Audi walked away from a certain customer in 2004. Well, that’s what any hardcore forced-induction protagonist will tell you of the late, great “B5” S4’s demise. That particular car was the first S-car to be based on the A4 sedan and powered by a 250-hp twin-turbocharged V6. Back then, the S4 was the step up for rally fiends – a grown-up, higher dollar take on the all-wheel drive turbo genre inspired by the World Rally Championship, which also spawned the likes of the Subaru WRX and the Mitsubishi Lancer EVO. Highly tunable via a rich aftermarket, one could drop a few g’s on an S4 and toy with supercars at the track. And, if you ask the B5 loyalisti, the magic was lost when Ingolstadt shoehorned its burly 4.2 V8 into the B6 generation S4 - faster out of the box, but also more of a GT and with less tuning potential. Going back to forced induction… well, that has everyone talking for sure… from the loyal B5ers to most anyone else looking for a more efficient take on high performance.
Engine and Transmission
At the heart of the new “B8” S4 is a new 3.0-liter V6 fitted with all of Audi’s latest hardware like direct-injection FSI, and then stacked with an Eaton 4-vane roots-style supercharger on top. The setup is good for 333-hp and 324 lb-ft from a wide 2900-5300 rpm. That’s 11-hp down from the outgoing B7, though we all know horsepower doesn’t tell the whole story. Torque goes up 12 lb-ft – increased over a broad range, and that helps explain why the projected 0-62 mph figure for the car 5.1 seconds, which beats the B7’s 5.6 by a half second.
Yes, we know this engine is referred to as the “3.0T”, and there are those “V6T” badges adorning the car’s quarter panels where a chrome V8 was perched last time around. We’re told the letter T now stands for anything forced induction at Audi. We also overheard a snarky explanation suggesting T stands for “thoopercharged” – a goof on letter choice that raises a good question. Why would Audi choose a supercharger after so many years of turbo experience?
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