It may seem ridiculous to bring the family station wagon to a track day, but when you drive an Audi, anything’s possible. The Audi RS 4 Avant combines awe-inspiring performance with do-everything practicality, and they’ve somehow made it even faster. Set to be unveiled as a limited-run model, the new and updated Audi RS 4 Avant Edition 25 Years is an anniversary model to celebrate the beloved 1999 B5-generation RS 4; a properly mad super-wagon. And, far from a slight redesign or a special trim, you’ll get to enjoy improved performance.
Despite only intending to sell just 50 units for the UK market (priced from £115,880 each), Audi has made some serious changes under the hood of the new RS 4 Avant Edition 25 Years. For starters, we get more power, with the 2.9-litre biturbo V6 now outputting a healthy 470PS and 600Nm of torque. That’s a healthy 20PS increase over the stock RS 4 Avant. On top of that, Audi will bundle in ceramic brakes as standard and a sports exhaust system. You’ll need the former, as it’ll sprint from 0 to 62mph in just 3.7 seconds; 0.4 seconds faster than the RS 4.
Track-Ready Wagon To Break Lap Records
Of course, a track-ready car is more than just a lot of power. As such, Audi has tweaked the RS 4 Avant Edition 25 Years’ suspension over the stock RS 4. It now comes standard with sports suspension, offering you a manually adjustable coilover that you can fine-tune depending on which track you’re visiting. Compared to the stock RS 4, you’re also getting a lower ride height of 10mm, but you can manually lower it by another 10mm. Additionally, Audi will throw in the quattro sports differential, combining greater agility and rear-biased power delivery.
In the ‘Dynamic’ driving mode, Audi promises more looseness, which to my years, translates to more fun. The transmission control unit has been re-tweaked further too, thus ensuring that you’ll get faster shift times and greater separation between drive modes. Other than that, Audi has increased the negative camber on the front axle (by about two degrees), and they’ve since installed a set of stiffer control arms. A fixed subframe on the rear on top of that, and overall, you’re looking at a family wagon that guarantees better handling and sharper steering.
More Spice And Performance For The Family Car
To make sure that you can put down all that power, Audi will fit the Audi RS 4 Avant Edition 25 Years with a set of lovely and grippy Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres. Rather generously, lucky owners will also get an additional set of tyres, the track-focused P Zero Trofeo RS. The latter will come with Pirelli’s Track Adrenaline system, which features sensors inside the tyres. These will help you keep track of, in real-time, data about your tyre pressures and temperature, and you could even do it with your phone. It might even recommend the right setup when you’re on track.
And hey, what’s the point of a fast, expensive wagon, if you’re not going to let everyone else know about it, too? Audi wants to make sure you’ll be seen from a mile away, so you’ll get a beautiful Imola Yellow paint option, an exclusive brightwork for Audi. Alongside special RS 4 Edition 25 Years badging and distinct yellow decorative stitching, you’ll also get more standard equipment by default, like a B&O 3D sound system. All in all, it’s a pretty fitting homage to such a special car, but you ought to hurry, as the order books are probably closing soon.
