hello.....

feeling the pinch of driving my landcruiser all over hell and half of georgia as of late.... have to keep it though. it's paid for.. and i have trailers, boats, et cetera to haul. i use it as a truck.

anyhoo....

haven't had a real car in a long while. from high school to college and even later, i had a smattering of BMW's. the only audi ever in my life was a wonderful 4000s (4 cylinder) that i really enjoyed.

so...

im thinking "what can i buy for around $20k that comes with a manual transmission that's pretty good on gas and very fun to drive... and has space for things (coolers, dogs, whatever) and is fast?" an S4 wagon is all i could think of.

what am i looking at here? id want to find one with less than 75k miles, preferably less than 50k. what are common problems? what is the best engine option? aren't some turbos and others normally aspirated? if so, what is the general preference of the two?

im looking for the good, the bad and the ugly, please.


in the mean time, ill nose around and look for answers.


thanks for your time.

 

and when i say S4, im thinking the B6 model, i think... or earlier if those are more solid.

 

I haven't checked out prices lately, but when I was looking they were at about mid 20's for a b6 with around 50,000 miles and the avants(especially those with sticks) are rarer and a little more expensive. The only engine options are twin turbo v6 in the b5's and a v8 in the b6's and b7's. The v8 is generally more reliably and cheaper to fix(don't have to worry about turbos going) and gets really really crappy mileage and has less modding options. The ttv6 gets relatively good mileage and has the potential to be an absolute beast if you are interested in modding and have some money.

 

For $20k, you can find a higher mileage B6 (2004-05) S4 with somewhere between 60-70k miles. But the B6's are not great on mileage, you'll be looking at 13mpg around town, and about 20-21 on the highway depending on your speed. The B6's are a lot more reliable than the B5s but are worse on gas mileage. Keep in mind if you want something fast, you're not going to get great mpg.

You might want to look at a new A4 with an I4 which get a lot better mpg and have some modding potential to make than decently quick.

 

not really looking to mod anything. i left that stage of my life with my BMW's back in the 90's.

better highway mileage is sort of relative... 22 to 24 mpg would work fine for me. my friends M5 gets about that or a little better on the highway.

so, you guys are saying the V8 is the way to go?

 

i have an s4 v8 (b7) sedan. i will tell you from firsthand experience, that the v8 is thirsty compared to the tt v6 or the new fsi engines. you will get less than 22 to 24 mpg highway...more realistically you are looking at approximately 16 to 18 mpg hwy (20 on a very, very,very good run); city will be around 8-10 mpg. You can throw out all those numbers if you choose to run the tiptronic on the "s" mode. A BMW will, in most cases, be more frugal on gas because of the 2wd config versus the awd. (more wheels to drive, more engine power required= more gas needed to burn).

 

but i guess the point i want to make is, its an awd, high performance car...so, gas mileage should be the least of your priorities in this situation. i would say gas mileage for the v8 is decent (just because for what it is). but if you compared it to tt v6 or even the FSI, those are more frugal engines. since you arent looking to mod anything, i would suggest a newer (b6 or b7). if you do decide to go back to modding, dont fret...options will soon be out. supercharger kits for the v8 will be out by next year, performance chips are now available, CIA kits are also available, exhausts available, etc. I personally like the V8 because it does not have the turbo. i like the power right there on tap and not having to wait for the engine to reach that "sweet spot". no turbo lag. straight out power on demand whenever you want it.

 

around my area, the going rate for b7 s4's is around $35k to $40k at the dealerships (mileage less than 50,000 miles).

 

AWD = DRIVE TRAIN RESISTANCE

my landcruiser is the same way..... just coming off cruise it slows way the hell down on it's on.


im going to start looking for a V8. a turbo would be fine but id have to know how well the previous owner took care of it.

 

thanks for the comments so far.


when i say im not interested in mods..... id like something in the high 200's to 300 plus horse power, stock.