2002 Audi S4 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Great car, fast as all sin. The Quattro is killer in bad weather - can't go back to 2wd. Styling is conservative yet classy, and its aged well - still looks sharp for a car designed in the early 90's Speaking of the 90's, the build quality is about on par from what you'd expect from something designed 15 years ago. Some things are over engineered, and in typical German fashion, some things are totally under engineered. Braided black hoses anyone? Cost of ownership is fairly high, if you don't maintain it, it will bankrupt you. Nip problems in the ass before they get expensive. That said, my particular car seems to be better than most, hardly any issues in 3+ years of ownership. Fun factor, well, if kicking the rear out all day long is your kinda thing, get a BMW or Mustang, but if being a traffic light hero tickles you pink, this car delivers. Thanks to Quattro, a short geared 6spd and a ass load of low end torque (like 380lb/ft @ 2500rpm), nothing will beat you across an intersection. You shoot across an intersection from a dead-stop in probably 3-4 seconds, smoking anyone in the lane next to you, and remain under the speed limit - 1st-2nd gears to redline, pop her gently into 6th and go about your day :) Jan 01, 2010

The B5 S4 is a veritable sport sedan complemented by immense tunability but plagued with deadly timing belt and turbocharger failures. The heart of this car is it's parallel turbocharged 30 valve V6 engine, which in it's United States specification produces 250hp and 252 ft/lb of torque. Despite weighing around 3700 pounds, it still manages a 0-60 time of 5.6 seconds. It's speed is as deceptive as it's looks: a sedan that is difficult to distinguish from it's base platform, the A4. The visual differences are in the front bumper, chrome mirror covers, S4 badges, exhaust tips, and a wider variety of paint options. The build quality of the car is impeccable. The interior has a refined ambiance not found in it's competitors of the time. The stock maintenance is dependent on how hard one drives the vehicle, as it does effect the life of the turbochargers and the timing belt. A well maintained and cared for vehicle, one with an owner who anticipates the timing belt maintenance, yields costs that don't break the bank. The fun factor of the car is high, with the torquey engine there is a lot of fun to be had on both the highway and the bends. This car is a european sport saloon and as such is far more at home on the highway than anywhere else, but around town it is still great fun with peak torque available at a mere 1850rpm. What makes this vehicle so special though is the aforementioned tunability. Whether one is interested in adding some pep, hitting the drag strip or transforming the vehicle into a track loving monster, it is all possible thanks to an overwhelmingly large aftermarket part availability. It is not cheap at all, but returns much of the value in fun with an induction into the brotherhood of Volkswagen and Audi enthusiasts. It is the underdog of it's other German competitors BMW and Mercedes-Benz but with patience and a few thousand dollars it can easily stand toe to toe with both the BMW M3 and the Mercedes C class AMG of it's time. I would recommend this car to anyone interested in tuning an Audi, as it has the most potential and ease of tuning for an entry level enthusiast. Jul 21, 2009