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Ode to Joy
"Did you hear it?" That's what everyone who drove the 2008 Audi RS4 Cabriolet came back and said. They'd start talking about the 420-horsepower 4.2-liter V8 and say, "Did you hear it?"
Start the V8 and fly through the six gears with the greatest of ease. The mechanical music is pure bliss. If Beethoven composed a car, this is what it would sound like. Not simply loud and boisterous like an American V8, but instead pure and very powerful, with a classically German timbre.
But How Does It Feel?
The shift lever for the six-speed manual transmission is gorgeously trimmed with leather and aluminum, and while the throws between gears are long, the shift action is light and you never miss. The throttle tip-in is very aggressive, and while it makes stop-and-go traffic a little too challenging, racer boys will like the light, anxious engine response.
The aluminum pedals have rubber inserts for grip, even when you're wearing winter boots, although this all-weather friendliness also means the pedals are a little too widely spaced for easy heel-and-toe downshifts. Meanwhile the RS4's sport seats envelop you in a supportive shape that's upholstered with Audi's distinctive, luxurious leather.
The steering wheel is an instrument of ergonomic correctness, with a thick rim to fill your palm and a complete array of remote controls for the electronics and sensibly placed stalks within reach of your fingers.
This is a great place to be — efficient and proper, yet seriously luxurious. Plus a sunroof that's as big as the sky.
How Does It Perform?
Presto. The 2008 RS4 Cabriolet rockets from zero to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds and tramples the quarter-mile in 13.3 seconds at a sweet 104.4 mph. Its 4.2-liter V8 is capable of 420 hp at 7,800 rpm, but it's more remarkable for its broad spread of torque that peaks at 317 pound-feet between 4,500 and 5,500 rpm. This convertible will go 155 mph before electronic oversight calls a halt to your progress.
When you launch hard with this all-wheel-drive car, it barks all four 255/35/ZR19 Continental ContisportContact3 tires. And then this happens:
0-30 mph: 1.7 seconds
0-45 mph: 3.1 seconds
0-60 mph: 4.8 seconds
0-75 mph: 7.0 seconds
Quarter-mile: 13.3 seconds at 104.4 mph
The RS4 Cabriolet likes a straight line, and stoplight confrontations are not a problem. In fact, we wiped the smile off a smug Lotus Elise driver on our way to the office. But it turns out that the twisties hold this car back.
Unlike the splendid RS4 sedan, which left a permanent grin on our face after we threw it around the skid pad and through the slalom, the RS4 Cabriolet swung the evaluation meter only to "Good" in the handling department. Even with Audi's all-wheel-drive system, the RS4 Cabriolet feels like kind of a mess, out of its element as if it were an overweight freshman that had decided to crash the senior dance.
It's Just Too Much
Just as with every convertible, the RS4 Cabrio has gained some weight in the conversion to the topless persuasion, a combination of structural reinforcement and the elements of its power-operated top. It weighs in at 4,213 pounds, 365 pounds more than its sedan counterpart, with some 231 pounds of that in the rear. Its weight is more evenly distributed than the sedan at 57 percent front/43 percent rear, but weight is always the enemy, no matter how you slice it.
To tell you the truth, the sedan is no lightweight to begin with. It's as if this big V8 doesn't quite fit in the A4 platform, and all the weight is in the wrong places. The next RS4 will be adapted from the recently introduced new-generation A4, and our recent experience with the similar platform for the S5 leads us to look forward to the conversion.
When we barrel through the slalom, the rear end of the Cabriolet swings back and forth like a pendulum. We managed a clean run at 65.8 mph, and this doesn't compare well to the RS4 sedan's effort at 70.5 mph. The Cabrio's 0.86g performance on the skid pad also doesn't measure up to the sedan's 0.89g.
Fortunately the RS4 Cabriolet has the stopping power to match the sedan, and comes to a halt in 117 feet without much nose dive. With the same 19-inch Continental tires and eight-piston front calipers with vented and cross-drilled rotors as its sedan counterpart, the drop-top RS4 is clearly up to the task.
Grace Note
At 179.3 inches in overall length, the Cabriolet is a nominal 1.5 inches shorter than the sedan, but the comparison is more notable for this modest, clean execution of the basic A4 shape. The Cabriolet doesn't scream boy racer, and even the badging is discreet. It just looks expensive and powerful.
Retractable hardtops are the trend these days, an effort to provide an added measure of security while parking on the street in European cities. The RS4 Cabriolet is the last of the classic soft tops, though, and the multilayered top keeps the cabin quiet and insulates you very well from frigid weather. It retracts in 21 seconds, quick enough to do the job between cycles at a stoplight, and the big top can be operated at speeds up to 18.6 mph if rain surprises you.
The Luxury Environment
When the top is in place, front headroom is 38 inches, a tad better than the sedan. There are only 36.2 inches of rear headroom, of course, and not much shoulder room, a reminder that this older A4 platform isn't particularly spacious.
But just drop the top, for goodness sake. You can put up the wind deflector behind the rear seat to reduce dissonance of the hair. And dual-zone climate control keeps you warm or cool as the need arises.
A premium nine-speaker Bose sound system with Sirius Satellite Radio, an iPod interface in the glovebox, Bluetooth preparation and Audi's navigation system are all standard. There are a couple of no-cost options like brushed aluminum trim instead of carbon fiber (are you nuts?) or iPod delete.
You can fit four passengers, but only when you don't have the wind blocker in place, so the rear seat is best considered a useful adjunct to the small trunk, which offers only 11.1 cubic feet of cargo capacity. Really, this is a car just for two, especially with just two doors.
The Price Is Right?
Come on down, 2008 Audi RS4 Cabriolet. But wait, your price is not right. Base sticker is $81,900 and with destination charges and a whopping $2,100 gas-guzzler tax, we're talking yikesville: $85,525. We could get a base Porsche 911 Carrera drop top for that much cash.
It's as if the RS4 Cabriolet can't quite figure out what it should be. It's been loaded up with every feature in the A4 handbook as standard equipment as if it were some kind of luxury car, from the sport suspension to 12-way adjustable power front seats. Yet it's got light-speed acceleration and a good-looking drop top, as if it were an exotic Audi R8 sports car with the world's biggest sunroof.
But this car doesn't really succeed in either role. Its six-speed manual transmission (no automatic is offered) and aggressive engine make the car too much of a chore to drive in the kind of light-duty, drive-to-the-ice-cream-store cruising that a convertible must do. And yet the tires aren't properly on the ground during demanding driving to deliver the sports-carlike promise of its aggressive powertrain.
So, while this car is fun and good-looking, there are cheaper dates to be had. The Audi RS4 sedan from our recent comparison test costs $68,875. Do you really want to pay an extra $16,000 for a cloth-top conversion?
Maybe that's why Audi figures the 2008 RS4 Cabriolet will have a limited audience and only intends to provide 300 units for the U.S. market.
Follow-Up Test: 2008 Audi RS4 Cabriolet
I know everyone is all in rapture about the R8, but this is Audi's 2nd hottest car IMO. One of Audi's magical 3 (R8,S5,RS4 Cabrio) is a must have.
M
