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Text by Dubspeed Media Staff, Zerin Dube
Photos by Matt Chow and Zerin Dube

Imagine this scenario. You have been a car enthusiast your entire life. As a child, you thumbed through all the magazines looking at the pictures, watched all the automotive TV shows, played with all the toy cars, and even ran around the house making race car noises. Only now it’s twenty years later and you find yourself still doing the same things.

Don’t worry, you aren’t crazy. These are normal things for any self-respecting car enthusiast to do, except these days your toys are a little bit more expensive. You’ve stepped up from your first Honda Accord hand-me-down into a nice, expensive, impractical sports car. You race on the real tracks instead of your Tyco slot-car track. Instead of making race car noises on your big-wheel, you do it behind the wheel of your real car. All is going well, and you are enjoying life….but then you go and make what could be the biggest mistake of any car enthusiast’s life. You get married.

Yes, that’s right, marriage. Marriage has been the downfall of almost every friend that I know when it comes to their car habit. They’ve gone from driving their Porsches around and being playboys to becoming mini-van or sport-utility vehicle chauffeurs. They’ve sold off their weekend race cars to buy trucks that handily carry the useless things the better half makes you buy from Home Depot.

So what do you do when the better half tells you to get rid of your fun car and buy an SUV? Run to the nearest Chevy dealer and buy a Suburban? I don’t think so. Let’s face it, you want a Suburban as much as you want a hole drilled in your head.

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Well, thankfully, the folks over at Audi have come up with a solution to all your problems, the new Audi S4 Avant. The S4 Avant is more true to being a sport utility vehicle than most of the monstrosities I see rolling down the road these days. As much as people do not want to admit it, most sport-utes are just bloated station wagons with big tires and poor gas mileage anyway. Maybe I’m missing something, but where exactly does the sport in “Sport Utility” come from again?

The S4 Avant solves these problems by addressing both the utility needs of a family, along with the sporting needs of a true enthusiast. The S4 Avant seats five people comfortably, has 59 cubic feet of storage with the rear seats folded (or 27.8 cubic feet with them up), does the quarter mile in under 14 seconds, and can still be taken out on a race track for weekend lapping sessions.

Whatever you do, don’t call this S4 a station wagon. Audi designers have gone to great lengths to make the S4 Avant look much more elegant than your parent’s old wood-paneled Pontiac Safari.

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Even while standing still, the S4 Avant’s sporty personality stands out. This has been achieved by using a discreetly rising shoulder line that creates a sense of power and tension like a stretched muscle ready to exert all its force. These proportions of high body panels and flat windows are usually reserved for sports cars, not wagons. The flared wheel arches of the S4 Avant also give onlookers an idea of the muscle that lies beneath. New for 2006 are the 18” BBS CH lookalike wheels that are standard with the premium package. I for one don’t particularly care for the OEM version of the CH, and much prefer the 5 spoke RS6-type wheel that was an option on 2005.5 models, but they still get the job done.

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The front and rear fascias of the S4 Avant incorporate distinct styling cues such as the two piece taillamps and the waterfall grille from Audi’s Nuvolari quattro coupé concept, which brings the styling in line with the rest of Audi’s new generation.

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The distinct waterfall grille, along with the very sharply shaped bi-xenon headlamps, help create an extremely aggressive look that reminds me of an eagle staring down its prey. People tend to get out of your way when they see you coming up behind them in the rear view. The new S4 Avant looks that aggressive. Thankfully though, Audi still managed to retain the cleanliness and elegance that they are so famous for.

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Once inside the S4 Avant, the driver is greeted with a very nice interior which is as much sport as it is luxury. The silk nappa leather covered Recaro sport seats provide plenty of lateral support, and are quite comfortable on even the longest of trips. The instrument cluster of the S4 Avant is finished with S-exclusive grey-backed gauges and the distinct S4 logo on the tachometer. The beltline of the dashboard comes standard with brushed aluminium trim, but optional carbon fiber trim is also available. The leather wrapped 3-spoke steering wheel is thick and comfortable to grip in just about any position. Since our test car had the 6-speed Tiptronic transmission, the steering wheel came equipped with paddles mounted to the back that allow the driver to change gears no matter what angle the steering wheel is pointed.

Six-speed Interior Pictured

What makes the S4 Avant so special though is the cargo area. Audi has very thoughtfully designed the cargo area of the Avant to make good use of all the available space. The loading floor is low and the rear hatch opens high. This means not having to lift heavy objects too high, and you don’t have to worry about hitting your head on the rear hatch. The sides of the cargo area are flat and free of any space-robbing bulges. With the rear seats folded, the S4 Avant opens up to a cavernous 59 cubic feet of cargo space. In comparison, the popular Toyota Highlander SUV which is neither sporty nor luxurious only holds 39.7 cubic feet of cargo with its third row of seats folded down. The only downside is seating is limited to a maximum of two passengers if you need the full 59 cubic feet of space…but it is a sacrifice I’d be willing to make to gain everything else the S4 Avant offers. Besides, the more passengers you carry, the higher the chances of someone spilling something and messing up the S4 Avant’s gorgeous interior. No one wants that, now do they?

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But enough talk about the plushness and the utility of the S4 Avant. The real reason you want this car isn’t to haul around the kids and their sporting equipment…you want this car for its performance. Wagons have typically been slow and clumsy, but not the S4 Avant. Powered by a 340 horsepower 4.2 liter V8, the S4 Avant is a true sport utility vehicle. A sprint to 60 miles per hour from a dead stop comes in just 5.7 seconds (5.4 seconds if you opt for the 6-speed manual), and the quarter-mile is covered in 13.9 seconds (13.8 seconds for the 6-speed manual), all the while the exhaust sings a beautiful baritone note. By comparison, Nissan’s purpose built 350Z sports car does the quarter-mile in just a tick over 14 seconds. Not too bad for a wagon, eh?

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The S4 Avant isn’t all straight line fun either. With the help of Audi’s legendary quattro all-wheel drive system, the S4 Avant feels solid and confident around twisty roads despite quite a bit of body roll. The sport tuned suspension also does a good job of providing a firm but comfortable ride on even the roughest road surfaces, and keeps the car composed through undulating roads and corners with quick switchbacks. When it comes time to stop, the massive 13.6” ventilated front rotors and 11.9” rear rotors help the S4 Avant stop from 60 to 0 in just 120 feet.

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With a price as-tested of $57,845 including destination, the S4 Avant doesn’t come cheap. Keep in mind though that this is one of the few automobiles you can buy on the market today that offers a level of sport you would normally associate with a true sports car, while offering the utility of a wagon. And when you are done at the race track or local mall, you can take the S4 Avant out for a night on the town without losing any style points. Sure the S4 Avant might not be the fastest thing out there, or even hold the most cargo, but it offers one of the best combinations of utility and sport on the market. You are happy that you don’t have to give up all the fun of having a sports car. Your better half is happy that they have a stylish vehicle to take the kids and their equipment to soccer practice in. And both of you get to enjoy the beautiful atmosphere and serenity of a luxury car. Add up the costs of having three separate cars to do what one S4 Avant does, and the S4 suddenly becomes quite a bargain.