger compartment. Compared to the absolute balance of the Ingolstadt models, it is a choice that tells how good there is in the RS 4 Avant Competion Plus. The freer exhausts and the sound arrive clear and loud, but also the gearbox and differentials seem more alive and present, also because with 20 mm less height from the ground there are infinitely fewer filters. There is immediately the steering to take the scene, even more precise in the small movements, remaining incisive in the more decisive ones. Small pressures draw the trajectories. The air is RS, but it is denser. The new engine map transforms the already excellent eight-speed tiptronic transmission into a transmission with a racing feeling in the way it holds the limiter before upshifting, letting the driver do it, waiting for the driver. The merit lies in the software chisel of the engine management electronics, identical in power to the other RS 4 Avants but more sustained in the upper part of the delivery, which from 2,000 takes the pace of a catapult. Not brutal, but very decisive.
The Dynamic Ride Control system limits body movements when accelerating and cornering, but now it has stiffened anti-roll bars: rapid changes in direction lead to composed, flat behavior. Nothing breaks down, but something changes. Audi RS 4 Avant is born neutral, even with some hint of understeer, with the nose that tends to widen out of corners. With the Competition Plus package, the response of the differentials is changed, with the central self-locking now distributing more thrust to the rear wheels, and the rear one that administers traction with more attention to the outer wheel. The Avant thus does not widen the nose even forcing, but it reaches an even disarming agility, pleasantly oversteering, which makes the tail move more in acceleration. There is a livelier taste, razor-sharp precision and great agility in the strait. Strong sensations even without losing balance.
Data sheet
| Audi RS 4 Avant Competition Plus | |
|---|---|
11 October 2022 – 09:00
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