Audi S4 vs STI - My Experience Shared

[richm]

Hey,

Since I have owned three turbo Subarus (wrx, gtb, sti) and now own an V8 Audi S4 (2004), I thought there might be some interest in sharing my experience of the two with you, specifically comparing STI vs S4 with V8 engine.

Build Quality

Win Audi

Lose STI

Audi is of fantastic quality. Leather seats, carbon fibre internal panels, quiet interior, well made feeling all round. No annoying rattles and plastic bits. Oh, how I took apart my STI in order to eliminate rattles!

Straight line speed

Win Audi

Lose STI

Yes, ok, 0-100 for both cars is around 5,5 seconds. But it is Audi all the way for speeds over 100. You just can\'t match the 350 horses V8. Never need to change down when passing and with the motorways here in Sweden sustaining a speed of 140-150 for long periods is easy and comfortable. Furthermore, my STI starting slowing down around 170. The Audi just starts going at that speed. Even at 240 the Audi is still accelerating comfortably.

Corner speed

Win STI

Lose Audi

Yes, the Audi has 19 inch, 35 / 235 tires, but it is a heavy car and it is felt here. The STI is lighter and more humble when going fast. I enjoyed going fast in my STI more than I do in my S4.

Expense - cost of ownership

Win STI

Lose Audi

I thought my STI was expensive to own with insurance, petrol and servicing. But I was wrong. The Audi is truly expensive on every level. To change the timing chain costs around $10000 for example.

Fun

Win STI

Lose Audi

The STI is simply more fun. Light, care free, exhaust noise. More fun to drive. Sorry Audi, but it\'s true.

Luxury

Win Audi

Lose STI

Subaru in general have a boring interior and no extras. No so with the Audi. Heated seats, parking sensors, led lights for mirrors, Electric sunroof, spray for front lights, gps navigation in built, telephone built in to car. The list goes on, no competition.

Exhaust sound

Win Audi

Lose STI

I LOVE the sound of a modified STI exhaust, it is just fantastic, but in keeping fair I have compared stock vs stock. Sorry to say the stock sound of the V8 wins over. Audi has a valve which opens up the exhaust at high revs, otherwise it is very gentlemen like. Over 4K, wow, people are scared and my son cries. In saying this, my STI with no cats sounded great too but then one can also modify the Audi to sound even better.

Comfort

Lose Audi

Lose STI

Sorry, both are not good. Both are hard to get in to. Hard to get out of. Both sit low. Hard ride and tire noise from both. Simply not possible to consider either of these to be comfortable.

Looks and Image

Win Audi

Lose STI

Maybe depends on your eye, but not really so hard to decide. The STI looks like a boy racer car no matter who you are. The Audi is refined and respected. More of a sleeper but with widened wheel guards, two exhausts, aggressive grill, chrome linings, the Audi wins the war on looks.

Stereo sound

Win Audi all the way

Lose STI

Can\'t even compare. 10 speakers plus subwoofer as standard. Boy, she blows!

Overall then

Win Audi

Lose STI

Why? The answer is, if you can afford it, the S4 is simply a better car. Comfortable, fast, respected, refined and yet still scares the pants out of me when going 200+. Oh and by the way, did I mention the RS4 with 450 horses is another beast altogether! Next car perhaps?

Hope you enjoyed the review.

[GC8E2DD]

Interesting review, although discounting the absolutely massive price difference with the Audi, a 2004 GTB would be a more reasonable comparison.

[Guest]

Well I liked the review txs,

I have a sti highly modded so will blow the Audi away in all aspects of speed (over 200km not sure due to gear ratio restriction) but I too own a Audi A4 a basic Quattro 1.8 T as daily commute car but for luxury it wins hand down over the sti even when the sti was stock.

I am eyeing up a later model S4 or RS4 in a couple of years to replace my A4. I like the idea of great interior, stereo but loads of power to match.

Be good to get a page dedicated to comparison of cars to sti just for knowledge and to give different options from people who own both cars.

[boon]

A friend of mine has a B6 S4. As a long-distance tourer it definitely beats the STI - it\'s more comfortable, refined, quieter, less bouncy. It\'s not quite as fast in terms of 90-120 overtaking acceleration but it\'s definitely fast enough to get the job done (and jeopardise your license). That said the STI is reasonably modified and makes around 50 more horsepower.

For spirited cornery driving, it\'s the STI hands down. The S4 has loads of grip and feels very planted but it\'s still a significantly heavy luxo-barge when it comes to caning it around the twisties.

Worth mentioning that the S4 (and presumably RS4) are surprisingly firm in the suspension - means the ride can be a little harsh on our crappy roads, considering the car is supposed to be a fast luxury cruiser.

Horses for courses. They\'re both great cars.

[sl8r]

if an S4 could tow my race car i would have one in a heartbeat

[GorGasmSpecB]

He isn\'t exaggerating about the S4 maintenance either. Those things cost a megaton to keep in tip top condition.

[Scoobydoo]

Yeah I would\'ve thought an up-market GTB would be more of an equal comparison.

[stira]

Everything you have said is bang on. For a twenty minute bit of fun sti all the way, for 1.5hrs plus or regular commuting Audi by a long shot. I agree with running costs though, theres always this terror in the back of your mind that something is about to cost you 4k plus, which is about 2k for the same thing in an sti.

As im now getting older and do bugger all kms, kids etc mine next nice car will probably be an audi s4, though will certainly compare against a v9 sti at the same time

[richm]

Hi,

Thanks for the feedback. I did think it could be a bit risky putting "win Audi" on a Subaru fan site, but I seem to have gotten away with it. I love Subarus, my reason to going to Audi is that I wanted a fast family wagon. GTB just isn\'t fast enough for me, Forester STI is too small. There just isn\'t a Subaru model available which can take a double pram and 3 kids - and still get to 100 in less than 6 seconds. Should correct myself - no Subaru model available in Sweden which meets these criterion.

Running costs are bad. Don\'t even mention petrol at 13 litres /100km. Getting a standard service this week - $1800 NZD for oil, sparkplugs, brake fluid and a few other bits. To this comes $500 to change a light bulb (half days work for expert). Seriously, I should have added that to the review - "the fear that something serious might go wrong". Win STI, lose Audi!

Oh, and one last thing! Subarus in NZ are "cheap" to buy. Audi is expensive to purchase in NZ. Not here. Audi is expensive but Subaru is expensive too, meaning the price difference between Audi and Subaru is not as it is in NZ.

And no, I wasn\'t exaggerating about the service this week.

[DRFVDR]

My brother Lives in Sweden

Has had same issues

[GC8E2DD]

 richm said:

There just isn\'t a Subaru model available which can take a double pram and 3 kids - and still get to 100 in less than 6 seconds. Should correct myself - no Subaru model available in Sweden which meets these criterion.

That is pretty sucky. We put 3 kids + a pram in our \'05 GTB, and it will do 0-100 in 5.5 seconds. It also has factory heated leather seats and ten speaker stereo.

[newsuba]

 richm said:

Oh, and one last thing! Subarus in NZ are "cheap" to buy. Audi is expensive to purchase in NZ. Not here. Audi is expensive but Subaru is expensive too, meaning the price difference between Audi and Subaru is not as it is in NZ.

New Audi is expensive but used they are cheap as chips.

You can find NZ new B5 s4 v8 wagons with moderate (sub-100k) kms for under $30,000NZD.

Can\'t fit kids+pram into a Legacy wagon, Forester or Tribeca ?

[lunchie]

The 2006-2010 shape audi RS4\'s have some serious issues with carbon buildup in the manifolds leading to huge losses of power over time.

Costs about $1500 to clean it but there is no "fix" and must be done every 10,000-20,000 kms and to make things worse despite it happening to almost all RS4\'s Audi refuses to admit there is a fault.

Am told the S4 engines are fine though, go figure.

Then again if I could afford an RS4 for 60k I wouldn\'t care about a $1500 bill every year or so to keep it running well.

My brother just traded in his 3.2v6 A3 and I ALMOST got him to buy an S4 but in the end he went for a VW R36, still 300hp v6 screamer but an s4 would be so much cooler.

I just LOVE euro v8\'s, they sound so much cooler than most aussie/US stuff

[richm]

 GC8E2DD']

[quote name='richm said:

There just isn\'t a Subaru model available which can take a double pram and 3 kids - and still get to 100 in less than 6 seconds. Should correct myself - no Subaru model available in Sweden which meets these criterion./quote]

That is pretty sucky. We put 3 kids + a pram in our \'05 GTB, and it will do 0-100 in 5.5 seconds. It also has factory heated leather seats and ten speaker stereo.

You\'re so right!

Problem is the Gtb isn\'t sold here. Having owned one I would also sell the Audi and change back to Subaru if I could. I can import from Japan but then I am left with a RHD car with little resale value. I can buy a diesel Legacy, however...

This article is written from a Swedish perspective.

[QRAF]

my brother in law just bought a S4 for towing his mg race car as we are getting his A4 2.6L its a 97 but can\'t complain at the price got 104k on the clock so i guess will need its belts done lol i have no idea about audi\'s but i\'m not liking this expensive thing you talk about.

[newsuba]

 lunchie said:

The 2006-2010 shape audi RS4\'s have some serious issues with carbon buildup in the manifolds leading to huge losses of power over time.

Costs about $1500 to clean it but there is no "fix" and must be done every 10,000-20,000 kms and to make things worse despite it happening to almost all RS4\'s Audi refuses to admit there is a fault.

Am told the S4 engines are fine though, go figure.

They share basic similarities but are in effect different engines.

The RS4 v8 is a screamer, S4 not so much.

The R8 uses the same v8 and yet you don\'t hear of carbon buildup in that car ?

The B7 RS4 is still the best handling fast Audi, second only to the R8.

The new B8 is meh in comparison.

[stira]

How do the old b5 rs4s compare to the b7 ones? other than age and v8 vs turbo, is one known to better than the other?

[newsuba]

B7 v8 best.

B5 twin-turbo rawer, slower !

Many are getting old now.

There was a minty NZ new B5 RS4 at Armstrongs Wellington, only 85,000km, $35,000.

[stira]

I have to admit the v8 is interesting......

what about b6s4 vs b5 rs4 both about the same money now.....

[newsuba]

RS4 !

I\'m unconvinced of any S4 as a drivers\' car.

Although the supercharged B8 is OK...