Long-term report: What do others think of our high speed load lugging Audi RS4?

In the interests of balanced reporting, James Baggott reluctantly handed over the keys to his long term loan Audi RS4 to some colleagues…

While the Audi RS4 has certainly won a place in my heart over the past few months, I’ve recently been interested to hear what other people think of it.

And rather than ask people in the street – many of whom usually offer their opinion without me asking (some good, some bad) – I thought I’d try a more scientific approach and let some others test it out properly.

So, in the interest of a balanced opinion, I rather reluctantly handed the keys to my long term loan Audi over to two colleagues.

Interestingly the feedback I got from them both was mixed. One absolutely loved the fast estate, while the other gave it a somewhat mixed review. I’ll start with the complaints.

“It’s certainly fast, makes a brilliant noise and the seats are incredibly comfortable,’ said James Batchelor, who has been testing cars for more than a decade.

“But the ride quality is awful. It goes very well in a straight line but in the corners it’s really underwhelming.”

He went on to moan about the hard tyre walls, but by that point I’d stopped listening. While I agree with his compliments I have to disagree with his complaints. I’ve found the Audi wonderfully comfortable and while it might crash over the largest of potholes – seemingly more than a metre deep around these parts – for the majority of the time, I can’t fault it.

Perhaps I had just got used to the ride over the last few months. I certainly wouldn’t call it awful. Earlier this month I took the RS4 on a longer journey – in fact, its longest yet, a near-1,500-mile round trip to the Alps – and I shared the driving with a colleague.

Joe Wallington owns an Audi himself, albeit an older A1, so was looking forward to trying out the comparatively luxurious RS4 on the trip south.

He spent a lot of our journey to and from Chamonix behind the wheel and loved the ride quality. Perhaps some of this was to do with the super smooth French autoroutes, but that said the local roads in and around the ski resort would make some British B roads look well maintained and there were certainly no complaints there.

He also praised the tech – citing the multimedia system as far improved over his older A1 and a delight to use ‘because it just works’. He said it was comfortable and also pretty spacious, coping with our ski kit and us pretty well.

Audi RS4 winter tyres

He did have a couple of moans, though. The winter tyres that Audi kindly shod the vehicle on for the trip were ‘very noisy’ and he also wasn’t a fan of the tub-thumping beat that plays every time you get out of the car. In previous updates you might remember I moaned about this exit soundtrack myself and I still haven’t worked out how to turn it off.

He’s right about the winters, they were a bit noisy. But I was rather pleased they were on, despite the relative lack of snow in the Alps.

On our last day the skies opened and the white stuff came bucketing down – always seems to be the case on the last day of a ski holiday – and those winters gave us both a welcome bit of added confidence thanks to their improved grip.

So, in the interests of wrapping this piece up, I asked both my colleagues if they would buy the RS4 with their own money. At £85k, the high performance estate is quite pricey and in that price bracket there’s a lot of choice.

The results? Well, in football speak, it was one-all. While Joe said he would, James wasn’t so sure and declined the offer. However, as this is my report I get the casting vote, and I certainly would shell out for one.

Over the last few months the Audi has proven to be a comfortable, entertaining, classy and an incredibly exciting car to drive. So much so, it’ll be sorely missed when Audi come round and prise the keys from my hands. Until then, I’ll be making sure I enjoy the change in the weather and getting out there in the Audi to enjoy it.

Facts at a glance

Model: Audi RS4
Price as tested: £85,000
Engine: 3.0-litre twin turbo petrol
Power: 444bhp
Torque: 600Nm
0-60mph: 4.1 seconds
Top speed: 155mph
MPG: 28.5mpg (combined)
Emissions: 225g/km CO2
Mileage: 6,439

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March 17, 2023

Goodwood organiser striving to make motorsport events carbon neutral

The Duke of Richmond, organiser of the Goodwood Festival of Speed, says he is focussed on making his petrol-powered events more sustainable.

The man behind the popular motorsport events says he wants to promote the ‘joy of second hand’ as he looks to boost his shows’ environmental credentials.

Speaking to the PA news agency, the duke said he believed Goodwood’s motorsport events could ‘definitely become carbon neutral soon’ thanks to efforts made elsewhere across his estate.

He said: “There is a whole thrust at Goodwood around sustainability – it has always been a major thing for us across the estate.

“We’ve got a huge organic farm, we’ve planted 75,000 trees, we run a whacking great biomass generator for all our electricity and we’re running biofuels for our generators at the events.

“So, could Goodwood deliver a carbon neutral event? Absolutely, because we’re doing so much on the other side.”

The duke says his Revival event – which celebrates historic racing and vintage lifestyles – is also the perfect example of Goodwood’s sustainability drive.

“It’s much better to keep an old car going than buy a new one,” he said. “That is far more sustainable – keeping cars on the road, rather than scrapping them.

“Second hand is cool. It’s now seen as the chic thing to do, from second-hand clothes to second-hand cars, and I think the Revival is the biggest second-hand event in the world. We’re proud of that.”

The duke, whose grandfather opened the Goodwood Motor Circuit in 1948, is celebrating 75 years of motorsport at his events in 2023.

As he looks ahead to the shows that will increasingly feature more electric cars, he says he has mixed feelings about their impact – despite admitting he has invested in a number of unnamed electric car companies himself.

“The whole EV (electric vehicle) thing is great – it’s super fast, and it’s fun, but electric cars are all the same to me,” he added.

“They are going to move you around from A to B, and they’re fantastically efficient and a lot of it is good fun, but it’s not the same thing.

“With mobility becoming increasingly duller in the future, classic cars and the joy that they bring will be niche, but it will probably get stronger.”

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March 17, 2023

Bentley profits soar to £624m in best year for British firm

Bentley saw its profits soar to a record €708m (£623.7m) in 2022 in what has been described as a ‘milestone’ year for the British luxury car brand.

Announced today (March 16), this operating profit was a sharp 82 per cent increase of €319m (£281m) on its 2021 figure of €389m (£342.5m). The firm also turned over €3.38bn (£2.98bn) in 2022 – up €539m (£475m), or 19 per cent, on the €2.85bn of revenue during the same period in 2021.

Bentley also delivered its most cars yet last year, with 15,174 cars being sold worldwide – a 3.5 per cent increase on 2021’s total of 14,659 and the first time it’s achieved more than 15,000 sales in a year.

The Crewe-based firm says its significant profit increase was a result of its 20.9 per cent return-on-sales figure – its highest ever – as customers had chosen ‘higher specification derivatives’ and opted for the brand’s limited-edition and coach-built Mulliner models.

Speaking to Car Dealer, Jan-Henrik Lafrentz, board member for finance at Bentley, said: “Very clearly, the main driver [of the company’s profit] is the value per car.

“We are in the market where we offer interesting options, interesting specifications, interesting versions of personalisation to our customers, and they’re happy to step in, they’re happy to go that route.”

The Bentayga SUV remained the manufacturer’s most popular model, accounting for 42 per cent of sales, with the Flying Spur saloon taking up 28 per cent and the Continental GT and Convertible models making up the final 30 per cent.

Adrian Hallmark, chairman and CEO of Bentley Motors, said: “Since the low point of 2018, the whole team at Crewe has been working intensively to restructure the business model, in parallel with launching successive segment-leading new models and features. Last year marked a milestone in this journey.

“An almost €1billion (£880m) profit turnaround has been achieved since 2018, despite an unprecedented period of disruptions and crises including Brexit, Covid, semiconductor supply, Ukraine and UK economic instability.”

He added: “We will maintain focus on customer value rather than sales volume and adapt our plan according to the emerging market situation. However, our well-balanced export success, disciplined cost-management structure and ability to maximise personalisation in an industrialised way, driving profitability, are good foundations to continue this success.”

Bentley is now undertaking the tricky task of evolving from producing internal combustion engines to EVs. Earlier this year, the firm announced that it would stop producing its famous W12 engine in 2024. But while Bentley already offers a choice of plug-in hybrid models, its first EV isn’t expected until 2026.

Bentley’s figures form part of the huge €7.6bn (£6.7bn) profit that the Volkswagen Group’s premium brands recorded in 2022, which also included Audi, Lamborghini and Ducati.

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March 16, 2023

Goodwood’s Duke of Richmond: Government’s 2030 electric car target will be ‘difficult’

The Government’s ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030 could be ‘difficult’ to achieve, believes the Duke of Richmond.

Speaking to the PA news agency at the launch of Goodwood’s motorsport events for 2023, the Duke expressed his concerns over the ambitious target to transition to electric cars.

He said: “Can we deliver enough clean energy to fire up all these cars by that time? And can we begin to deliver the infrastructure needed to keep them all powered up? That looks difficult to me.”

The Government is banning the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and the sale of hybrids by 2035.

The Duke said he was concerned the charging infrastructure in the UK would not be ready to meet the 2030 target.

“Can they get the infrastructure in? There’s so little support for it at the moment,” he added.

The Duke also raised concern at the level of support the Government is giving the UK motor industry.

“It’s definitely not getting the support,” he said. “It’s such an important industry.

“But the writing’s on the wall – these great brands are slowly going to be producing their cars elsewhere.

“They [car manufacturers] will still be making cars and we’ll still be buying them, but sadly they will not be made here any more because we’re not making it attractive enough.”

Goodwood will be celebrating 75 years of motorsport at the estate near Chichester, West Sussex, in 2023 with special events planned at the Festival of Speed, Revival and Members’ Meeting.

The Duke said electric cars will play a large part in all of the events, including showcasing future technology at the Festival of Speed and how classic cars can be reinvigorated with electric powertrains at the Revival.

However, he remains unconvinced about electric cars – despite revealing he had invested in unnamed electric car companies himself.

The Duke added: “Our Electric Avenue [part of the Festival of Speed] will be the biggest EV event in the world. EVs fit into Goodwood’s events very powerfully as we look to the past, present and, most importantly, the future.

“I think mobility is a joy. And a car, the whole opera of that, the whole experience of the thing, is a joy.

“And we all know the whole EV thing is great – it’s super-fast and it’s fun – but they’re all the same. It’s going to move you around from A to B and a lot of it is good fun, but it isn’t the same thing.”

A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “We remain committed to phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, with all new cars and vans being zero emission at the tailpipe by 2035”.

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March 10, 2023

Long-term report: Is an Audi RS4 perfect for parents?

When it comes to transporting little ones and their equipment, the larger the vehicle the better. Does the RS4 fit the bill? James Baggott finds out.

People have different ideas of what makes the perfect parent-mobile – but for me, the criteria are pretty clear.

First, it needs to have plenty of carrying capacity, because babies come with more luggage than Paris Hilton. After that, it needs to be safe, stylish and above all else, really rather cool.

The last one is more subjective, but there would be few people that would argue the Audi RS4 is anything other than jaw-achingly cool.

Take the pensioner driving a Hyundai i10 who stopped me at a fuel station the other day to ask who made it. She’d never heard of an ‘Audi’, but did tell me it was ‘jolly good-looking’. And who am I to argue with what was clearly a very astute pensioner?

The RS4’s incredible performance is the usual talking point when I pull up at the pumps. I’ve been stopped several times now at the fuel station (a place I frequent rather too often these days) by Audi admirers. One had previously owned an RS6 and spent 10 minutes telling me how much he missed it and just how good it was at pretty much everything.

And he hit the nail on the head. While I understand an £85,000 estate car isn’t the most affordable family transportation out there, for those lucky enough to be able to buy one – or lucky journalists like myself lent one for a few months – it makes a compelling argument for the ultimate in family wheels.

Over the last few weeks the RS4 has been called upon for a variety of mundane family tasks and all of them it’s achieved with aplomb.

The boot has been packed with all sorts lately including equipment for a forthcoming work event, a life-size dummy for man overboard drills on the lifeboat (pictured) and even 25 bags of horse manure for my vegetable patch. Nothing says ‘middle aged man’ quite like a fondness for gardening, but I’ll move quickly on.

Audi RS4

That latter task was tackled with incredible care for fear of recreating a scene from Back to the Future and earning myself the nickname ‘Biff’ for the rest of my life. Thankfully, the manure made its way back from the horse field and into the garden without incident.

On the rare occasions I do get to drive the car alone, I get the chance to marvel at its incredible turn of speed. For all its practicality and usefulness, the RS4 can still be classed as a true performance car.

The 3.0-litre twin-turbocharged engine produces 444bhp and 600Nm of torque – which makes it unbelievably rapid off the line. In fact, it’ll hit 60mph in just 4.1 seconds. That’s faster than some Porsches.

Over the last few months, I’ve loved the beautiful ride quality, which is supple enough to be comfortable but firm enough to inspire confidence in the bends. The steering is perfect and unlike any VW Group model with a diesel-auto gearbox combination, this petrol-auto match is sheer brilliance. Changes are rapid in normal mode and even quicker in sportier ‘RS’ guise.

It is very hard to fault the RS4. Yes, as I’ve pointed out in previous reports, there are a few minor annoyances, but they’re nothing that would put me off. I do still find the drum beat it plays every time I get out a bit strange – I think it’s supposed to be an emotive heartbeat, but it just sounds like I’ve accidentally turned Radio 1 up too loud. But there’s not much else to groan about.

The longer I live with the RS4 the deeper the bond grows. It’s sublime to drive, wonderfully practical and fits perfectly with my current lifestyle. Next up is a trip to the Alps for a little winter break, so I’ll report back soon on how it copes. Spoiler alert: I suspect it’ll be really rather well.

Facts at a glance

Model: Audi RS4
Price as tested: £85,000
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol
Power: 444bhp
Torque: 600Nm
0-60mph: 4.1 seconds
Top speed: 155mph
MPG: 28.5mpg (combined)
Emissions: 225g/km CO2
Mileage: 3,774

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January 27, 2023

Long term report: Our Audi RS4’s nasty boot-lid surprise

When powered boot lids first arrived on new cars I must admit I was a bit of a sceptic – who needed a motor to do something your arm could already do faster, I asked anyone who dared to listen.

Turns out, the answer is almost everyone. Powered boots that shut themselves at the touch of a button are now nearly as common as electric windows.

You’ll find them on everything from Bentleys to Kias these days, and my long term Audi RS4 is no different. So, it’s time to eat a slice of humble pie, because I must admit I’ve become somewhat of a fan.

You see, these days whenever I’m getting something out of the boot it requires 13 hands and a helper. Babies come with a lot of equipment and, add in a weekly shop to the mix, the chances of being able to shut a boot lid by hand without a return trip falls to zero.

Problem is, I’ve got an issue with our Audi’s boot and that’s its tendency to clobber me on the head. Twice now, I’ve been extracting baby paraphernalia from its deepest recesses to be surprised by a warning beep and before I know it the boot lid smacking the back of my head.

Audi RS4

I couldn’t work out why it was doing it at first, until one day I realised it was my feet that were the culprit. The RS4 has one of those sensors just under the bumper that when a foot is waved underneath, it closes the boot for you.

My size 12s clearly protruded too far under the bumper and were inadvertently setting off the mechanism resulting in the boot-bonce interface. I was rather pleased with the discovery, thinking this would help my boot-emptying efforts, but can I get it to work when I want it to? No chance.

Despite whatever Michael Flatley dance moves I try to perform behind the Audi, I can never find the sensor when I want to. Typical.

Anyway, enough about bootlids. It’s actually a very minor gripe with what I’m discovering is a truly brilliant car. Fast estates fit my lifestyle perfectly, and the RS4 is one of the best.

In the past I’ve taken real issue with sloppy Audi automatic gearboxes, usually paired with their diesel engines, but there’s no such problems with the RS4. Changes here are brisk and without hesitation as it rapidly fires through the ratios.

Under the bonnet, the 444bhp 2.9-litre twin turbo engine is a delight. On the road it’s got power whenever I need it and the 4.1 second time for the benchmark 60mph dash is seriously impressive.

I am a huge fan of the ride quality too. I’ve mentioned in previous reports about the RS Sport Suspension with Dynamic Ride Control (£2,000) specified on this car, and the more I live with it the more I can’t recommend it highly enough. Yes, it’s expensive, but on our potholed roads it still manages to deliver a comfortable ride.

Over the Christmas period I was also very glad to find a first aid kit in the boot. First on the scene of a nasty road accident, where a car had knocked a pedestrian five metres down the road, I used the kit to patch up a poor woman before taking her to hospital myself, as an ambulance was a two-hour wait away.

The kit’s dressings, bandages and sterile wipes came in very handy and I was very glad to find it in the boot. I later found out she had broken her hip and shoulder, something the kit wasn’t prepared for, but A&E fortunately was.

And on a separate note, I don’t think I’ll ever tire of the compliments the Audi gets. At petrol pumps or from visitors who have spotted it on the drive, it often receives words of praise. People love a fast Audi, especially those with the iconic RS badging, and the RS4 is certainly iconic. After three months behind the wheel, I’m also starting to understand why people love them so much.

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January 18, 2023

Land Rovers dominate list of most profitable used cars

Land Rovers are the used cars that dealers make the most money on, according to new data released today.

The British brand’s SUVs accounted for four out of the top five used cars with the biggest profit margins in 2022, according to Dealer Auction’s ‘Retail Margin Monitor’ report, which shows how much money on average car dealers made on the vehicles they sell.

The results are calculated by monitoring what the cars sold for on its dealer-to-dealer portal, and then what they’re retailed for on partner’s Auto Trader’s website.

Land Rovers have dominated the monthly list throughout the year, with the Land Rover Discovery 4 being the vehicle with the biggest profit margin, at £4,340. This Discovery was also the most profitable car in 2021, when the average margin on it was £3,060.

The Land Rover Discovery Sport came second with a £3,770 profit, followed by the Range Rover Sport (£3,710) and Range Rover Evoque (£3,560). The Audi Q5 was the only non-Land Rover to appear in the top five, with an average profit margin of £2,980.

In fact, out of the 10 most profitable used cars in 2022, only one wasn’t an SUV – the Audi A5, which rounded off the list, with a margin of £2,640.

Dealer Auction’s Kieran TeeBoon said: ‘We saw steadfast consistency in the top-selling models month-to-month in 2022, even outside of Land Rover. The Volvo XC60 [ranked eighth in the year], for example, appeared in all but one top 10 listing last year.

“In other areas of the table, we’re seeing premium brands continually trending high, but their most profitable models are changing. The BMW X5 that appeared in third place in 2021 did not rank at all in 2022. However, we saw the appearance of the BMW X3 in ninth spot, indicating the importance of using available data to stay on top of trends.”

Biggest used car profit margins 2022 (models)

Source: Dealer Auction

Land Rover Discovery 4 – £4,340
Land Rover Discovery Sport – £3,770
Range Rover Sport – £3,710
Range Rover Evoque – £3,560
Audi Q5 – £2,980
Kia Sorento – £2,770
Audi Q3 – £2,760
Volvo XC60 – £2,720
BMW X3 – £2,660
Audi A5 – £2,640

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January 12, 2023

BMW stops selling cars to police forces in the UK

BMW has put the brakes on the supply of its cars to police forces in the UK.

BMW’s International & Specialist Sales Division, situated in Park Lane, Mayfair, closed this week, having previously been in charge of the sale of specialist vehicles, such as those used by police forces in the UK.

BMW told Car Dealer Magazine that it would ‘prioritising sales to retail and corporate customers’ and move away from sales to the police and other authorities.

The halt in sales to the police comes in the wake of many UK forces restricting the use of BMW police cars which use the N57 diesel engine.

Some forces stopped them from being used for high-speed duties, instead operating them for ‘less stressful’ operations. The N57 diesel engine features in a number of BMW police vehicles, including the 330d, 530d and X5.

BMW said the problem with the N57 engine was down to the ‘particular way’ police use the vehicles and that there was ‘no need for action on any civilian vehicles’.

In a statement, BMW told Car Dealer: “With high demand for our cars continuing to outstrip supply, we will be prioritising sales to our retail and corporate customers in the future and moving away from some areas of our authorities and specialist business.

“BMW Park Lane has historically been responsible for specialist vehicle sales and so now is being restructured.

“It is proposed that some responsibilities will move into the BMW UK National Sales Company (NSC) in Farnborough. BMW Park Lane is now entering into a consultation period with a small number of impacted staff.”

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November 18, 2022

Living with an Audi RS4 performance load lugger

James Baggott has taken delivery of the long-awaited Audi RS4 long termer and has already fallen in love.

Britain’s love of a pokey-engine-in-an-estate-car combination could easily rival its affection for fish and chips or cheese and pickle sandwiches.

As pairings go, a performance engine with the space to carry large loads in the boot is hard to argue with and I’ll freely admit I’m one of the admirers.

So when Audi offered us the chance to take custody of a potent RS4 for a few months I elbowed my way to the front of the keys queue.

This current model has been around since late 2019 and still looks and feels remarkably fresh – but what I, and you probably, really care about is the monster under the bonnet.

The 3.0-litre engine is twin-turbocharged which produces 444bhp and 600Nm of torque. That helps this family-friendly wagon hit 60mph in 4.1 seconds.

With a three-month-old in the clan, the combination of boot space and comfort when I have the team on board, compared to the option for some fun when they’re not, really was one I was looking forward to.

It’s been a long wait to get it, though. Audi let me choose the specification for our car back in February and I’ve only just taken delivery.

New car order times are a lot longer these days, thanks to a shortage of chips (micro, not potato) and just like everyone else I’ve been waiting patiently for my car to arrive.

That gave me plenty of time to pore over the spec I’d picked. I really wanted a green one, but that colour had dropped off the options list when I played around with the configurator, but the Nardo grey option was a very acceptable second choice.

The base price for the car is a rather prickly £76,800, but I’ve added £8,200 to that total with a few options. Highlights included a head-up display for £1,095, 20-inch wheels at £2,000 and the RS Sport exhaust system adding a further £1,250.

The best choice was the RS Sport suspension with dynamic ride control. While it might have added an extra £2k to the price, I’ve already found it makes for a wonderful ride.

Audi RS4

I picked the car up from Portsmouth Audi where salesman Drew Pilcher showed me around the car. The showroom has recently had a makeover and I must admit it felt quite special pulling the cover back in the handover bay, even if the car wasn’t really mine.

Still, that won’t stop me from enjoying it over the next few months. First impressions are this is a car that I will really fall in love with. It’s frighteningly rapid when it wants to be, but also incredibly comfortable.

The seats are brilliant – and have a massaging function too – and the steering is beautifully weighted. It makes a superb sound, especially on start up, with a deep, bassy rumble to that sports exhaust.

Pilcher helped set me up with the Audi app that connects to the car letting you lock and unlock the doors and a few other things too. I’m not sure it’s working properly, though, so I will have to investigate a little further before passing judgement.

I have also had to get used to frequenting my local petrol station again. The RS4 is, er, rather juicy. Around town, I’m getting about 18mpg if I’m lucky. On longer journeys, it’s more efficient thanks to 48v technology that lets it coast on motorways and an eight-speed gearbox – on one recent trip I got 33mpg, which for a performance car, is actually pretty good going. Let’s hope fuel prices don’t go up much further.

Facts at a glance

Model: Audi RS4
Price as tested: £85,000
Engine: 3.0-litre twin turbo petrol
Power: 444bhp
Torque: 600Nm
0-60mph: 4.1 seconds
Top speed: 155mph
MPG: 28.5mpg (combined)
Emissions: 225g/km CO2
Mileage: 1,458

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November 16, 2022

Motorists are ‘avoiding eyesight tests’ to keep licence

Close to one in five drivers has said that they’d delayed their recommended two-year eyesight check-up, a new survey has found.

The study also found that six per cent of drivers believed it had been more than five years since their last eye test.

The study of 2,113 drivers conducted by Glasses Direct Transitions also found that 14 per cent of drivers admitted to avoiding going to the optician for fear of losing their driving licence.

David Hutchfield, qualified optician and head of professional services from Glasses Direct said: “If you need to wear glasses for driving — indicated by a 01 code under section 12 on your driving licence — then you must also get sunglasses that adhere to your prescription and not just off-the-shelf glasses.

“Worryingly, this doesn’t seem to be common knowledge as only five per cent of drivers who are required to wear glasses (and have the code) could accurately identify it”.

Seven per cent have delayed their driving test because they’re worried about losing their independence, while a further four per cent know they need to go to the opticians but can’t afford the required changes to their prescription.

These figures also worsen with age, with the over 65s the most likely group to risk driving dangerously. The survey also found that 14 per cent of drivers had been involved in a collision or near-miss because of impaired vision on the road.