“ I have a sneaking suspicion that I am sitting about four feet away from one of the greatest engines ever made. – J. Clarkson ”
With, wing-back Recaro leather seats, carbon trim and pristine alloy wheels shod in new Michelin Pilor Sport 5 tyres and original DRC susupension.

Background
The Car That Gave Audi Its Soul Back

For many years, Audi had dined out on the reputation they’d earned themselves with the original Quattro, a car that created an entirely new category and became iconic almost overnight.

But, as the years passed by and Audi conspicuously failed to replace the Quattro with anything even half as good, the ghostly presence of the firm’s legendary fire-breathing rally-spawned monster became more of a curse than a blessing.

Then, in 1999/2000, the 380bhp twin-turbocharged 2.7-litre V6 RS4 arrived, and suddenly Audi were back in the game. But the car was not without its critics – gaining both a cult following and a reputation for being a bit of a crude bruiser with rather unrefined manners.

The 2005 vintage (B7) RS4 changed everything. Out went the shouty turbos, in came a naturally aspirated 4.2-litre V8 that revved to 8500rpm (limited to a measly 7000rpm until the car reached the right operating temperature) and had a mid-range punch that could take your breath away.

This was a car that didn’t just make BMW's E46 M3 seem somewhat underpowered, it was at least its equal in the handling and ride stakes, and beat it hands down for grip.

The famous Cotswold sheep farmer and pub landlord Jeremy Clarkson raced a rock-climber to the top of a mountain in a Top Gear review that was silly even by their standards.

He ‘lost’, but nevertheless found himself telling viewers that the RS4 was a “biblically” better car than the BMW M3.

Bold words. In those days, it was a hanging offence to suggest that anything might be better than an M3.

Power is fed to all four wheels (split 40:60 – front-to-rear) via a Getrag six-speed manual ‘box and Audi’s proprietary quattro drivetrain.

Audi’s Electronic Differential Lock can brake a spinning wheel, restoring grip across an individual axle. Dynamic Ride Control adds variable hydraulic damping to correct pitch and roll, the track is 1.5 inches wider at the front and almost two at the rear, and the ride height is just over an inch lower all round than that of the bog-standard models.

The 14.4-inch Brembo front brakes come from the Lamborghini Gallardo.

The Audi RS4, especially in its sleeper Avant estate guise, comes as close to the template of the ultimate all-round performance car as anything you might think of.

Everywhere you look, there’s something clever or remarkable going on, and all of it is packaged in a luxurious high-spec five-door estate car.

One that does 0-60mph in 4.9 seconds, 0-100 in 11.1, all the while the snarling V8 "roaring like a wounder tiger" (J Clarkson).

In a 2005 review, Autocar wrote:

“As the revs rise, the V8 adopts a pure howl that continues to rise in pitch if not in tone. And it just keeps going and going and going with utter smoothness as if it would like to do this all day long, braying constantly until the fuel tank was dry. Shift into third with the quick and surprisingly satisfying gear change and the RS4 suddenly feels very, very rapid. It’s the sort of power delivery that just keeps flowing as you snick up through the gears, so you can’t help growing horns and wanting to drive it flat out as much as possible…”

Yep. Sounds about right for the car that finally banished the ghost of the original Quattro and gave the marque a deserving modern icon for a new generation.

Overview
This bright red RS4 Avant comes to us from a vendor who has owned it since September 2024.

It is in very good all-round condition - inside, outside and underneath - and has evidently been thoroughly well cared-for and curated throughout the course of its 20-year life.

Naturally, over that 20 year period the car will have lost a little power.

It’s a law of entropy that’s every bit as inevitable as a DFS sofa sale.

Whatever the car, with every passing year, one or two more horses escape from the stable and disappear into the distance, and an equal number of torques tunnel out of the basement boiler-room where they traditionally live.

So, what left the Neckarsulm factory with 420 bhp under the bonnet in 2006 will have rather less to boast about two decades later.

Unless, of course, someone (like the vendor) has taken the sensible decision to restore the factory power (and add a bit more for good measure) with some Stage 1 and 2 tuning, courtesy of renowned Audi fettlers and whisperers, MRC Tuning of Banbury.

We have driven the car and can attest to the fact that it goes about its sporting business with all the enthusiasm and élan you could hope for.

In addition to its remapping and tuning enhancements, it has been de-flapped and now sports an upgraded oil cooler.

The result of all this judicious work is a car that sets off like a jilted warthog and builds momentum with all the relentless urge of the Flying Scotsman.

And, being an Audi and made in Germany by Germans, it is properly screwed together, feels like it’s been machined from a single billet of tungsten or marble, and is utterly devoid of any annoying rattles or squeaks.

In other words, it couldn’t be any more Teutonic if it was wearing leather shorts and eating a sausage.

Gunther and Klaus must have been very pleased with themselves when they waved this one goodbye from the end of the production line.

It drives as well as it looks, and it looks great to us.

Exterior
The bodywork is straight, true and untroubled by anything so vulgar as a dink, dent, ripple, crease or fold of any real consequence that we can see.

The shut-lines and panel gaps?

It’s an Audi. They’re good.

All four wheels are excellent and would appear to have lived their lives in blissful ignorance of such perils as kerbs or other roadside hazards and obstacles.

They are shod in pretty new Michelin Pilot Sport rubber, all of which looks to have a good deal of useful life left in it.

The red paintwork is vibrant and possessed of plenty of shine and depth of lustre.

In general, the car has no more than an entirely standard number of light scratches and stone chips for its age and mileage.

We noticed the odd stone chip or two on the bonnet; a touched-up scratch on the offside of the bonnet; some peeling lacquer at the bottom of the driver’s door and some scratches and signs of a previous touch-up on the sill beneath it; a small, shallow dink and a touched-up scratch on the tailgate; various scratches on the rear bumper; some fading to paintwork on the rear spoiler; and some road-rash on the n/s/f sill.

From what we can see, the badging, lights, lenses and other exterior fixtures and fittings are all in very good condition.

View car and current bid price HERE