How do you follow a cult car like the Audi RS2, the mid-1990s estate built by Porsche that ate TVRs (and Porsches) for breakfast? By doing the same again, of course. Only this time with more of everything.
Enter the 1999 ‘B5’ Audi RS4: a wagon boasting a power output – 381hp from a Cosworth-developed 2.7-litre twin-turbo V6 – that looks impressive even today. Wide tyres were needed to deploy it, which required monster wheelarches to wrap around them.
Chuck in grilles and gills aplenty, a stonking set of 18-inch alloys and one of the first deployments of dazzling-bright xenon headlights, and you may just have yourself a new cult car. A quarter of a century later, we rediscover it.
The Audi RS4 Avant was without rival – that was the whole point. “Make an ultra-fast estate?” snorted BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The very thought!
Probably its closest rivals back then were the Mercedes-Benz ML 55 AMG and BMW X5 4.8iS: two V8-powered SUV heavyweights that, like the Audi, blended practicality with performance. But if the RS4 was an athlete, they felt like your dad getting his jig on in comparison.
Audi handed over the 2.7-litre V6 to Cosworth Technology for a thorough overhaul: an easy decision, given it owned Cosworth at the time. The makeover included a ludicrous number of exotic parts, with the finished article boasting 116hp more than the Audi S4 motor it’s derived from.
There were no flappy-paddle DSG transmissions in those days. Instead, Audi beefed up its six-speed manual ‘box and Quattro drivetrain, which featured a rudimentary 50:50 torque split.
Breathe easy: it’s still addictive. Still fast. Still an event. So much power back in the late 1990s was mind-warping. The power race means it’s less so today – but the drama this heavily-boosted engine serves up remains exciting.
Smooth, rorty and pure, it’s a motor that feels just like it is: a regular V6 with two stonking great turbos bolted on. The disconnected, sensationless surge of modern motors? This is the antithesis.
Soft-by-modern-standards springs add to the drama, because it rolls a bit in corners, then sits down at the rear under power. Exit a roundabout, setting it up to reach peak boost as you hit the exit, and the feeling is comparable to a jet taking off.
It’s hugely thrilling and special: so much so it’s easy to forgive the slow, arm-twirling steering and concrete-damper ride that, until recently, seemed to be an Audi speciality.
Drive it with gusto and the RS4 drinks fuel like a race car. I did an MPG Marathon event in one many years ago and, after two days of bumbling, I achieved 27mpg. Reunited with it for the Retro Road Test, I saw half that.
The RS4 also suffered the unusual issue of bent wheels when new – it seems the alloy wasn’t stiff enough to shake off the immense forces its powertrain could generate. This shouldn’t be an issue now, but it’s worth a check.
Ensure the car has a full service history, too. This is basically a motorsport engine and reliability will go out the window (as will all your money) if maintenance has been skimped.
The ride will frighten you at first. With time and miles, though, you learn to drive around the worst bumps and enjoy the trace of suppleness in the suspension. Stirring the snickety gearlever keeps the engine on the boil, and you’ve also got that old-school but granite-solid Audi interior to enjoy.
The deep bucket seats are painful to get in and out of, but hug you warmly once you’re ensconced (and give you a towering driving position, so high are they set).
However, it’s the stuff that made the RS4 so cool that allows you to drive it everyday: five seats, a practical boot and all the Audi integrity that made the original A4 such a worry to BMW.
Examples of the B5 RS4 are few and far-between in the classifieds, so expect to pay £50,000 for a good one. The most expensive car are truly immaculate, while cheaper examples have high mileages but are hopefully honest. A comprehensive service history is vital.
Pay the most you can afford for a car in strong condition – but not so perfect you will be reluctant to drive it. These are practical cars that were made to be enjoyed.
Bent alloy wheels, service history, crash damage, dented panels, torn seats and signs that the car has been stolen in the past. All the usual things, then, but with an added degree of care: Audi only made around 6,000 original RS4s and, while car enthusiasts bought most of them, some were purchased by people who should really have been in a sales-rep-spec TDI.
Frankly, we’d only buy from a specialist or a committed enthusiast. The mere mention of Cosworth engines and big power from 2.7 litres means we’d be uneasy going for a cheap one. And you want to enjoy the best of what the RS4 has to offer.
For an old-school twist on the modern fast family car, you could certainly give it a go. But really, this is a rarity that should be reserved for enthusiasts: those willing to treat their RS4 carefully and maintain it religiously.
It’s crazy-fast, but it somehow feels wrong to wring its neck and use it as you imagine Audi intended. If anything, it’s a little too specialist for that. So, snap a B5 up before someone else spoils it – it’ll be a lovely possession to treasure.
There were two versions of the V6 engine. The earlier 2000 one was coded ASJ, and was Euro 2 emissions-compliant. Later 2000-2001 engines met the EU3 exhaust emissions standard, and were coded AZR.
Also, at 390 litres with the seats up, the RS4 Avant’s boot is 90 litres smaller than the outgoing Audi A4 saloon.
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