We take so many things for granted, as we should. Flying is an everyday occurrence, but if you showed air travel to someone from a hundred years ago, they’d be astounded. This begins to describe life for cars like the BMW M340i, and this Audi S4. Imagine if they came out even 15 years ago? The speed! The power! Alas – there is an M3, and an RS 5, and they get all the huzzahs.
Does the S in S4 stand for sad?
2022 Audi S4 Quick Take
Get one:
Looks nice, inside and out. Super smooth drivetrain. Cheaper than the competition. Great for daily duties.
Don’t get one:
Not as hardcore as the competition. Nose heavy handling with indirect steering. Doesn’t call for you to drive it from the garage
Soul Score: 7
The S4 makes a case for itself, but others do it better.
The 2022 Audi S4 Overview
Maybe it does. If you head to any other luxury brand and order yourself a small sedan, you’d find three typical levels of spice. There’s the mild (A4), the medium (S4), and the flaming hot (?).
What happened Audi? They used to make that spicy RS 4 number, and it came with a delicious V-8. Since then, crickets. But I can put a good spin on it, because while the M340i driver has to look over at the M3 and think “I’m not good enough”, you don’t have that problem in the Audi store. You didn’t want the RS 5 coupe anyway, right?
And the bits here are very good. A turbocharged 349-hp 3.0-liter V-6 shakes hands with an eight-speed automatic transmission and Quattro all-wheel drive. It’s really nice inside. Looks sleek. Comfortable. It’s even cheaper (a lot cheaper), than the equivalent Mercedes or BMW.
Despite all the goodness, the A4 is going away, sort of. It’ll be renamed A5, and the A4 name will be applied to an electric-only vehicle. But that’s a problem for the future.
Let’s focus on the present.
Performance: 7. Everyone gets a medal
The S4 is an impressive all-around performer, though as you’ll soon discover, not at visceral as its competitors. Sometimes it’s hard not to call it a fancy Volkswagen. That’s oversimplifying the car, but there’s no mistaking a Toyota for a Lexus.
Engine
Under the hood is a 3.0 V-6 with a single turbocharger breathing into it. A sweet little motor, it provides plenty of grunt off the line with 369 lb-ft of torque, and winds out nicely to redline. Maybe a little too nicely, as the example I drove allowed the engine to go beyond the red six. The S4 gets to sixty about a second slower an the M340i, so that sense of “holy shit” just isn’t there.
But it’s a very smooth performance sedan, almost gliding to highway speeds. The exhaust is subdued, with little pops and burbles but nothing obnoxious. No doubt you’ll want to get this tuned to wake up the neighbors if you’re under 25. Or just a loon like me.
The engine in the RS 5 is a twin-turbo 2.9 liter, so not quite the same but much more powerful. Regardless, asking a turbo-six to replace a V-8 has always been a tall order.
Transmission
Perhaps ZF knows where all the bodies are buried, because they have quite the monopoly on the market. Here once again is the typical eight-speed. I found it to be a bit whiny, something I’ve never experienced with another example, though it still offers quick responses. Combined with Quattro, launching the car is easy, and the transmission keeps the turbos on simmer constantly. You can find lag if you dig deep and bury the pedal, but it’s minimal.
Sorry, no manual.
Like the RS 6, the wheel has tiny paddle shifters behind the spokes, almost an afterthought. Come on, we want to give them a pull!
Steering and Chassis
I know it’s possible because BMW used to do it and Cadillac still does, but why is it so difficult for most modern cars to find a good balance between handling and comfort? No different for the S4.
The S4 has light steering with a dead spot just off center. It’s similar in feel to a BMW F30, and that’s not a good thing. Companies continue to cater to the lowest common denominator, insisting it’s to help people park these things. But all the owners of these cars that I meet feel the same way I do – so who’s buying he S4 and complaining about parking?
It’s a shame, because the chassis is pretty good. While you can get the S4 with an adaptive suspension, this example did not have it. Instead, a set of lowering springs gave the car an edge it probably needed over a true factory example. Comfortable, still a bit on the softer side with some dive on the front end when you brake. It’s an Audi stereotype, but until they push the engines back more in the chassis, nose-heavy handling will be an accurate one. It fits the rest of the S4’s personality though – refined, but not enticing.
Overall, even with it lowered, the S4 isn’t as dynamic as an M340i.
Brakes
I never push personal cars to their limits, and if I’m honest, inducing fade in any car on the street is difficult unless you’re doing something wrong. With that in mind, the Audi S4’s brakes are fine – six-piston calipers in front (painted red if you get the Sport Package) clamp down on 13.8-inch vented discs. Six is a lot, and it gives the S4 a mini-RS 6 look as they poke out behind the wheel.
But they work, and pedal feel is accurate and firm.
The overall problem with the performance of this car is that it’s good.
“What’s wrong with that Mike?”
Because good isn’t great, okay? How was the food? The date? The game? Answer good and not great, and it’ll likely be out of your memory in a few days time.
The Audi S4 is good.
Utility Score: 6. S is for small.
It’s fair to call the S4 an average mid-size sedan in size, but it’s a bit small inside.
The back seats are really nice, with quilted Alcantara mixed in with leather. Tight fit though. Tiny rear doors don’t help ingress that much either. This is the part where you swear to your significant other that a baby seat will fit in the back seat, even though you know it won’t.
Up front is a different story, with some of the best seats I’ve found in any car. They offer a long bottom cushion and excellent bolstering on the sides. Again, Alcantara and leather are woven together quite nicely, and if it all seems a bit too dark, there’s a plethora of colors to choose from.
The trunk offers plenty of space for daily duties, although it does make me lament the fact that an S4 Avant is only available in Europe because they get all the cool wagons.
Fuel Economy: 7. S is for spool
Modern cars really are amazing. The fact that the S4 can get an average of 20 MPG zooming around like it’s putting out fires amazes me. The range is over 400 miles too.
My take on the current state of electric cars is well known, and what Audi will do with the S4 makes little sense. Taking out the motor is the one truly engaging piece from this car. Beyond that, you might as well leave off the S and keep the A.
Just call is the E4. You’re welcome, Audi.
Features and Comfort: 8. S is for Same
My biggest criticism of a car like the BMW M8 is that is looks like a 2 Series inside. Great for the 2, bad for the 8. Audi suffers from the same problem – this looks an awful lot like the $130,000 RS 6 inside. There are differences, but not $70k differences.
Audi uses better interior bits and design than BMW, and the look is cleaner than in a Mercedes. So this time, repeating the design elements is just fine with me.
Black attack
Begin by having a seat inside and noticing black. Carbon fiber – black. Trim – gloss black. Leather – black. Alcantara – you get it. But it’s tasteful, and as I mentioned above, you can get different leather colors.
This S4 was a more basic spec, so there’s a real dashboard that is infinitely better than an all-digital display. There’s depth and dimension in the dial faces, like a nice watch, with a smaller display in the center to show various unimportant things. If your digital dash is going too mimic this, why do you need one?
Unlike the RS 6, you get real climate controls that are easy to use and clear to understand. I get it – the digital numbers look like a 90’s alarm clock, but that just seems to make sense to me.
Elsewhere it’s all clean and simple. Audi’s infotainment is easier to use than anything from Lexus or Mercedes, even without a separate controller. Does stick out of the dash like a billboard though. And I must say, all the Alcantara is a nice touch, along with the Quattro badge on the dash. BMW charges you a lot more, and their cars don’t ever feel this special inside.
I still see family ties to that old B7 RS 4, and it’s comforting.
S is for sexy
This is a very good-looking car, but it’s just as hard to distinguish from other Audis on the outside as it is inside.
There’s a Goldilocks thing happening here. A3 – too small. A6, too large. Audi’s styling fits the S4 juuust right. Sort of – check out those big overhangs over the wheels. Front-drive origins are difficult to hide.
To help distinguish S from A, Audi gives you yummy things like quad tail pipes, optional blacked out trim, matte chrome mirrors, and a big blacked out grille that doesn’t seem to offend anyone. The headlights are also a feature that makes any Audi pop, and the overall look is clean. Hard to argue with Navarra Blue Metallic – happened to be the same color as the RS 6 I reviewed, serving to highlight the similarities.
I will give credit to BMW in one area… marketing. When you sit inside an M car as opposed to an M Performance one, you know the difference right away. In Audi, they’ve made a good S and a great RS, but one isn’t really more special than the other from a fit and finish perspective. Come on guys – I want everyone to know I have an RS 4, if such a thing still existed.
The Audi S4 is a perfectly capable sedan, but not an engaging one
Comfortable. Modern. Efficient. Smooth. Refined. These are words we associate with a Lexus, or a basic Mercedes. And for a run-of-the-mill A4, that’s fine too.
What happened to the A4 anyway? I feel like there were a ton of B8s on the road – as popular as any 3 Series. But when this B9 came out, the car disappeared. Perhaps this S4 is partially to blame. Without a halo car to prop up the line, it’s become a bit forgettable.
And that’s the S4’s biggest sin. Refined and comfortable are great assets, but not at the expense of sporting behavior. To be fair, an M340i might be faster and more direct in feel, but it’s also a bit dull. Hell, even the M3 is. Still, against those cars the S4 is an also-ran. I can’t fault you for owning one over an Altima, and it’s cheaper than other German brands, but can you just save up an extra $5,000 and get what you really want?
Perhaps the S4’s tall brother, the SQ 5, is a better example of what Audi is capable of. That car features a more engaging air suspension, and is more comfortable and refined. I don’t mind that in an SUV. But in a sports sedan?
Sorry, but it takes more to impress me in 2024. I fly all the time on modern marvels. I drive them too.
Perhaps the S4 dying isn’t so bad after all.
2022 Audi S4 Specifications
Vehicle Type: Front-engine, all-wheel-drive, five-passenger, four-door sedan
PRICE
Base: $50,895
POWERTRAIN
Turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve V-6
349 hp @ 6,200 RPM
369 lb-ft @ 1,370 RPM
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 111.0 in
Length: 187.5 in
Width: 72.7 in
Height: 56.2 in
Curb Weight: 3,927 lbs
FUEL ECONOMY
Combined / city / highway: 23 / 20 / 27 MPG
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