Following on from RR's excellent review of the S4, I wanted to provide a review of the Avant that started it all.
http://www.mk5golfgti.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4979.msg76463#msg76463Excellent review - thanks!
It looks like a lovely car. I've got a thing for Audi Avants...
....Audi have resolved the 'estate car' styling perfectly - Most other manufacturers look like they have merely tacked an extension on their saloon car version.
I'm the same - Saloons leave me cold but the Avants are really mean looking - Phat!!
I have however been slightly scared of performance Audis since my old RS2. It didn't matter what I asked the Audi garage to do, the bill always seemed to be pre-printed at €1500 . It was an expensive car to keep in the manner it was accustomed to.
My thing for Avants started when I read this Topgear magazine review of the RS2 back in 1994, it took me 10 years to afford and find one, but I did in the end (am I the only person with a cars I will own before I die list?).
http://rs246.com/downloads/AudiRS2B4/Docs/RS246_AudiRS2_TopGearArticle_Nov94.pdfI simply couldn't believe that a family estate car with 4 doors could deliver this kind of performance.
WHY WOULD YOU BUY THIS CAR?It is the car that started the uber estate genre. There would be no AMG Kombi, no BMW M5 Touring, no S4 Avant, no RS4 Avant and no RS6 Avant if it were not for this car.
Only 2200 of these were ever made by Porsche for Audi, with only 180 RHD examples between the years of 1994 and 1996. In fact, it was built in the 959 production facilities in Weissach and carries both a Porsche chassis number and an Audi chassis number.
It was as fast as the contemporary Porsche 911 C4. And since it was actually a Porsche, it was the only model Audi have ever offered, up until now with the R8, that had no speed restriction as standard.
The model was never offered for sale to the USA.
SOURCING:They are getting very hard to find now. Especially in good un-tampered with condition. It’s best to trawl RS246.com and talk to owners to get a feel for the market and the cars as most are known now.
OVERVIEW:So, what was an RS2? Well it was Audi’s answer to the BMW M3. Audi had the S2 at the time, but it was just nowhere near the performance of the 2.8litre E36 M3 or the new evo edition 3.2 litre E36 that was just coming out. They had to act fast and commissioned Porsche to help them.
Porsche were supplied an Audi 80 Avant shell, the S2’s Quattro torsen system and 5 cylinder in-line engine and told to get on with it.
And this is what they created:
It's bog standard specification is 315HP and 410NM. It's 0 to 60mph time is 4.8 secs and it's top speed is 163mph.
They painted them in a mixture of Porsche and Audi colours, mines for example, was Porsche Polar Silver.
It's powered by a 4 valve per cylinder 5 cylinder, turbo charged, in-line Audi engine, extensively reworked by Porsche. The exhaust cam is different, the inlet is different, the intercooler is different, the turbo is very different. The turbo is a KKK K26 Turbo with an external wastegate.
Power is transmitted to all 4 wheels via 6 gears and a lockable Torsen differential.
The only engine modification I made was to fit a Stratmospheric Hyperboost Diverter valve because,as is common, the Bosch diaphragm based unit had disintegrated.
Suspension on my car was by Eibach (springs) and Koni (dampers) with standard RS2 ARBS (which were different to the S2. Double wishbones at the rear with MacPherson struts at the front to tighten it up a bit.
Brakes are off-course by Porsche as standard. There were two versions of the brakes offered to customers. My car had the optional ‘big red’ 993 turbo kit which were 322mm cross drilled disks clamped by 4 Piston Brembo calipers and the standard brakes were very like those supplied on the 968. The ABS system was also by Porsche.
Wheels were 7J 17inch Porsche CUP Wheels (standard) wrapped in my case in 225/45 ZR 17 Michelin Pilot Sport tyres. RS2s were originally fitted by a specially developed Dunlop SP SPORT 8000 tyre with a weird 245 width – but these were really hard to find and if you went to another tyre type you had to use a 225 width instead of a 245.
The exhaust system is standard at 2.75 inchs in size and featured two parallel metallic core sports catalysers and highflowing silencers.
I changed the audio to a Harmon Kardon Becker Mexico Pro CD head unit and Cerwin Vega component speakers.
Vehicle lighting was the Standard RS2 lighting which I supplemented by fitting an aftermarket Xenon HID Kit.
The body kit, lighting, mirrors and the rear tailgate were also unique to the RS2 using some bits from the 911.
DRIVING:It was a good car to drive. It made the trademark Audi 5 pot warble. It's handling characteristic was a little nose led as many performance Audis are and a bit prone to under-steer, so you had to use a slow in, fast out approach. The big KKK turbo provided quite a bit of lag down low in the rev range, therefore you needed to really be in the right gear with the revs up to get the best out of it. But once you did that, it’s performance was ballistic.
One of it’s party tricks was, of course, launching. It was quicker 0 to 30 than a McLaren F1 supercar because of traction. You held the revs at 5000 rpm and then, letting the clutch out a little to feel the transmission take up slack, just side stepped the clutch and then with a chirp from the tyres, the thing would take off like a scalded cat. My mind could hardly command my arm to change gear fast enough.
A stand out feature of the car was the grip the thing could generate. And it’s straight line power was unbelievable, even by today’s standards, it’s still a quick car some 15 years on.
PLUS POINTS:- It’s special and to my mind the exterior looks have hardly aged.
- There aren’t many of them around
- They have a huge amount of character
- They are already classics with a cult following
- Put a Milltek exhaust on it and have the Bosch Motronic ECU remapped and 400 to 500 hp can be seen without engine modifications.
- Depreciation proof
MINUS POINTS: - There aren’t many of them around, so they are hard to find if you want one.
- Few people know how to really look after them
- They are expensive to maintain
- You need an excellent relationship with a specialist like QST Kim Collins.
- I could only get my car with a fake wood interior (yuk) and 4 spoke wheel, but if you can, find one with the carbon interior and the three spoke steering wheel (circa 95MY) - much nicer inside.
SUMMARY:An awesome piece of Audi road car history. The blueprint for the excellent RS models we have now.
