thinking of buying 06 S4
 

Bought an 07 A4 Avant this spring for my wife, love the car!! Thinking of an S4 for myself and looking for some advice.

Looking at 06 model year - what are differences between 04,05, 06 models?

Maintenance issues to look for on used, and what can I expect with S4 maintenance costs if I buy something with 40-60 k km on it?

And gas mileage - what do people get with S4 - and I know it varies depending how hard you drive. But what can you expect on highway - what is best you can do?

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

The 06 model has a different front bumper. The cars are all basically identical. Gas milage brutal. Very fun to drive fast,comfortable and not a kids car. Try to get one with warrenty and if not they are your run of the mill German expensive when stuff does go wrong. I have an 05 with 50 km on it and nothing so far. I love the car and would reccomend it to anyone. If you ever decide to get one and put a mild exhaust on it they really growlll.

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

so what kind of range in gas mileage do you get? what is best you can do highway driving? and how low does it go if you drive it hard?

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

I'm getting combine avg of 15-16L/100K
Best was 11 on a long trip and on cruise most of the time.
Not the cheapest car to own/operate but she never fail to paint a huge grin on my face every time I drive her.

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

If you drive the car hard you will pay at the pump. The key to owning one of these cars is trying not to drive them hard. My G/Fhas the 3.2 A4 and it doesn't get the best milage either. We just drove through a snow storm on the way to Fernie and thank the sweet lord. AWD + Blizzacks = Winter beast LOVE AUDI GOOO quatrooo.

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

Awesome cars - VERY refined, awesome sound and the seats are sensational. My only complaint was that the gas tank should be bigger. My 2007 S4 Avant (6 speed) averaged less than 350kms per tank unless it was 100% highway driving only (then it was around 450 kms per tank). No question that if you push the car (my recommendation!) then it needs to visit the pump more often. That said, the RS is even thirstier but you gotta pay to play ...

Depending on when the B7 car was built, the updated cars were given a 40/60 split of power and RS4 rear sway bar ...

Cheers !

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

Do you have any more info on this? I.e. what month of manufacture did they start putting in the RS4 rear sway bar? (And what before? No sway bar at all or just a different one?)

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

Own a 2006 S4 Dolphin Grey. Fantastic car to own and drive. The engine has been chipped, full Stassis Exhaust and suspension done with eibach springs. I have no complaints concerning any problems or issues with the car. I am averaging 450 Km on a tank of gas city but get 600 km on the highway.

GO FOR IT........you won't be sorry.

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

How the hell are you getting 450 kms a tank avg for city???
I have a bone stock 2006 S4 and I'm having difficulty hitting 350 kms per tank!

Do you _never_ go over 3000 rpms? Is it an automatic or a manual?

Fairly perplexed...:confused:

Anyway, did you install the mods all at once of one by one? I'm curious how much the chip actually helped. I'm guessing it helped more with throttle response, etc. rather than more power?
As for the suspension, did you only replace the springs? Which Eibachs did you go with?

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

Sorry, I dont know the month but I'm sure a dealership parts counter would be able to obtain this. The OEM S4 bar was used prior to going with the beefier OEM RS4 bar. There's also 60% power to the rear and 40% front (versus 50/50) which combined with the thicker rear sway makes for a more neutral balanced feel (less understeer).

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

I can't answer the question regarding the mileage but I would consider myself a normal driver who likes to give it once in a while. All the performance enhancements were done by the previous owner who said that the car was a different car when he got it back from Pfaff Tuning. The throttle response is much better, the exhaust sounds much better besides improving breathability, and the suspension was lowered using Eibach springs and Stassis shocks.

By the way it is a standard

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

Me too. Stock 4.2 (6MT) & I haven't seen anything beyond 350K/tank in the yrs I own her.

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

I can't explain the 450 Km per tank city gas mileage it just is what it is. I do get 600 km per tank highway. I would consider myself an average driver who likes to experience the 4.2 once in a while.

All of the mods where installed at once by Pfaff Tuning by the previous owner. The ECU chip did improve the throttle response and gave a few more horses to boot. The front suspension has a coilover set up with Eibach springs and Stassis ajustable shocks. Overal the car was lowered approx. 1.5 inches. I have driven stock S4s when I was looking to purchase and I can say that with the mods done my car sounds, handles and performs significantly different from stock.

Hope this answers your questions.

By the way you can view pics of my car if you go the the recent Krown Lakeshore Window Tinting Thread.

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

Surprisingly, sometimes getting an aftermarket chip helps the fuel economy and increases performance. Weird, but true!!!

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

for those wondering about fuel economy, I did a poll of 200+ B6/7 S4 owners and 16mpg Audi trip computer long term average was the heart of the bell curve (which is actually about 14.5mpg real mileage, as the Audi computer is a bit optimistic).

That's about 380km/tank, so don't feel bad.

As for how to get better mileage, make your car more efficient

1. drive/accelerate in the efficiency range...2500-4500 is where we make peak torque, so get your accelerating done there. More fun that way too, and more fuel efficient so bonus. i.e. from a stop light, get going and rip through first and second, then shut it down and chill in 6th

2. open up your exhaust - stock exhaust is crap from the intake manifold to headers to downpipes to catback. All crap design. if you want to improve your efficiency, open it up. Get a 2.5" catback with x-pipe crossover...2.5" downpipes with no precats (or piggie pipes). Finally you can upgrade to JHM equal length longtube headers...guys I know who have installed these not only picked up 50-60 torque and hp, they also gained about 15% fuel efficiency. That's $500 a year for most folks...and that will have those headers pay for themselves

3. shed weight - primarily, get light wheels and tires...then get light the rest of the way in the car
a) lightweight battery - the one I'm going to buy weighs 24 lbs all in. The stock batter weighs 60!
b) keep junk out of the trunk
c) other little weight savers like a Brembo BBK for example will save you about 40lbs of unsprung weight.

Otherwise, just ignore the fuel (in)efficiency, and enjoy the car!

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

in the US 2006 cars got the RS4 upgrades (sway, 60/40 differential, clutch/flywheel, and even an upgraded fuel filter)

up here it's less clear...some 2006 cars have US 2005.5 characteristics, while others are more like the 2006 cars.

To be safe? 2007+ got every RS4 upgrade, other than the aluminium pedals (2008 S4 did though). With that being said you can buy those pedals for $200 shipped from Euro ebay sellers. Here are mine
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2789/...fc0b2715_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2539/...04da9864_b.jpg

Re: thinking of buying 06 S4
 

Aftermarket ECU tunes run a more aggressive timing map, which increases peak cylinder pressure, making higher power and increasing volumetric efficiency (which increases fuel economy). Arguably, running a higher mean effective cylinder pressure reduces the lifespan of an engine, which is why manufacturers run less-than-optimal (for power and efficiency) timing.

An upgraded exhaust will increase fuel economy by reducing pumping losses in the engine. Also, assuming that his springs lower the vehicle, the suspension will reduce the drag coefficient slightly, increasing fuel economy (more so at highway speeds).