2010 Esquire Car of the Year… and I totally agree
I bought a 2010 Audi S4 a few months back after my son Drew and I went for a test drive that we are still smiling about. This remarkable sedan handles curves like none other and just thinking of the engaging sound of its 7-speed dual clutch transmission in action is right up there with Mom’s pecan pie. Ponce de Leon should have made this discovery – I feel like a kid again every time I hear the rumble of that sweet engine. Mine is black with a sporty black leather interior and one awesome Bang and Olufsen audio system. Driving – or even just looking at – this German prize always gets my heart really pumping.
Well a few days ago, Esquire named the Audi S4 its Car of the Year calling it “the most joyous, breathtaking, sophisticated (and, get this: attainable) car you can buy.”
What can I say? Of course, I totally agree. This beast has a near perfect blend of performance and luxury in a lush but understated wrapper… incredibly fun to drive – around curves especially if you opt for the active rear axle as I did. Plus it’s quite affordable (under $50k… in the mid-50′s nicely equipped) and gets unexpected gas mileage – high teens in town, upper 20′s on the highway. Audi has been on a roll lately, even increasing sales in the midst of an economic recession. Their engineering and attractive design behind an impressive line of cars like the S4 is proving to be a winning formula. And there’s plenty of room for my camera gear since Audi enlarged this year’s car versus the previous A4/S4, plus the rear seats instantly lay flat for station wagon-like storage. This Audi appears bigger than the BMW 3-series, seemingly closer to – but smaller than – a 5-series. For me, just right, though taller, long legged backseat riders might still take issue.
Look for this S4′s magnificent supercharged V6 engine to find its way into none other than Porsche’s upcoming high performance Cayenne Hybrid SUV (yes, a Porsche hybrid). VW’s upcoming Toureg SUV will also get a version of this sporty V6 engine. The torque of this hot V6 is actually beyond last year’s highly touted and throaty V8 found in Audi’s sexy S5 coupe.
And with all that torque and the lighter weight of 6 cylinders instead of 8, the resulting performance is nothing less than hair raising. Yes, there’s lots of driving excitement here. Check out the Esquire story.
And thanks to my on-the-ball salesman Patrick Wolff at Jim Ellis Audi in Atlanta for keeping me posted on this exciting recognition for the S4. Well deserved. It’s no wonder they’re out-of-stock at the moment: these wheels really rock… and roll.
