We’re just back from a week-long trip to Northumberland and the Scottish Borders, during which the S4 passed both the three-month and the 3,000 miles mark. So it seemed a good opportunity to revisit my 1,000-mile first impressions post.
The trip north mostly involved a long cruise on motorways and dual-carriageways. That said, much of the A1 is still only two-lane, so prone to progress being impeded by one truck overtaking another - why do they always do that going uphill?!
I’d initially intended using the S-Tronic box in Auto, but soon found that Dynamic, in conjunction with the cruise control, worked better. It gave me rapid acceleration up to my preferred cruising speed, then as soon as I switched the cruise on, the box changed up to 6th, then 7th. Importantly, though, if I then got baulked by a slower vehicle up ahead, flicking the cruise off meant it dropped a gear (or two) giving me plenty of engine braking that I wouldn’t have got if it had been in Auto. Once the blockage cleared, all I needed to do was flick the cruise back on and back to speed (and 7th) it went. In that mode, I found the car to be effortlessly relaxed. Also, even six hours behind the wheel in the supersport seat left my middle-aged fat-b*****d body with no aches or pains at all. When we arrived at our destination – Embleton, for those who know the area – I could have done the journey all over again.
For the rest of the week, we were exploring the rural roads of Northumberland and the Border. Sadly, I couldn’t punt it as must as I’d hoped, as the dog is not a good traveller, and I didn’t fancy having to clean canine vomit off the back seat. So my hopes of giving the sports diff a workout never really materialised. But this weekend just gone, I did get to have a little play round some of the quieter roads in the middle of Kent. That didn’t allow me to get anyway near its limits but I could still tell that the front-end turn-in is a revelation in comparison to every Audi I’ve had before it.
The journey home was much like the trip up – but with fewer holdups because we took the Tyne Tunnel and A19, thus avoiding the long road works stretches with speed restrictions in North Yorkshire and around Gateshead and Newcastle.
Overall, after three months and 3,000 miles of ownership. I love this car every bit as much as I did the first moment I set eyes on it. On the other hand, having spent the week in North East England, I do now understand why @Bristle Hound thinks DAB is pointless.
Oh, and here’s a few pics of it outside the cottage we were renting.
The trip north mostly involved a long cruise on motorways and dual-carriageways. That said, much of the A1 is still only two-lane, so prone to progress being impeded by one truck overtaking another - why do they always do that going uphill?!
I’d initially intended using the S-Tronic box in Auto, but soon found that Dynamic, in conjunction with the cruise control, worked better. It gave me rapid acceleration up to my preferred cruising speed, then as soon as I switched the cruise on, the box changed up to 6th, then 7th. Importantly, though, if I then got baulked by a slower vehicle up ahead, flicking the cruise off meant it dropped a gear (or two) giving me plenty of engine braking that I wouldn’t have got if it had been in Auto. Once the blockage cleared, all I needed to do was flick the cruise back on and back to speed (and 7th) it went. In that mode, I found the car to be effortlessly relaxed. Also, even six hours behind the wheel in the supersport seat left my middle-aged fat-b*****d body with no aches or pains at all. When we arrived at our destination – Embleton, for those who know the area – I could have done the journey all over again.
For the rest of the week, we were exploring the rural roads of Northumberland and the Border. Sadly, I couldn’t punt it as must as I’d hoped, as the dog is not a good traveller, and I didn’t fancy having to clean canine vomit off the back seat. So my hopes of giving the sports diff a workout never really materialised. But this weekend just gone, I did get to have a little play round some of the quieter roads in the middle of Kent. That didn’t allow me to get anyway near its limits but I could still tell that the front-end turn-in is a revelation in comparison to every Audi I’ve had before it.
The journey home was much like the trip up – but with fewer holdups because we took the Tyne Tunnel and A19, thus avoiding the long road works stretches with speed restrictions in North Yorkshire and around Gateshead and Newcastle.
Overall, after three months and 3,000 miles of ownership. I love this car every bit as much as I did the first moment I set eyes on it. On the other hand, having spent the week in North East England, I do now understand why @Bristle Hound thinks DAB is pointless.
Oh, and here’s a few pics of it outside the cottage we were renting.
