Ok so that’s not strictly true… however…
I was at the Listers Audi Experience day last week and got chatting to a few technicians about the RS4 exhaust note, the new regulations, how it will affect cars in the future and so on. All very interesting but that’s a longer conversation and I haven’t got time for that right now..
However, we got on to the big debate about the new RS4/RS5 engine and the lack of grunt after the B8. So whilst not strictly recommended, they suggested just disconnecting the valves on the exhaust and turning off the ‘sound actuator’ – yes gentlemen, the myths are true. There is indeed sound pumped into the car to make up for the lack of noise from the exhaust!
So a quiet word in someone’s ear and a £20 note later.. I have the valves always set to open (this overrides Comfort, Dynamic etc) and the sound actuator turned down to 20%, although will probably get this turned off completely.. and boy what a difference this makes!
So of course it's no V8... but it now sounds (and feels!) like a completely different car, with a very deep rumbly poppy exhaust no matter what settings you are in.
I have done a few hundred miles on the motorway now in it also, and it’s all fine and dandy. Yes there’s some ‘drone’ but to me it just sounds like an RS4 is meant to sound. The only downside, is the exhaust note has so much deep base now, that you don’t want to be leaving too many bits and bobs and coins lying around in the car!
But, I think I can live with that with the improvement to the sound. More testing to be done yet but so far so good. You can also of course switch it into individual and change the engine to ‘Comfort’ whilst doing motorway miles which knocks the revs down over so slightly.
It’s in 8th gear around 60-70mph when you get the most base out of it and you hear your change rattling a bit. But other than that, it now feels like a different car with a very raw RS feel to it. It also feels faster too! I just got just over 30mpg out of it on a 100 mile drive also, so not too bad at all.
The other bonus is it helps me keep more to the speed limit as you really know when you’re going above 90mph.. oh, and it should use less fuel as I wont feel the need to put it into Sport/Dynamic as often to make it rumble and pop any more.. as it’s now got all the grunt it needs in both Comfort and standard Dynamic
This is all a personal thing of course.. but assuming it doesnt rattle itself to bits, I'm no MUCH happier with the RS status of the car.
I was at the Listers Audi Experience day last week and got chatting to a few technicians about the RS4 exhaust note, the new regulations, how it will affect cars in the future and so on. All very interesting but that’s a longer conversation and I haven’t got time for that right now..
However, we got on to the big debate about the new RS4/RS5 engine and the lack of grunt after the B8. So whilst not strictly recommended, they suggested just disconnecting the valves on the exhaust and turning off the ‘sound actuator’ – yes gentlemen, the myths are true. There is indeed sound pumped into the car to make up for the lack of noise from the exhaust!
So a quiet word in someone’s ear and a £20 note later.. I have the valves always set to open (this overrides Comfort, Dynamic etc) and the sound actuator turned down to 20%, although will probably get this turned off completely.. and boy what a difference this makes!
So of course it's no V8... but it now sounds (and feels!) like a completely different car, with a very deep rumbly poppy exhaust no matter what settings you are in.
I have done a few hundred miles on the motorway now in it also, and it’s all fine and dandy. Yes there’s some ‘drone’ but to me it just sounds like an RS4 is meant to sound. The only downside, is the exhaust note has so much deep base now, that you don’t want to be leaving too many bits and bobs and coins lying around in the car!
But, I think I can live with that with the improvement to the sound. More testing to be done yet but so far so good. You can also of course switch it into individual and change the engine to ‘Comfort’ whilst doing motorway miles which knocks the revs down over so slightly.
It’s in 8th gear around 60-70mph when you get the most base out of it and you hear your change rattling a bit. But other than that, it now feels like a different car with a very raw RS feel to it. It also feels faster too! I just got just over 30mpg out of it on a 100 mile drive also, so not too bad at all.
The other bonus is it helps me keep more to the speed limit as you really know when you’re going above 90mph.. oh, and it should use less fuel as I wont feel the need to put it into Sport/Dynamic as often to make it rumble and pop any more.. as it’s now got all the grunt it needs in both Comfort and standard Dynamic
This is all a personal thing of course.. but assuming it doesnt rattle itself to bits, I'm no MUCH happier with the RS status of the car.
