In many ways Audi has caught up with BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the ongoing fight to capture the imagination and wallets of premium car buyers. Once while on a launch a rival CEO said to me that Audi is not yet on the level of its competitors in terms of build quality, overall performance and refinement. He said indeed they were catching up but were not quite there yet. That was five years ago. I wonder what he’d say today.
Given half a chance Audi will go after its competitors but especially BMW, the world’s biggest maker of premium cars and the benchmark in terms of focused performance in the trio. Therefore an equivalent Audi exists for every BMW performance car at any given time. In one or two cases it’s BMW that has no answer to the Audi question, such as when the question is the R8.
The S4 on the other hand seems intent on bending BMW’s dominance of the executive performance segment. Ever since the previous-generation car with its 4.2-litre V8, the challenge has been lurking. Back then the S4 was an M3 rival, that is of course, until the RS 4 came along. It may very well be that by creating the RS 4 Audi left the S4 in the lurch, with no one to attack. Therefore the arrival of the 335i with its twin turbo engine technology provided a new foe and gave S4 reason to live.
DESIGN
E90 has been around since 2004 and was given a minor facelift in 2008. Bolder and wiser the new car features things like rear LED lights, a kinky bonnet, new headlights, side mirrors and a generally sharper image. Nothing says performance apart from the single tailpipes on either side. With the S4 Audi also seems to have taken a conservative position. Apart from a few telltale signs like the front lip, rear spoiler, aluminium mirrors and four tailpipes, nothing really says “I’m about to whip your ass”. Sure the S4 badge and front grille make a statement but it’s one more likely to fall on deaf ears than inspire a war cry. It could very well be the B8 itself; large, elegant, not aggressive enough. Consider that even Mercedes-Benz went aggro with the current C-Class, a step very few thought would be taken.
In the end though it was the Beemer’s lack of body kit that swayed opinions to the Audi and not necessarily S4’s own doing.
INTERIOR
At some point BMW moved towards clean minimalism in their interior spaces, with iDrive driving that philosophy. Some unsophisticated media put heavy criticism on the brilliant iDrive system, helping to keep a negative public perception of it. Meanwhile Audi had caught on to the idea and made a system that uses more buttons, which really defeats the purpose of what the system ought to do which is to simplify processes. I’ve seen MMI (the Audi system) being described as “intuitive” and frankly I don’t see how. It is quite messy; yes the buttons are all there but what’s the point of a “mouse” if you have all these knobs lurking about?
Seating comfort is similar in both the S4 and the 335i, with Audi going for a more sporty feel than the Beemer’s standard emotion. Both are electronically multi-adjustable but the S4 offers slightly more rear space. Actually the S4 only feels and looks like a bigger car overall measuring 4.7m in length, 1.8m in width, 1.4 in height and with a wheelbase of 2.8m. In comparison the 335i is 4.5 long, 1.8 wide, 1.4m high and has a wheelbase of 2.8m.
I am nitpicking here because the contest is so closely matched but I’d say the BMW has a better, higher quality feel to its materials. It looks and feels more solid to the build, contrary to what you may have read elsewhere. One for the 335i then.
GADGETS
Both iDrive and MMI are now quite similar, offering accessing navigation, music, climate control, car settings, change of time and date etc etc etc. The differences are minimal but I liked Audi’s SD card slot because I now have an SD card to slot it in. BMW uses USB but in order to download from it you have to buy the necessary cable. Music can still be played off a USB device though. You have Bluetooth connectivity too, a CD/ radio combination, cruise control, power steering and so on. They are evenly matched even in the options’ price lists (CD changer R4 200, Voice Control R3 500, front and rear Park Distance Control R7 200 for both cars). Call this one a draw.
POWERTRAIN
Audi has been in the turbo business for donkeys’ years but never really took a liking to superchargers. Word has it that they initially planned on using twin turbo technology for the S4 but couldn’t find the necessary space. With force feeding the object, it then befell a supercharger to do the job. The 3.0-litre V6 running it provides instant go which is available through a very wide band of rpms so that overtaking is almost effortless. To access it a 6-speed manual was fitted and quattro AWD gives power to both the front and rear axles.
In contrast BMW utilised the services of the multi-award-winning 3.0-litre straight 6/ twin turbo combo. Each turbo runs its own bank of cylinders with one taking a hold of 1, 3 and 5 while the other powers 2, 4 and 6. Linking the engine to the rear wheels is a 6-speed manual gearbox.
Figures reflect an even stevens situation again so in the end the choice is personal. This round is also a draw.
PERFORMANCE
With the S4 power is plenty, no complaints there and placing it is also a simple task. The mechanical charger with two intercoolers and direct injection may be down on its V8 predecessor, however where it matters the situation is flipped. Gone is the nose heaviness and in comes lighter, nimbler and ultimately more bite. The 6 shifter is tighter than before but not as direct as in the RS 4. Quattro AWD comes into play but not all the time. When it does intrusions are minimal giving the car a rear-biased disposition.
As a rear-wheel-drive the 335i is ideally suited for performance where the rear wheels push the car forward while the steering turns it with no interference from the engine. The converse there is that under extreme conditions such as heavy rain or snow RWD is as useful as a credit card at a taxi rank. Always more composed, the 335i not only surges forward like a possessed werewolf but keeps its line statue-solid. In the dry. Though little puddles are not an issue thanks to the ESP, it’s best not to try and pull stunts when it pours.
The Audi will certainly do better under these conditions but admittedly they are far and few in between in South Africa. For the rest of the time you get better driver enjoyment from the Beemer; it just feels this much closer to the driver.
CONCLUSION
When building a car, manufacturers have to consider tons of information; who might buy it, what will its performance be like, the cost of machinery and personnel training, the environment. It’s a very long list. But when a manufacturer turns an ordinary car into a performance saloon such considerations can never be after-thoughts. They need to be there right from the start, from the designer sketches right up ‘til the end. With the S4 the feeling that more could have been done, that it wasn’t thoroughly considered fro the ground up was always present. On the other hand the 335i felt primed for its task, rooted in performance from the very beginning. I get the feeling Audi held back on the S4, that it’s keeping the best for last with the upcoming RS 5.
Take either S4 or 335i and the difference won’t exist to you. Take both and it becomes apparent. That’s why the 335i wins.
QUICK STATS
BMW 335i SEDAN
ENGINE: 3.0-litre twin turbo straight 6 cylinder
POWER: 225kW (306hp) at 5800rpm
TORQUE: 400Nm between 1300rpm and 5000rpm
0 – 100KM/H: 5.5 seconds
GEARBOX: 6-speed manual
TOP SPEED: 250km/h
FUEL AVERAGE: 13.1 l/100km
CO2 e: 269 g/km
TEST ALTITUDE: 1600m
TEST AIR TEMPERATURE: 18.5° C
WHEELS AND TYRES: Front: 8Jx17” 225/45 R17, rear: 8.5Jx17” 255/40 R17
PRICE STANDARD: R496 500
NATURAL RIVALS: Audi S4
*PRICE RIVALS: Alfa Romeo Spider 2.2 JTS Cabriolet, Cadillac SRX, Mercedes-Benz C350 CDi Elegance Estate Auto, Volvo XC60 D5 2.4 Geartronic, Chrysler 300C 5.7 Auto, Audi TT Coupe Quattro 3.2 S-Tronic, Nissan 370 Z, Audi A5 Quattro Coupe 3.2 FSI Tiptronic
BABE-MAGNETIC FACTOR: High
QUICK STATS
AUDI S4 QUATTRO
ENGINE: 3.0-litre supercharged V6
POWER: 245kW (367hp) at 7000rpm
TORQUE: 440Nm at 2900rpm
0 – 100KM/H: 5.5 seconds
GEARBOX: 6-speed manual
TOP SPEED: 250km/h
FUEL AVERAGE: 13.5 l/100km
CO2 e: 270 g/km
TEST ALTITUDE: 1600m
TEST AIR TEMPERATURE: 18.5° C
WHEELS AND TYRES: 8J x 18 wheels, size 245/40 R18 tyres
PRICE STANDARD: R580 500
NATURAL RIVALS: BMW 335i sedan
*PRICE RIVALS: Audi TT S Roadster 2.0 TFSI, Volvo XC90 3.2 AWD Geartronic, BMW 530d Auto, BMW Z4 sDrive30i Roadster, Audi Q7 3.0 TDI, Chrysler 300C SRT-8, Porsche Cayenne 3.6 Tiptronic, Jaguar XF 3.0 V6 Premium Luxury
BABE-MAGNETIC FACTOR: Very High
*A price rival falls within R20 000 or so of the subject’s price on either side of its price spectrum for cars over R350 000, R10 000 for cars of between R250 000 and R350 000 and R5 000 for cars below R250 000.
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