Audi RS4 Cabriolet Confirmed for North America
Until the R8 arrives in dealerships, Audi’s best performance machine available for purchase is the awesome RS4. This compact luxury sedan, based off the popular A4 Sedan, is a phenomenal performer thanks to its high-revving V8 engine, and the inescapable grip of its quattro all-wheel drive system. If that weren’t enough, the RS4 is now a permanent member of the Audi range! What could be better? No, Audi doesn’t have any plans to offer the Avant version on this side of the Atlantic, but they will be bringing over a cabriolet instead. Previously Audi stated that it would not be bringing the RS4 Convertible to North America, but Ingolstadt has thankfully changed its mind and will bring approximately 300 units of the open-topped RS4 for model year 2008.
Essentially the RS4 Cabriolet will feature the same mechanical content that the four-door RS4 is endowed with, including the wonderful magnetic ride suspension system and the rear-biased 40:60 quattro all-wheel drivetrain. With its strong, 420 horsepower engine producing 317 lb-ft of torque, plus its six-speed manual transmission, this new Audi will be one of the quickest ways to motor about under open skies. Besides the Porsche 911 Turbo and vastly more expensive Lamborghini Gallardo and Murcielago, the RS4 Cabriolet is the only all-wheel drive high-performance convertible on the market.
What can’t be had are the RS4’s Recaro sports seats, as they do not tip forward for access to rear of the car. Instead it gets the normal A4 Cabriolet seats, which are not as well bolstered. The car will also feature the excellent Acoustic Roof system which is so good at isolating road and wind noise that it’s as quiet as the sedan. It makes you really wonder if having a folding hardtop roof is necessary.
With deliveries starting this autumn, you can bet that all 300 units will be spoken for by the time that 2008 rolls around. We Canadians will be getting RS4 Cabriolets as well, but the pricing and the number of units allocated to our market has yet to be decided. We estimate that pricing will start somewhere in the vicinity of $115,000 CAD.
And speaking of the regular RS4, two new option packages have surfaced for the super-sedan. The first is the Titanium Package which we’ve seen and tested on the regular A4. It includes titanium-coloured wheels, and gloss black exterior trim instead of the matted aluminum. The car also receives piano black trim instead of carbon fibre as well as a black headliner. The second package is the Exclusive package that consists of crimson-coloured leather seats with black bolsters, crimson-coloured piping and stitching, plus Audi Exclusive badges. Starting in 2008, all RS4s will also receive Bluetooth hands-free cellphone connectivity plus satellite radio as standard equipment.