Seems like a lot of people are comparing the M340 to the B9 S4. I assume that this is because they are in the same price range and have similar specs.
Unfortunately, it’s not a great comparison. First of all, the Audi Sport Diff blows every other sport diff away because it has too... the car would be a nightmare to drive without it.
That said, I wouldn’t advise anyone to buy the B9 S4. I bought mine for stupid reasons. It has a nice interior and looks really aggressive lowered with a honey comb grill.
https://tagmotorsports.com/gallery/a...-2-wheels.html
So it looks great like the one in the link, and it seems ok driving wise during a test drive, but it’s a different animal once it’s warmed up.
For starters, you don’t realize this during a test drive but all of the settings for drive mode only change chassis parameters. The car really only has two drive modes which are drive and sport. If that weren’t bad enough, the drive mode controls both the engine map and transmission sift points.
Dynamic only makes the suspension stiffer, sport diff more aggressive, exhaust louder, and changes steering feedback.
The drive mode is ok until the car is good and warm: Once the car is warm and you scooting around town it turns into a dangerously laggy POS in drive mode. You step on it and it does nothing. Unless you are content to feel like you are always on a Sunday drive this mode is unusable.
In sport mode, it’s exciting for a few minutes, but it quickly becomes exhausting to drive, and it burns so much fuel. I get maybe 18 mpg in sport mode taking it easy in mixed driving in stock trim.
With my current modifications utilizing a few gallons of E85 as a octane boost, I routinely get about 12 mpg. I can empty a whole tank on the track in 25 minutes.
Unless you are content to feel like your always on a race track sport mode is not usable.
Bottom line, don’t buy the new S4. I drove a 335i N54 car that belongs to a friend and 340i rented from Turo for a few days. I like the fact BMWs have numerous drive mode controls and that you can change the engine MAP without changing the transmission and vice versa.
I also test drove an M340: I agree with some of the ppl here that it’s chassis is not as nimble as the S4. It does feel big and heavy to me.
IMO, if you have an F30 particularly one with CarPlay keep it.
If you have a e90 335 it might be getting costly to maintain at this point, but if it’s not costing you an arm and a leg, I’d keep that too.
If you have to buy a car now. I’d say don’t get the S4. The M340 is a-little too heavy IMO but it’s better than the S4 as a daily.
If your looking at a 330, I’d say the A4 is a real contender with its DCT. The DCT in Audi’s is perfection. If they had put it in the S4, I bet I wouldn’t be complaining about my car so much. That said, if you’re look at the A4 you better watch that price tag. It’s best options may but you in the same price range as a base S4.
In summary, the B9 S4 is undrivable. The A4 is pretty awesome, but will probably cost you more than a 330 with the options that I’d recommend. The M340 and 330 are both too heavy, but it’s better than buying a car that’s undrivable and possibly better than paying an arm and a leg to Audi to option out the A4 (it’s not out of the question for a properly optioned A4 to cost over 55k).
I hope this gives some people a bit of perspective on the Offerings from Audi.