The Audi S4 is a 4-door saloon/sedan / 5-door estate/wagon (Avant) from Audi, built from 1991 to 2025, when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Under the bonnet: 2.2 .
Where it came from
The Audi S4 is the high performance variant of Audi's compact executive car A4. The original Audi S4, built from 1991 until 1994, was a performance-oriented version of Audi's 100 saloon/sedan. All subsequent S4s, beginning with the "B5" platform car in 1997, have been based on the Audi A4; and as the A4 has evolved from one generation to the next, so has the S4. Audi's platform generation names, beginning with "B5" in 1997, are used throughout to distinguish between generations/evolutions of these products. Like its regular A4 counterpart, all S4 variants have had longitudinally oriented, front-mounted engines.
All versions of the S4 have their transmission mounted immediately at the rear of the engine in a longitudinal orientation, in the form of a transaxle, and like all Audi "S" cars, are only available as standard with Audi's quattro all-wheel drive (AWD) system, using a Torsen-based centre differential system. A more powerful internal combustion engine, larger upgraded brakes, firmer suspension, larger wheels, and distinctive sheetmetal, styling cues and badging have always been amongst the many upgrades the S4 receives over its mainstream 100 and A4 siblings. In markets where the even higher-performance and further-visually-differentiated Audi RS 4 is not offered, the S4 is the top-of-the-line trim of the A4 family. A single turbocharged 2.2-litre inline five-cylinder powered the original C4 version, and a 2.7-litre twin turbocharged V6 engine was found in the B5 generation. The B6 and B7 versions shared a common 4.2-litre V8 engine, the first time that a V8 engine wa
Under the skin
Power comes from 2.2 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. It weighs 1730 kg. It shifts through a 5-speed manual / 6-speed manual / 4-speed automatic. The wheelbase is 2692 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
Its family tree is legible: its successor was the Audi C4 S6, Audi B5 S4; assembly was at Neckarsulm, Germany. Its contemporaries in the catalogue — the Dodge Viper, the Volvo 850, the Opel Astra — show what else the money bought that year. Nearby in the Audi catalogue sit the Audi 200 and the Audi 225.
What it costs now
The money question first: $13,300–$65,000 is the typical asking range today, and running it — fuel and maintenance at its age — costs about $3,505–$6,940 a year. Insurance sits around $1,490–$3,420 a year. The figures are class-level estimates from the federal record, with the formula on the methodology page; the model-year pages carry complaints, recalls and repair costs year by year.