I went and had a look at one today. I was actually shocked about how much more presence they have in real life than in photos. The arches seemed much more flared and aggressive in the flesh. The engine really is shoe horned in. I can feel the urge to get one building. No doubt phenomenally expensive to maintain me thinks. I think I am leaning towards a red one. Just the small matter of selling my coupe and vx220 turbo to fund it which is the dilemma!!

At least the prices for our VX220''s are now much stronger..personally I wouldn't sell two of my classic and iconic cars for a modern VAG.

https://www.pistonheads.com/features/ph-buying-guides/audi-rs4-b7--ph-buying-guide/28785 looks like a usable muscle car...2 cars sold for 1 new one, would kill it for me; to the ignorant like me one Audi estate looks much like all the others.

Just come out of a 2-year ownership of the saloon RS4. They are horrendously expensive to upkeep, quite a lot of the running gear is bespoke to this model. Be prepared to pay £1000 for a set of front and another £850 for a set of rear brake disks - and only Audi make them so prices are kept high. The cars take four brake pads per side on the front, so around £250 to get those changed too. Fuel consumption wasn’t that bad to be honest for a 4.7 unless you’re booting it everywhere, and keep away from the wing-back seats unless you have a slight physique, getting in and out of those is a real pain anyway.

Fantastic cars to drive though, need the right tyres to keep you on the road, only fit Continentals, everything else will have you upside down in a field somewhere

Have you considered a newer s4 b8? The supercharged 3.0 by many accounts can be tuned relatively easily to keep up with an RS4 and whilst it doesn't have the presence it's a close second I think and cheaper overall too.

RS4 or S4 I would not fit in, but a RS6 or the Daddy S8 would be very nice.

Well as Stevo Knows i own one and it has the Wing backs and i don't have any problem with them and I'm by far from a small person at 6 foot 3 inches and carry a lot more weight at the moment than i normally would.

Ioksotot engine wise i guess you mean 4.2 not 4.7 .

As for discs you don't have to buy Audi ones Theres loads of other companies out there which sell different styles because the later B8 discs and the R8 models use the same discs Just the wavy design instead.

Brake pads are not cheap but no more expensive to be honest that a set of race pads for the coupe. I paid £200 for my last set and its done 10K miles last year and they don't look to have worn at all even with some very spirited driving.

Cost of up keep is no different to any other car just get service yearly and get stuff replaced when needed don't hold out or it will mount up just like any other cars

Ref the B8 shape S4 i wouldn't touch it because of the body styling just isn't the RS model with the wider body plus its a V6 so you don't get that screaming 8400Rpm to play with.

Stevo The Red is a very nice colour and came as an optional extra if i remember rightly

In all the B7 RS 4 will hold its money more than the B8's because its the last manual Audi RS they are bring out and the true RS fans are still buying the B&'s over the newer models.

Agreed a S4 B8 doesn't have the same appeal to hardcore enthusiasts but as it looks like a more regular A4s it also able to be a bit more discrete. Depends what your looking for I guess - thought it was worth considering, especially if a saving means you could keep one of the other cars.

Was looking myself but am now thinking an 3.0tdi A6 Avant Quattro is a better fit as the boot on a S4 Avant is no better than our Civic and the fuel savings would be useful as it's my only car so mileage is reasonably high.

Yeah, apologies, standard car is indeed a 4.2, my car had an absolute fortune spent on it by the previous owner including a re-bore to 4.7 among other mods, it made 503bhp on RicciConcept's rolling road.

Maybe a height thing with the wing-backs, I'm 5'8" and had some difficulty with getting over the side of the seat, maybe those seats were made for the taller person

How much cheaper are the aftermarket disks by the way? I had a real pain of a time finding some for mine, all the RS forums were saying Audi only so I had to go that route.

Can't fault the cars though, wonderful pieces of machinery

I love the RS4 B7 - Avant in blue for me. High motorway mileage makes it just an auto trader dreamer but I have also heard they can be a little pricey to maintain. I guess if you do your research and know the likely costs then it won't be a shock.