There are rumblings emanating from the rumour mills that suggest that Audi is about to cease production of the blistering RS4.
Rumours within the automotive industry are rife – from ideas that cash-strapped Fiat might consider buying Land Rover and Jaguar to the stir caused by a heavily taped up prototype roaring around the Nürburgring that will allegedly cause Ferrari sleepless nights. Well, this time is further fuelling the rumour machine with its latest suggestion that Audi is preparing to put the RS4 out to pasture.
According to sources close to the British publication, production of the RS4 is about to cease to make way for the massively powerful RS6, which is due to make an appearance at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September. The RS6 is currently in the advanced stages of testing and is reported to sport a 5,0 litre twin-turbo V10 capable of delivering between 387 kW and 410 kW.
The RS4 saloon was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 2005. The Cabriolet and Avant versions, which appeared a year later, are said to remain in production for the time being.
The news has come something of a shock to many, given the huge popularity of the RS4 and the fact that, at R622 000, it sits in a considerably different price bracket to its replacement’s closest equivalent, the R 806 500 S6.
Although Audi has neither confirmed or denied the allegations, there are a couple of indicators that lend some weight to the argument for canning the current RS4.
Firstly, the A4, upon which the RS4 is based, is already quite long in the tooth as far as the rest of Audi’s model line up goes and is due for replacement soon. There is also the small matter of the RS5 being added to the mixture – this model is reported to make use of the RS4’s 309 kW 4,2 litre V8, but with the addition of two small turbochargers power is reputed to be closer to 373 kW and 678 N.m. This car could well fill the gap left behind by the RS4 should these speculations bear fruit.
