Audi RS4

Its a shame that the drop-top won’t be available in the US. The S4 drop top is really a boulevard cruiser.

I recently test drove this new beast. It features 414 naturally aspirated horsepower from the proven 4.2 liter Audi V8. With twin turbochargers you could be putting 700 flywheel HP to the pavement without usurious expense (a $7000.00 upgrade).

The American magazines talk like girlie men about the harshness of the ride while the British magazines pretty much wax about the car. It is comforting to know that the man behind Audi’s recent LeMans triumphs is now the head of their in-house tuner division.

The only beef leveled at this car is the ratio of torque applied to the wheels and the streering feel — a consistent Audi beef since forever. On the other hand, I will take the rush of a naturally aspirated V8 that revs to 8250 over a touch of steeing feel any day.

Competitors include:

Mitsubishi EVO 34k
Subaru Sti 31k

These both have equally fast 0-60 times but lack a certain finesse. Is it worth the 40k real difference in price? I guess I’ll have to test them both.

Buying strategy:

Wait at least a year to have the prices come down to sub-50k (which they will.) At 50K this car is the best.