Review and photos by Jonathan Yarkony
 2014 Audi S4. Click image to enlarge |
Odometer at pick-up: 2,368 km
Odometer: 4,400 km (2,032 km by Autos.ca)
Observed Fuel Consumption: 11.6 L/100 km
Costs: $349.88 (Gas)
The 2013 Audi S4 has quickly become the most popular long-term car we’ve ever had. Suddenly every Autos.ca contributor and people around the office are offering to take it for a week and give me their thoughts. Well, let’s start a bit closer to home; Wife Acceptance Factor doesn’t begin to describe my wife’s affection for this sleek Audi sedan. Simply put, “I love it!” Me too, honey.
In its first month, we’ve sent it all over the GTA, commuting to and from work, picking up press cars, living the family life on weekends and occasionally tempting us to misbehave.
The interior, as you can see from photos, is delightfully inviting, but it is also very roomy. We have no problem installing the car seats, and the Isofix anchors are some of the most easily accessed we have ever experienced. As far as space and legroom goes, the front passenger still has sufficient room even when my son is in his reverse-facing infant seat.
  2014 Audi S4. Click image to enlarge |
The front seats are comfortable and highly supportive, but wide enough even for those wider of, um, ‘frame’, and I’ve recently been through a couple cars where I felt like I was sitting on top of the thigh bolsters. Those high bolsters do occasionally interfere with ingress. The seats are adjustable in a multitude of positions, and the driver’s seat is capable of storing two memory settings.
The multimedia interface is fast and straightforward, although some expected touchscreen capability in addition to the centre console–mounted scroll wheel. While this might be an issue unique to journalists that switch between cars and brands on a weekly basis, but the scrolling direction seems counterintuitive – both Mercedes-Benz COMAND and BMW iDrive systems scroll down using a clockwise motion, but Audi has us fumbling with a counter-clockwise motion. Even after a few weeks, I still find myself scrolling backwards on occasion.
Thankfully, you can control many of the primary functions (phone, music) by scrolling the thumb wheels on the steering wheel, with the information displayed in the gauge cluster. Bluetooth is also easily paired, with phone and navigation functions theoretically accessible by voice command, though the system does not always automatically reconnect upon entry.
The steering wheel is also the source of universal admiration. Well, perhaps infatuation is the word I’m looking for… Editor Jacob Black had this to say: “The steering wheel is le sex. My uncle has a 1973 BMW 3.0 CS, and it has a stunning, thick wooden wheel that feels fat and weighty in your hands – I’ve had dreams about that steering wheel. I considered buying all of BMW’s stock of those wheels and making sure I put one on every car I owned. This wheel is better. The flat bottom makes you feel like a racer, the wheel is wide so it fills your hands and the leather is not only comfortable, but a right sexy colour.”
  2014 Audi S4. Click image to enlarge |
Yeah, it’s that nice.
Another sexy detail: the grey-faced gauges. Classic Audi S4 detail.
You may recall from our Arrival story that this car boasts a manual transmission. The shifter, too, is a fat, sensuous knob, with leather wrapped around what seems like a rod of milled aluminum. Its action is viscerally mechanical yet suitably refined for a luxury sedan. The clutch action, the more we get used to it, seems suitable light for a daily driver that may face inexorable rush-hour commuting duties.
 2014 Audi S4. Click image to enlarge |
The S4 features excellent visibility and parking sensors, so it is easy to navigate tight confines of city traffic and narrow crowded parking lots. However, in the heavy rain that we experienced recently, Jacob noted that even on their swiftest setting, the windshield wipers seemed too slow. He’s an impatient sort, our new editor, but once he pointed it out, I couldn’t help but notice and concur.
The trunk is spacious enough that we can throw our long stroller in without a thought and still have plenty of room for bags and groceries, but the elastic cargo net will keep smaller objects and bags from flying around the trunk during spirited driving.
 2014 Audi S4. Click image to enlarge |
That was a perfect segue into a discussion of its driving dynamics, but in truth, we have barely scratched the surface of its sporting potential, and its capability and traction are so high that we feel a day at the track is in order to answer what inquiring minds want to know. On public roads, we are still free to enjoy the wailing engine note and scram of the supercharger winding up as we hold gears and revel in the blown V6’s steady stream of torque. However, having driven the RS5 just last year and V8 S4s of the past, this V6T just sounds and feels a bit raspy and flat to me. Perhaps it’s unfair to compare it to that glorious 4.2 V8, but even Audi’s 3.2L V6 available on A4s of yesteryear had a silkier, lustier engine note.
However, I may simply be jaded and spoiled by the glory of superior Audi sports cars, as Jacob Black complimented the auditory signature as “a really great engine note that you only have to hear when you want to.”
 2014 Audi S4. Click image to enlarge |
In more mundane duties, the V6T is civil and quiet, offering only a subtle undercurrent of drone when cruising on the highway or puttering along at low revs. Highway cruising is a steady 2,400 rpm at 100 km/h and 2,700 rpm at 120 km/h. Then again, in looking for something to complain about, self-professed ‘whingebag’ (essentially Australian for hoser), our new editor cited a lack of low-end torque in the higher gears, requiring a downshift to pick up passing speed on the highway, further commenting: “Having to change to fourth to dart into a lane opening is standard fare, I guess – but nobody wants standard fare from this car.” We’ll see how he feels after driving a Mazda5 automatic for a week…
We have a small road trip through some of Ontario’s best driving roads planned this weekend, so we’ll have a full shakedown report next month.
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Pricing: 2013 Audi S4 Premium
Base Price: $53,000
Base Price (Premium): $57,800
Options: $4,800 (Audi quattro sport differential – $1,500; Monsoon Grey paint job – $750; Carbon Atlas interior trim – $500; 19-inch 5-arm rotor titanium colour wheels – $500; tire pressure monitoring system – $350; rear comfort package – $1,200)
Freight & PDI: $1,995
A/C Tax: $100
Total: $64,795
Competitors:
Acura TL SH-AWD
BMW 335i xDrive
Lexus IS 350 AWD
Infiniti G37x S
Mercedes-Benz C 350 4Matic
Volvo S60 R-Design
Crash test results
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS)
