Dude, the Altima is everyone's nemesis. Bald tires, 4 hit/runs, low oil light on, and the interior looking like it went to war with the tasmanian devil driven by someone who probably couldn't finance anything else
Having owned a 600 WHP 2001 Audi S4 for 8 years now, I can proudly say they are the most reliable cars on the planet. That is, after you replace everything...
@@colin-nekritz I agree 100% sir. All my cars seem to be money sinks! Its a suprise that my Wife is still with me after all I have put her through with my cars
"People don't care about being right anymore, they only care about being the loudest." I come for the cars, I stay for lines like this. Keep them coming Mr. Regular, it's always a pleasure to watch.
I would say: "People don't care about the right answer anymore, they only care about repeating the wrong answers enough with different words to make themselves sound right and acceptable to the group." That sounds oddly specific because I'm talking about the dangers of thought conformity.
B5 S4 owner here ... owned for the last 6 years and went down the stock to Stage 3 rabbit hole - this car lives on the highway and it's heinous reputation is well deserved. HOWEVER - once the bloody knuckles are healed and the oil leaks disappear, the satisfaction of gapping a Tesla Model 3 Performance on the highway makes the world right again.
@@benjaminandrews5947 and the budget. Race car prices for race car performance, eh. Most race car drivers get sponsors, because they understand the cost of maintaining something that is built on the edge of failure.
@Bry Zeer So? Almost no street car can beat a Plaid, but of course it takes you $150K+ to get one. Dollar for dollar a built B5 S4 can beat just about anything else that can be bought and built on the same budget. RUclips "B5 S4 Vs." and you will understand.
Winning this car would essentially be winning a $1,000 month mechanical bill. I loved these cars, they are beautifully designed and with a turbo V6, AWD, and a stick - what else could you ask for? But, they have left a trail of sorrow in their wake over the years. They've broken stronger men than you, I can assure you
Can’t wait to see the rage when people try and correct you to say it’s a 2.7 not 2.6. Your reviews are hilarious. This is amazing and really perfect for someone who’s like to b5 S4 for the past decade. The gear change comments are so true.
owned one of these for about 4 years until maintenance costs and college made me sell it and buy a miata. you did a great service to the s4. theres nothing like casually doing 160 down the george bush turnpike at 1am with a drink between your legs because the cup holder is made to fit a red bull can.
god your dialogue about PA roads are so accurate. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to do 75 on the tpk with a truck going 40 in the left lane and an old man doing 60 in the right as you approach the 55 mph tunnel
@@JoseSantos-ys3rj sort of, most cops won't give a shit if you're doing 10 over as long as you're obviously paying attention. The people who drive 10+ under the speed limit are more of a problem to be honest.
My 01 S4 has 203k on the clock, just drove it across the country without a hiccup. A simply stage 1 chip adds nearly a hundred horse and torque. It’s fast as hell, stealthy, and can easily get me up and down the ski mountain. What more could you want? I love it.
I've owned mine for almost 18 years and have enjoyed every damn drive in it. Sometimes I go out to the garage and just sit in it and smell the leather, still good after all these years.
These colors were when lead was banned from auto paint so they could not make sharp colors anymore. This is why we were in a wash of beige metallic paints at the time.
Exactly. 20 years ago this car was designed to eat up miles on the autobahn when you could drive for an hour or so at 140mph without hitting large swaths of traffic or speed limits.
The most violent car i ever rode in was a highly modified B5 S4. The acceleration reminded me of a sportbike. PS most repairs to the engine involve removal of the engine. You get pretty fast at it.
The design of this speaks to Mr Reg's observation a while ago that car design peaked in the late 90s/early 00s when safety hadn't caused bulbous lines, this looks so clean it's aged perfectly.
I think there are a lot of reasons a lot of car enthusiasts see this era as the peak of car design. As well as what you describe, they didn't feel over-stylized like a lot of cars these days. And they were the optimal level of sophistication - all the performance and actually useful gadgets we want, but none of the excess infotainment crap cars come with nowadays. They were cars that felt like they were truly meant to be driven, focus on the actual experience of driving it, in a way newer cars don't - new cars feel more like giant cell phones with wheels. By the late 90s/early 2000s cars had achieved everything drivers wanted them to, there wasn't really much more progress to be made that would actually appeal to people. Struggling to compete with each other and continue to provide something "new", just trying to stay relevant, automakers have since gone to adding all sorts of nonsense to their cars and gone way overboard on the styling.
This was an especially handsome car even for its day. There was less exaggeration in exterior styling then, which was tasteful, but made cars look rather alike. Interiors were mostly pretty bad, with terrible materials that aged poorly, but Audi was among the very best, and that shows here.
@@quillmaurer6563 and if you honestly want stupid electronic bullshit, you can add it yourself. That double din head unit slot is ready to receive your Amazon Special Bluetooth Android unit.
@@mikehall3976 True. I even feel this way about my '70s vintage Beetle, which I have equipped with some more sophisticated modern features I find useful but it doesn't have any nonsense I don't want. Added electronic fuel injection, but something I can easily tune and troubleshoot. Added a turbo, to make it a little bit less slow. Heated but not power-actuated seats (that's heavy, complicated, more likely to break, and annoyingly slow). Still manual windows and very basic vents and heat. No power-actuated anything, because who needs it. Fairly good sound system from a simple head unit - I've thought of putting in one of those Android Auto ones with a fold-out screen, mostly to connect to the ECU, but I wouldn't bother with much other than music and MSDroid.
I have a fully specced 2000 A4 1.8T B5 sedan as my daily driver. With cream leather sports seats and Bose. One previous owner. I've owned it for ten years, because I just can't think of a reason to sell it. The most reliable car I've ever had, even at 145K+ miles. With a bit of TLC, these cars will last ages. If you like the looks and overall build quality of the B5 but don't want to pay for the money pit kind of upkeep that the S4 demands, then the 1.8T is a more than reasonable alternative that still feels far from underpowered.It's an absolute bread and butter engine, built across several VW-owned brands in the millions, which was well past its teething problems by about MY 1998/99. A good fix for the mediocre Bose sound is to swap out the rear deck speakers for more substantial 6.5'' drivers. The previous owner of my car installed Pioneer fiberglass-cone drivers, and it really improves the sound greatly.
I've owned B5 S4's since 2007, great cars but not for people who aren't willing to do their own maintenance, preventative maintenance at that. The power under curve is just so nice.
This was the first and last and nicest car I bought new. When I was 26, I had a good job with a good salary and a prosperous year of dot-com investment returns. I spent some of those returns on an S4 sedan, Cactus Green (a weird name for emerald) with silver leather interior. I wanted a WRX wagon, but at the time they weren’t sold in the States yet. I test drove a TT, then noticed S4s on the lot, and my attention turned to them instead after a test drive. I put ten years and 144,000 miles on that S4. The Jim Ellis chain of dealerships in Atlanta did Audi no favors with their oh-by-the-way maintenance surprises. WTF is a “secondary cooling pump?” I don’t know, but it cost $700 to replace. VW can make decent parts out of metal, but hand them electronics or plastic and kiss your money goodbye. A timing belt switch cost $1,700 at the time. I burned through three clutches, $1,300-$2,000 apiece, giving too much throttle in too high a gear uphill, all my fault, 20something hodad that I was. I bought a new set of tires every year thanks to my road trip habit. Had I not read the Audiworld forums at the time, I’d probably have burned thousands more with dumb ECU mods. For a few years, these A4s and subsequent generations were all over the roads in Atlanta, but they’re nowhere to be seen today. You’re more likely to see an old W111 than anything from this generation of Audi. By the time clutch #2 died, I was so sick of owning this car that I sold it way below its value and bought a used 2004 stick-shift Ford Ranger 4cyl instead. The paint was green, the engine was longitudinal, the pedals were three, but it was not quick. Three out of four criteria will do if I’m not paying for Audi manintenance. I still own that Ranger today, 207,000 miles and counting after buying it with 83,000. If I can make it 20,000 more miles, I’ll break my ownership record with that Audi bought new. I am so conflicted about this car. My hatred of red paint does not diminish my love for the car. It was one of the last vaguely German-looking German cars, before every sedan started looking like a damn Camry. Everything you say in the video is accurate. In fact it felt slightly charitable at times. I am buying a mug to get into your raffle, and I will tell myself that it’s appreciation for what you do if I lose (I love you guys’s whole schtick) otherwise Cosmic Forces want me to own this car again if I win, whether to reward me or to punish me. That shifter.
Absolutely right about this being one of the last cars that actually looked "German." I'd say the same about the E46 3 series too, but these late 90's early 2000's Audis aged perfectly design-wise.
In Europe A4 B5 is most reliable and tank car from 90s, and tons of these cars are top choice as old cheap relable, undestroyable car for central-east Europe almost in every country. In west this car is also very popular as old reliable car, so why for you Americans this car is not reliable? These cars making milion km with barely service which is extremal cheap. 2.7 biturbo is again told as one of best and most bulletproof engine of its time. Timing belt set for this engine cost now ~150 euro.
Euro parts prices have always been inflated in the US, and correctly qualified Euro repair labor hours are as well. A shop servicing VWs and Audis has to pay for marque-specific diagnostic tools. Especially in the crammed longitudinal engine bays found in A4s, A5s and older Passats, having to drop the front sub-frame just to access the timing belt adds more labor and drives up the replacement cost. As I wrote above, the local dealership shop did Audi’s reputation no favors. I can only imagine what it costs to repair a Cadillac or Lincoln in Europe.
The gearing of this car obviously makes a lot more sense when you look at it in the context of it's country of origin, one where the Autobahn is a thing. Having multiple long gears with overdrive is a wonderful experience when going for long stints on the Autobahn.
These were built for the Autobahn. To flash the BMW from the left lane that is only going 180kph. For the guy that goes fast not to boast, but to get somewhere fast because his time is worth that much...
@@markmiller3279 I have no idea why car's are stereotyped to particular job roles, maybe that's just American culture, but it's not everywhere else. The only car's here that maybe would be the 3 series, or Fusion / Saturn Aura equivalents would be classed as rep-mobiles, and that architects / designers bought Saabs. A4, car for a tailgating gym bro, nothing more.
As a B5 S4 owner it was great to see a RCR on it! I still don’t understand why these get such a bad rap for reliability. If your use to owning VAG cars or really any other turbocharged euro maintenance isn’t much different. Plus, your a tune and Downpipe’s away from 350whp
It's not just maintenance. That's high, but not extraordinary. It's repairing the complex systems that break down far too frequently. It may not be much worse than other European turbo engines of twenty years ago, but that is a very low standard.
@@markmiller3279 Not sure why these get such a bad rap. I had a 2001 gti with 1.8t hit 450,000km (nearly 300,000 miles) and still purr like a kitten. My friend is still driving it 4 yrs later. My 2000 S4 is very similar except for a couple of easy valve cover gasket replacements. Mine is a Euro import, not sure if that would make much difference though. I've had much more problems with modern vehicles personally.
I own a nice modified stage 3 b5 s4 and though there are many things right in the video there’s a couple mistakes that I’ve noticed throughout the video. One I noticed is the gearing. To me it feels short. You are over 3k rpm cruising at 80mph so it makes cruising at even higher speeds unbearable with an exhaust. I’m also skipping 5th gear in city driving just because the gears are so close to each other. Another thing is engine displacement. It’s 2671cc which rounds up to 2.7 which is what everybody calls it in the Audi world. As for the complexion and reliability, they can definitely be reliable. Mine has over 190k and still pulls off 190psi compression though it’s been tortured throughout it’s life. Currently running around 500whp with all necessary supporting mods. They are a pain to work on especially if it’s your first, but it’s worth it. Parts are relatively cheap on sites like FCP euro which has lifetime warranty on all there products and all you really need is to stay on top of maintenance.
@@ElyciusM nah these engines suck, the break with anything over 300whp, whoever owns one of these cars is an absolute idiot and doesn’t deserve anything good
Same as the rest of us. For some reason people buy them at disgusting interest, and then think they're an F1 driver everywhere they go because their last car was a Sunfire
My theory is this. Sometime in the mid to late 2000's Nissan of America's corporate strategy shifted from providing economical, sporty, and legitimate sports cars for the everyman to, "sell as many cars as possible". Lots of Nissan dealerships were doing no money down no credit/bad credit deals, and the build quality was...not poor, but cheap. No shame there, this is America and most people need cars. But you get some people in cars like that who just don't give a fuck about anything. I see more Altimas driving around without front or rear ends than any other car
Ya know how a certain model just tends to attract people who don't just have zero interest in cars, but zero interest in driving one properly either? The kind of person that has 2 screaming children in the back, a starbucks late half spilled in the cup holder and "healing crystals" super glued to the dashboard. Well the altima seems to be that kind of car right now
i miss my 97 5 speed maxima, for what it was it was pretty quick, i could beat 3 series, RT chargers and would absolutely whoop any civic, i was that guy going 130 dipping thru 5pm traffic
Here in NY, it's always BMW's and older Nissans/Infiniti's swerving around and cutting people off without using their signals. It's like a religion with those cars.
As somebody else already mentioned, the factory tune on the car (250hp) was ridiculously conservative. A different tune and it’s 325hp no problem. Add bigger turbo’s and inter coolers and run it on e85 and 500 hp or more is very obtainable.
I owned 5 different S4's over the years, starting with a 2000 and ending with a 2008. I loved every one of them, and never had any real problems with any of them. I'll admit, however, that I never kept any of them long enough for the factory warranty to expire so I can't comment about them over the long haul. But for the couple of years that I kept each of them, they were great. I was already an Audi fan, as I'd owned a 4000 CSQ, a couple of A4's and a couple of Couple Quattros before the S4 made it to the US. I've also had an RS4 and RS7 after the S4's. Why an S4? I live in Southern California, but was a weekend ski instructor in the local mountains (Big Bear) or Mammoth (in the Sierras) for all of those years. That meant up to 600 miles in a weekend, which is why I turned them over so often. With snow tires on all 4 corners, the cars were unstoppable. I didn't want or need a bigger car, although 3 of the 5 were Avants. Notwithstanding the narrator's remarks, they were great cars on mountain roads and very few cars ever passed me. Particularly in the early 2000's, pretty much the only cars you could get with awd were Audis and Subarus. (I can't stand trucks or SUV's. They always feel like they're going to tip over.) If you wanted some degree of luxury and performance, with winter driving ability - the Audi S cars were the only show in town. I still get nostalgic every time I see one, which occurs more and more infrequently. Since then, although I still drive an awd drive car with power, I've upgraded a bit - to a Panamera Turbo S Sport Turismo. It's conceptually similar to my last S4 Avant - just bigger (quite a bit) and faster (HUGELY!) Not to mention the price...
For years my friends and I called it the "Keystone Shuffle." It's when you're in the far left lane and jump all the way over to the exit ramp nearly killing 5 people.
My old college car would have been perfect. It had all the hallmarks: sagging rear end, the QR25 had just started its oil eating, it had a different colored right hand mirror, and the cheap paint had baked off the roof. And yet I still hold some fondness for it.
This was a car I fell in love with solely based on the engine. But seeing this one, well; if a sedan doesn't look 'dated' at age 20... that's good styling.
These came out when I was in high school. It was this car, along with a Mercedes E55 AMG, that were my dream cars. Not Camaros, not Mustangs, not Corvettes. These. Loved this.
@@michaelblaszkiewicz7283 why is that sad? Some people don’t feel the need for a massive luxury land yacht. I drive a Volvo S60R and I often feel that it’s too big. Small cars are cool, man, and fast small cars are especially cool.
@@MicahS70T5M The S4 is a fine car, its just not something I think of possibly owning in my wildest dreams. Frankly, the sad part is a lack of imagination.
@@michaelblaszkiewicz7283 oh I see what you’re saying. And honestly… those kinds of crazy cars (I assume you mean Ferraris and McLarens and stuff) don’t have much appeal to me, because they aren’t very usable on the road, and I’m not a good enough driver to take advantage of their abilities on a track… not that there’s anything wrong with them but anything much past what would be considered a sports car (or sports sedan) isn’t something that calls my name 🤷🏻♂️ very impressive? For sure! But I have no want of such cars.
Had a B7 S4 a few years ago - lived in constant fear that one day the timing chain guides would just POOF, but they never did. And what Mr. Regular said about the gearing is as true in the B5 as it is the B7. These cars are happiest at 90 mph. They barely even notice the speed. It's an autobahn car, zero doubt about it.
We'll, I live in Europe (The Netherlands) and I owned a dark blue version of this car from 2001-2005 and while fast it was fairly fragile at the same time with lot's of minor issues and serious full consumption. In Europe these cars came with 265 HP stock and you could buy upgrade kits which would improve the output up and above 700 HP. Not really an agile car but a great European (German) cruiser, traveling at 140 mph without breaking a sweat. I can relate to much being said in the review.
Apparently way back in the day Bam Margera went into an Audi dealership to buy his first nice car back in 2000, got an Audi A4. Went back later that day to see if he could trade it for the S4 instead but ended up buying the S4 anyways so he had both. That is the target audience.
As long as you don't drive it, you won't have to pay for the repairs. You should see the number of Audi's rotting on people's front lawns and in the front yards in my state...
@@albchudisagree. I love buying the ones people give up on over dumb shit. Get em cheap and end up with a hell of a lot of car for not a lot of money. Im honestly thankful people are afraid to fix them, and they have that reputation. Dont get me wrong, you gonna learn alot, or spend alot to fix other people's vw/audi headaches 😂, but I'm far from the only one who thinks its worth it.
Yes, I see it has the optional autotragic dimming mirror that looks like it's ready to puke all of it's LCD goodness on the dash. Also can I just say, that's the nicest driver seat I have ever seen in a 150 thousand mile + VAG product.
The 90s early 2000s german car seat leather holds up really good except for the driver's bolster. My A6 with 300k doesn't have issues even with the bolsters. Passenger and back seats are like new (because some salesman never used them :D)
My father’s first car as a college grad was a 97 B5 a4 quattro 1.8t s line with a 5 speed, it was the first car I ever rode in and the first car I ever loved. Despite it not being an s4 I yearned to drive it and shed tears when he parted from it after 15 years due to poor maintenance by jiffylube. These cars are special no matter what trim level or even engine as long as they ran they served their purpose diligently. Without that silver on silver a4 I would never be the enthusiast or person I am today, so a solemn salute to the b5 a4 is well deserved.
Iron block, aluminum heads, 2 turbos... that valve cover gasket must spray oil like crazy. You'll notice at 2:35 it's burning oil out the exhaust by the ton.
You would be surprised, I did my valve covers 2017 and now in 2022 they are just starting to seep in the corners. Might do a lil cleaning on that today actually and monitor the leak more.
"The urgency which the quattro system just digs in, it's delightful. It makes you look like a better driver than you are." That's the truth. I had a '99 A4 Avant quattro 5sp and it just digs through 8" of NY snow like it was nothing. And that's with all season tires. It wouldn't spin and pull to one side. It was a straight launch at stop lights while everyone else would baby the throttle so they don't just spin and slide to the side.The only other vehicle that I've had that came close to the quattro system was a manual '07 Subaru Outback.
Remember the Audi ads "Audi.....Quattro"? The first Christmas I owned my 2003 Audi A4 Avant 3.0 6spd, we had 6 inches of snow. I was driving my family home from my in-laws house that evening. I drove up and down all the hills in PA. The streets in my neighborhood covered in virgin snow. My Audi just drove through like it was NOTHING! I pulled into the garage, turned the engine off, and looked at my wife and said, "AUDI! QUATTRO!" with a huge grin on my face!
Add winter tires on top of the quattro system and it is pretty much unstoppable. The only time I got stuck was in 2 feet of snow on a seasonal road because my car was too low, lol.
oh my, I've had a couple of these, definitely was my post highschool hoon mobile. I've rebuilt several of these 5V engines, learned my wrenching skills on a "B5" S4 which was good because they always need something constantly but man do I have a lot of good memories from it.
Oh man, you would love my 2003 Audi s6 avant. Significantly more reliable due to the 4.2l V8 with a timing belt. Significantly more stealth due to the wagon. Nearly 100 more hp. Very great noises. Mine has 286k miles and still rocking strong. All I do is change the oil and grease it. It's my daily
I have the same S6 with a 6 speed swap and 115K. Where are the grease points you mentioned because I am unaware of any zerks. Love the wagon. It's a fantastic high speed cruiser. --jb
@@jenniferholland7414 that's awesome, I'm working on 6 speed swapping mine soon. I have some greasable sway bar links. And I under oil it for winter. That's kinda what I refer to as greasing it
I could not afford the S6 Avant, but I got close with a2003 A4 Avant 3.0 6spd with the sports package I bought new. I still have it with 138K miles and still drives like new and has been super reliable.
I live in Montana. A high speed car that functions in the winter is huge. The General Motors LS4 FWD v8s are great alternatives to complex S branded Audis and turbocharged Subarus. Snow tires in the winter and ZR rated tires for those 3 months of not winter.
Yep, my GXP handles the winter great. Lots of weight on the front tires to get through adverse conditions. I’ve got all seasons that are getting close to needing replaced but still have little issue with traction, other than with that low down torque.
I feel like one of those FWD GM's is not the best trade off. Drove a lot of them working in a couple different GM dealerships. The design, trim quality and driving experience I found were very lackluster. Either fix the German car regularly, or have a reliable-ish car that is absolutely depressing to drive. Hmmm.
@@Eatinbritches I put 150k on mine. All the trim stays on and in place while hammering down dirt roads. Weak points are the lifters and transmission. Coppart exists. Engine/trans/ subframe swap only cost me $1200. I had an E55 amg once and it broke more and couldn’t winter
@@snackler6102 Toyota’s are superior but if I was doing an engine swap crossover I’d probably build a 4.0 AMC Eagle. I had 6 friends with turbocharged Subarus. 5 of them failed catastrophically before 200k. The one that still runs is a 1st gen legacy turbo but it’s not daily driven.
The rear fog light... That was me once. In my first German vehicle. Full of buttons and switches I didn't understand. And this was a mid 90's Passat glx. I couldn't begin to imagine, how much more there is in this car. I can imagine, I would still fail to grasp the purpose of most of them.
OH my god I had a 2002 Laser Red S4. Watching this kills me. Intimate interior at night with the red lightning overhead. Smooth power, but savage at stage 2 with downpipes. I miss it so much!
I have a 2001 S8 and these things are a dream to drive. It's so smooth and comfortable. I've only had it for about six months but it's one of my favorite cars I've driven. Cupholder (singular) sucks tho
@@nathanchildress5596 you'd be amazed what it'd do to the resale value. at least keep the OG head unit to put back in, but, well, what Accomplice said. Shit that had no business involving the damn RADIO involved the damn radio. Changing the radio on my Buick would break: The car alarm, the door chime, and it already has strange issues with grounding....
I love my 2002 A6 2.7T. Same motor, bigger car, automatic trans. Thanks to a computer tune, it is about as fast as the S4 manual. I have 152,000 miles on original drivetrain/turbos. It is expensive to maintain but otherwise reliable.
@@LLG47 Yeah, if the turbos have not been replaced yet, they're due for it. The rest of the drivetrain is reliable though. The engine itself is perfectly fine and will last a ton of time if serviced regularly. If you take the time to let it warm up before stomping on it, and then let it cool down before you flick the key off, these are nowhere near as unreliable as some people would lead you to believe. If you rag on it when cold, don't replace your oil regularly and don't let it cool down after hard drives though, you'll be swapping turbos along with the timing belt.
I dunno Audi B5 are very reliable .... at least the 1.8 turbo lel Our old one had 600,000km (I don't know what it is in miles sorrryyyy) and all he ever had was oil changes
8:41 other choices for a high performance tire would be the Michelin Pilot Sport line or the Goodyear Eagle F1 line, Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 line, or the Continental ExtremeContact line.
Indy 500 best bang for the buck!! Super sticky and great in the wet too…had them on a 500hp and were stubborn to break loose. Enough sidewall for corners too.
This is the BEST B5 S4 review ever. A 1999 Ming Blue Avant has been my daily driver (yes I like it) for 20 years and 307k miles. I love the performance, understated appearance, and the refined ride. Plus every winter I put on the winter tyres and snear at all the amateurs not dressed appropriately.
A bit generic looking from the side, but the front of this car is absolutely beautiful. The face of this car is the height of late '90s early '00s maturity in design.
As a Pittsburgh driver and an S5 owner (if you couldn't tell already lol), you're right on the money about Pittsburgh dads driving 68 in the left lane on 376 and 76, but I'd say that also goes for 79 and 279 as well.
Around 2010 i was fourteen dreaming of getting one of these as my first car. They were $8-$10k, little did I know it would’ve been 2-3k a year in maintenance probably lol
B5 S4 owner this is my 5th year of ownership 128k miles, car has been stage 3 since 119k. I'm happy whenever these cars get brought up in videos etc. That being said its not a car for people who aren't absolutely in love with it. They can be reliable, I can attest to that I daily drive mine and many others do too.
I had one of these for almost a decade. The audio system from the factory truly was awful but there was a secret menu that if tuned properly made it come to life.
My dad had the A4 1.6L and I dove it on a regular basis here in greece in my 20s. To me it is the best looking, most complete sedan out there. I still love it.
Haha.. " No highs, No Lows, must be Bose.". That was our motto when I worked in a high end home theater shop in the early 2000's. People used to come in and drop the Bose name thinking it made them sound sophisticated or wealthy. We'd be like "Well, Bose is ok for the people that like them, but let me show you the real good stuff..."
I always got the sense Bose was well regarded for home audio and maybe even headphones. Perhaps they just sucked at car audio. I've heard of cases where a company that is really good in one niche tries to enter a different but seemingly related niche and really falls short.
@@quillmaurer6563 Bose sucks ass at home and in headphones as well. Their home stuff sells because it is small, not because it’s good. And even if you want small, companies like Monitor Audio with their Radius line have options that are much cheaper and far better than Bose, and only marginally bigger. In the headphone realm, the only thing Bose is good at is noise canceling. They do seem to be at the forefront of that… otherwise they’re overpriced, muddy, bass-heavy junk. Generally there are almost always better options for audio, but their marketing team has done such a wonderful job of making them the best in the eyes of the public that they’ll probably stay there.
I saw a lot of these growing up. It was my mom's dream car when I was young, and so in turn it became one of mine. I still love it, owning one would be fun if I had a fat enough wallet!
My uncle had one. Absolutely a car guy. He loved it and did ALL the work himself in his garage on his lift, and got quite a few KMs out of it before a truck backed out of a driveway onto the highway… Edit: he replaced it with an A6.
Holy cow RCR I’ve followed you guys since the first vid, so excited for this giveaway, am S4 is my absolute dream car right now, everyone gives too much credit to Subaru when Quattro is so great
I loved my 1999.5 A4. It was the first "nice" car I owned. I daily drove that thing for years and I had very few mechanical issues with it. Quattro, V6, 5 speed- the tiny gas tank was the only thing that irked me. I couldn't make it a full week of commuting without filling up again. Ah, the good old days. Mine did not have a LCD screen in the center of the gauge cluster, just idiot lights.
Own 2 and have loved them since I first got a ride in my Dad's. Ahhh, they are complicated but they aren't that bad. And there is a massive, MASSIVE online community. The workshop manual is available as well as the factory software.
It can be so infuriating as a brand. My first experience was with my 2008 Mazdaspeed 3 and I agree with Mr. Regular and/or The Roman (whoever wrote the script plus the comment they reference) and many others in that this era of Bose car audio was arguably a mid range option, sold as a high end. My QC35 are still solid, it has it's own audio profile but they're not terrible and the noise cancellation is damn good, plus everyone makes earcups for them so when you wear those out you have a huge choice of materials/plushness for the replacements(I can't say the same of some Shure BT headphones I bought to replace these). I only hear great things about their aviation headsets.
I don't think PPL trully appreciate how well rounded this car is. You can even weld the torsen pull out the front axels and have an rwd drift beater car. It's like an e36 in that regard. It can do everything and put a smile on your face doing it
My first ever car was a 2001 A4 Quattro and I absoltely loved it. That was 6 years ago now and ever since then I've wanted a B5 S4 but they're just so horribly unreliable and everyone has modded them to 400hp 😔
I still daily a stock 2001 6spd. Much more reliable and better quality than the half dozen BMW's I've owned. I always thought BMW had longer gearing btw. It's very comfortable, all business, smooth and silent, high quality materials, lots of thumbs up and waves from car enthusiasts, with twin turbo fun at the flick of your foot. This was one of our holy grail cars in high school and twenty years later I'm realizing that dream and riding the wave of nostalgia. Great car. Very underrated. Prices going up for nice examples. Reliable if maintained and treated properly.
Man, I remember my cousin had an Audi Allroad, that car had the same engine, and same quattro system. That car was stupid fast, had the worst air suspension that was prone to failure all the time, but when it worked you could lower it down to s4 height, and boost it up to tourag height when you needed it. You would struggle to break traction with that quattro system even with all the damn torque that it had.
I've always felt like the 1.8t A4 (basically this car with 2 less cylinders) would be a good car for you based on your glowing review of that Rover you reviewed when you were in the UK. Not quite as special as the S4, but definitely close to it. Can't really get a small luxury sports sedan with a turbo and AWD any other way. And it's half the price and twice as reliable. Same long gearing and shifter feel, Same glass smooth ride
I remember when these were new. They looked so good on paper, and dealers wouldn't let you test drive them. I finally got the chance at one place with them telling me "this is the service manager's personal car, so you can drive it and then we'll go inside and do paperwork". I got it about a mile down the road and I was like "where do I turn around?". So disappointing. Not particularly quick , overboosted numb controls, just bleh. Sales guy went from "doing me a huge favor" by letting me drive one to basically begging me to drive it longer.
Ngl, you just described how mr regular sounds in this video lol he sounds like a desperate used car dealer trying to pawn off a huge mistake of a purchase. Oversell its features in specs, hoping some poor fool enters the contest enthusiastically.
That’s the Diesel engine of the Le Mans winning car that was converted to a gas engine. These engines came with forged internals and can handle quite a bit of power before needing a rebuild. Also the timing system and turbos are problematic in this car and suspension parts tend to wear out faster because of the engine lay out.
@@JoseSantos-ys3rj I have to correct myself. I got my engines mixed up. So this v6 is based of the Diesel engine that Audi was building. In mid 2000s they used a v12 which was developed based of the 2.7 diesel at the time. I was thinking backwards. The r10 RDI was the first diesel to race at Le Mans
Had the same drivetrain in a 2004 A6 - last year of the stick and bi-turbo. It made a gentile executive express (but you really had to rev it for the express piece, thus losing the gentile part). I'm sure the vast majority were sold auto by people who then thought - it isn't that fast. Interior looked great, and I could get my Starbucks in that holder no problem. But it had ultimate FWD handling characteristics as most Audi quattros do. Was sad to see it go but it was time for a 5 series and by that point Audi had abandoned stick in the middle sedan market and BWM was still hanging it there. Agree about the Bose - I was very happy when I first stepped into the car, having come from a Lincoln Alpine that gave up the ghost. But quickly realized the sound is what Bose wanted you to hear, and adjustment for preference or even music type was pretty much moot.
Dude, the Altima is everyone's nemesis. Bald tires, 4 hit/runs, low oil light on, and the interior looking like it went to war with the tasmanian devil driven by someone who probably couldn't finance anything else
and they're still late on every payment
The driver is always a single mother who doesn’t need a man because she is independent
@@LiamSnodgrass Driver smoking with the windows up
Trebble on lowest , mids on lowest, bass on highest.
@@RegularCars The younglings call that a "hotbox" goodsir.
Having owned a 600 WHP 2001 Audi S4 for 8 years now, I can proudly say they are the most reliable cars on the planet. That is, after you replace everything...
So how’d the LS swap go?
@@bradydevergilio7478 Still havent done that. Its on the original block. Only had to rebuild it twice!!!
@@colin-nekritz I agree 100% sir. All my cars seem to be money sinks! Its a suprise that my Wife is still with me after all I have put her through with my cars
@@bradydevergilio7478 the willing to put money into thess cars aren't ls swapping them
@@bradydevergilio7478 why the need to put GM bullshit in everything? If I wanted some GM bullshit I'd go get a Tahoe or some Suburban
"People don't care about being right anymore, they only care about being the loudest." I come for the cars, I stay for lines like this. Keep them coming Mr. Regular, it's always a pleasure to watch.
I would say: "People don't care about the right answer anymore, they only care about repeating the wrong answers enough with different words to make themselves sound right and acceptable to the group."
That sounds oddly specific because I'm talking about the dangers of thought conformity.
That’s what I’ve been saying tho!! Glad to see someone else thinks so too.
Yup. We heard him echo
I like that thought too, but when have people not been exactly like this?
i come for lines like flesh clackers
B5 S4 owner here ... owned for the last 6 years and went down the stock to Stage 3 rabbit hole - this car lives on the highway and it's heinous reputation is well deserved.
HOWEVER - once the bloody knuckles are healed and the oil leaks disappear, the satisfaction of gapping a Tesla Model 3 Performance on the highway makes the world right again.
Its an abusive relationship. If you have the tools, extra cars, and the balls these are amazing cars.
@@benjaminandrews5947 and the budget. Race car prices for race car performance, eh. Most race car drivers get sponsors, because they understand the cost of maintaining something that is built on the edge of failure.
owned a 1998 B5 v6 quattro since 2012. would buy it again, love that thing.
@Bry Zeer What’s a Plaid?
@Bry Zeer So? Almost no street car can beat a Plaid, but of course it takes you $150K+ to get one. Dollar for dollar a built B5 S4 can beat just about anything else that can be bought and built on the same budget. RUclips "B5 S4 Vs." and you will understand.
Almost bought one of these for $1800 12 years ago, but the seller ghosted me. Best financial decision anyone has ever made for me.
🤣🤣🤣👍
You would of spent that much first 5 months guaranteed bro
@@johrons i think you mean first 5 hours
Certainly dodged a bullet there!
@@thekernel69 was trying to give the car some kind of credit lol
Winning this car would essentially be winning a $1,000 month mechanical bill. I loved these cars, they are beautifully designed and with a turbo V6, AWD, and a stick - what else could you ask for? But, they have left a trail of sorrow in their wake over the years. They've broken stronger men than you, I can assure you
"Handles neutrally". He didn't push the car either... perhaps for fear of breaking it before the giveaway.
But if you win it for the price of a coffee mug, who cares? And unless the maintenance is totally deferred, it won’t be THAT terrible.
I know someone with an Allroad with this engine. I think you're underestimating that mechanic bill...
@@EstorilE36M345 I have a white elephant you'd love
@@user-nc4ro6lu9z the elephant is also the only 4 wheel drive animal. 4 knees who knew?
The B5 S4 is an ageless classic. Simply beautiful. I've always loved the B5 Audi styling.
Can’t wait to see the rage when people try and correct you to say it’s a 2.7 not 2.6.
Your reviews are hilarious. This is amazing and really perfect for someone who’s like to b5 S4 for the past decade. The gear change comments are so true.
2,671 cc
@@millenniumzeek so 2.7 liter?
owned one of these for about 4 years until maintenance costs and college made me sell it and buy a miata. you did a great service to the s4. theres nothing like casually doing 160 down the george bush turnpike at 1am with a drink between your legs because the cup holder is made to fit a red bull can.
Right on🤙
Dfw gang
Spot on lmao
Tho I have an A4 2.8 I understand the cup holder thing 😂
I’ll see you at Keller’s next week?
Yeah man, YEAH.
god your dialogue about PA roads are so accurate. Nothing is more frustrating than trying to do 75 on the tpk with a truck going 40 in the left lane and an old man doing 60 in the right as you approach the 55 mph tunnel
Thanks!
Are speed limits respected in America?
@@JoseSantos-ys3rj sort of, most cops won't give a shit if you're doing 10 over as long as you're obviously paying attention. The people who drive 10+ under the speed limit are more of a problem to be honest.
Maybe if you had more than 2 lanes....
@@JoseSantos-ys3rj no
My 01 S4 has 203k on the clock, just drove it across the country without a hiccup. A simply stage 1 chip adds nearly a hundred horse and torque. It’s fast as hell, stealthy, and can easily get me up and down the ski mountain. What more could you want? I love it.
I've owned mine for almost 18 years and have enjoyed every damn drive in it. Sometimes I go out to the garage and just sit in it and smell the leather, still good after all these years.
This generation of Audis came in such weird bright colors. I still see neon yellow and orange ones rolling around town
I'm all for it. Nowadays people just buy silver cars, and that makes everything look boring.
These colors were when lead was banned from auto paint so they could not make sharp colors anymore. This is why we were in a wash of beige metallic paints at the time.
You're still seeing these rolling around town? Can I assume you live in San Diego?
Yellow S4s look great
the best was apple green
Seems like the perfect Autobahn car, the suspension and the gearing.
Volvo S60R is the perfect autobahn car
Exactly. 20 years ago this car was designed to eat up miles on the autobahn when you could drive for an hour or so at 140mph without hitting large swaths of traffic or speed limits.
yeah, almost like a gt, but cheaper and less flashy
@@benvaun1330 I guess you weren't around 20 years ago
20 years ago I would have said yes, but now, the best Autobahn car is either a BMW 530d 6 cylinder Diesel, or a 2.0 Passat TDI or Golf GTD.
The most violent car i ever rode in was a highly modified B5 S4. The acceleration reminded me of a sportbike.
PS most repairs to the engine involve removal of the engine. You get pretty fast at it.
"Most repairs to the engine involve removal of the engine" No wonder there where jokes about repair bills and Audis in high-school. Good God...
@@DFX2KX Step 1 of basically every maintenance job on an Audi: remove the entire front clip.
Not even kidding, look up "Audi service position".
Ya they can be brutal! Also service position is not that bad
Whenever I see a B5 S4 all I can think about is those early 2000s Gumball videos with a blue S4 Avant smoking supercars. Good times.
The design of this speaks to Mr Reg's observation a while ago that car design peaked in the late 90s/early 00s when safety hadn't caused bulbous lines, this looks so clean it's aged perfectly.
I think there are a lot of reasons a lot of car enthusiasts see this era as the peak of car design. As well as what you describe, they didn't feel over-stylized like a lot of cars these days. And they were the optimal level of sophistication - all the performance and actually useful gadgets we want, but none of the excess infotainment crap cars come with nowadays. They were cars that felt like they were truly meant to be driven, focus on the actual experience of driving it, in a way newer cars don't - new cars feel more like giant cell phones with wheels. By the late 90s/early 2000s cars had achieved everything drivers wanted them to, there wasn't really much more progress to be made that would actually appeal to people. Struggling to compete with each other and continue to provide something "new", just trying to stay relevant, automakers have since gone to adding all sorts of nonsense to their cars and gone way overboard on the styling.
This was an especially handsome car even for its day. There was less exaggeration in exterior styling then, which was tasteful, but made cars look rather alike. Interiors were mostly pretty bad, with terrible materials that aged poorly, but Audi was among the very best, and that shows here.
And it was before crazy strict emissions regulations as well. Engineers could go crazy with engines
@@quillmaurer6563 and if you honestly want stupid electronic bullshit, you can add it yourself. That double din head unit slot is ready to receive your Amazon Special Bluetooth Android unit.
@@mikehall3976 True. I even feel this way about my '70s vintage Beetle, which I have equipped with some more sophisticated modern features I find useful but it doesn't have any nonsense I don't want. Added electronic fuel injection, but something I can easily tune and troubleshoot. Added a turbo, to make it a little bit less slow. Heated but not power-actuated seats (that's heavy, complicated, more likely to break, and annoyingly slow). Still manual windows and very basic vents and heat. No power-actuated anything, because who needs it. Fairly good sound system from a simple head unit - I've thought of putting in one of those Android Auto ones with a fold-out screen, mostly to connect to the ECU, but I wouldn't bother with much other than music and MSDroid.
Welcome back, last Monday we were waiting for Dad to get out of surgery so no time for RCR, now he's out and comfortable I can enjoy.
Glad to hear everything's okay❤️
All the best to you and your Dad
I have a fully specced 2000 A4 1.8T B5 sedan as my daily driver. With cream leather sports seats and Bose. One previous owner. I've owned it for ten years, because I just can't think of a reason to sell it. The most reliable car I've ever had, even at 145K+ miles. With a bit of TLC, these cars will last ages.
If you like the looks and overall build quality of the B5 but don't want to pay for the money pit kind of upkeep that the S4 demands, then the 1.8T is a more than reasonable alternative that still feels far from underpowered.It's an absolute bread and butter engine, built across several VW-owned brands in the millions, which was well past its teething problems by about MY 1998/99.
A good fix for the mediocre Bose sound is to swap out the rear deck speakers for more substantial 6.5'' drivers. The previous owner of my car installed Pioneer fiberglass-cone drivers, and it really improves the sound greatly.
I also have a 2000 A4 B5 with the 1.8T and a manual transmission. Great power fuel economy, it has done 330 000km and still runs great.
I've owned B5 S4's since 2007, great cars but not for people who aren't willing to do their own maintenance, preventative maintenance at that. The power under curve is just so nice.
Looking at one with 157,000 miles, as far as I can tell, the engine hasn't had any major repairs, what would need doing?
It's also managed to have 11 owners lol
@@spicysnowman8886 various seals like valve covers, cam seals, ect. Timing belt and water pump service, good idea to check suspension components
@@spicysnowman8886 Timing belt, serpentine belt, water pump for sure. Probably valve cover gaskets abnd cam seals. Most "oil realated" seals really
@@A4TuRbO13 ok thanks I'll probably get a n/a bmw instead
This generation of Audi's are like sailboats. As in, the two best days of ownership are the day you bought it and the day you sold it.
Coming from a c5 s6 owner, I will agree
My stepson bought one . This is an accurate statement
Most accurate statement ever!
Actually, that's true for all boats.
and yet you still yearn to own it again.
t. Former B5 A4 (nonquattro), B5 S4, and C5 allroad owner.
When you said your new nemesis is the Nissan Altima I jumped up from the toilet in solidarity
one of us, one of us
This was the first and last and nicest car I bought new. When I was 26, I had a good job with a good salary and a prosperous year of dot-com investment returns. I spent some of those returns on an S4 sedan, Cactus Green (a weird name for emerald) with silver leather interior. I wanted a WRX wagon, but at the time they weren’t sold in the States yet. I test drove a TT, then noticed S4s on the lot, and my attention turned to them instead after a test drive.
I put ten years and 144,000 miles on that S4. The Jim Ellis chain of dealerships in Atlanta did Audi no favors with their oh-by-the-way maintenance surprises. WTF is a “secondary cooling pump?” I don’t know, but it cost $700 to replace. VW can make decent parts out of metal, but hand them electronics or plastic and kiss your money goodbye.
A timing belt switch cost $1,700 at the time. I burned through three clutches, $1,300-$2,000 apiece, giving too much throttle in too high a gear uphill, all my fault, 20something hodad that I was. I bought a new set of tires every year thanks to my road trip habit. Had I not read the Audiworld forums at the time, I’d probably have burned thousands more with dumb ECU mods. For a few years, these A4s and subsequent generations were all over the roads in Atlanta, but they’re nowhere to be seen today. You’re more likely to see an old W111 than anything from this generation of Audi.
By the time clutch #2 died, I was so sick of owning this car that I sold it way below its value and bought a used 2004 stick-shift Ford Ranger 4cyl instead. The paint was green, the engine was longitudinal, the pedals were three, but it was not quick. Three out of four criteria will do if I’m not paying for Audi manintenance. I still own that Ranger today, 207,000 miles and counting after buying it with 83,000. If I can make it 20,000 more miles, I’ll break my ownership record with that Audi bought new.
I am so conflicted about this car. My hatred of red paint does not diminish my love for the car. It was one of the last vaguely German-looking German cars, before every sedan started looking like a damn Camry. Everything you say in the video is accurate. In fact it felt slightly charitable at times. I am buying a mug to get into your raffle, and I will tell myself that it’s appreciation for what you do if I lose (I love you guys’s whole schtick) otherwise Cosmic Forces want me to own this car again if I win, whether to reward me or to punish me.
That shifter.
Regardless of differences in models, engine specs, etc... your experience is the best generalization of the pains and joys of owning an Audi.
Absolutely right about this being one of the last cars that actually looked "German." I'd say the same about the E46 3 series too, but these late 90's early 2000's Audis aged perfectly design-wise.
In Europe A4 B5 is most reliable and tank car from 90s, and tons of these cars are top choice as old cheap relable, undestroyable car for central-east Europe almost in every country. In west this car is also very popular as old reliable car, so why for you Americans this car is not reliable? These cars making milion km with barely service which is extremal cheap.
2.7 biturbo is again told as one of best and most bulletproof engine of its time. Timing belt set for this engine cost now ~150 euro.
Euro parts prices have always been inflated in the US, and correctly qualified Euro repair labor hours are as well. A shop servicing VWs and Audis has to pay for marque-specific diagnostic tools. Especially in the crammed longitudinal engine bays found in A4s, A5s and older Passats, having to drop the front sub-frame just to access the timing belt adds more labor and drives up the replacement cost. As I wrote above, the local dealership shop did Audi’s reputation no favors.
I can only imagine what it costs to repair a Cadillac or Lincoln in Europe.
I manage to get 120k miles from a clutch in my B5 S4 so maybe your driving style is the more prominent factor.
The gearing of this car obviously makes a lot more sense when you look at it in the context of it's country of origin, one where the Autobahn is a thing.
Having multiple long gears with overdrive is a wonderful experience when going for long stints on the Autobahn.
They could have, and should have, had different gearing for the rest of the world, which adds up to far more sales than they made in Germany.
These were built for the Autobahn.
To flash the BMW from the left lane that is only going 180kph.
For the guy that goes fast not to boast, but to get somewhere fast because his time is worth that much...
Nobody driving an S4 has time that valuable. It's a store-manager car, not for the CEO.
@@markmiller3279 I have no idea why car's are stereotyped to particular job roles, maybe that's just American culture, but it's not everywhere else.
The only car's here that maybe would be the 3 series, or Fusion / Saturn Aura equivalents would be classed as rep-mobiles, and that architects / designers bought Saabs.
A4, car for a tailgating gym bro, nothing more.
@@markmiller3279 Its the car for the person who doesn't work and has 7 of them. Me lol
It's not geared for the highway, it's geared for DIE AUTOBAHN!
As a B5 S4 owner it was great to see a RCR on it! I still don’t understand why these get such a bad rap for reliability. If your use to owning VAG cars or really any other turbocharged euro maintenance isn’t much different. Plus, your a tune and Downpipe’s away from 350whp
It's not just maintenance. That's high, but not extraordinary. It's repairing the complex systems that break down far too frequently. It may not be much worse than other European turbo engines of twenty years ago, but that is a very low standard.
@@markmiller3279 Not sure why these get such a bad rap. I had a 2001 gti with 1.8t hit 450,000km (nearly 300,000 miles) and still purr like a kitten. My friend is still driving it 4 yrs later. My 2000 S4 is very similar except for a couple of easy valve cover gasket replacements. Mine is a Euro import, not sure if that would make much difference though.
I've had much more problems with modern vehicles personally.
I own a nice modified stage 3 b5 s4 and though there are many things right in the video there’s a couple mistakes that I’ve noticed throughout the video. One I noticed is the gearing. To me it feels short. You are over 3k rpm cruising at 80mph so it makes cruising at even higher speeds unbearable with an exhaust. I’m also skipping 5th gear in city driving just because the gears are so close to each other. Another thing is engine displacement. It’s 2671cc which rounds up to 2.7 which is what everybody calls it in the Audi world. As for the complexion and reliability, they can definitely be reliable. Mine has over 190k and still pulls off 190psi compression though it’s been tortured throughout it’s life. Currently running around 500whp with all necessary supporting mods. They are a pain to work on especially if it’s your first, but it’s worth it. Parts are relatively cheap on sites like FCP euro which has lifetime warranty on all there products and all you really need is to stay on top of maintenance.
Facts!
500whp ok buddy
@@Apfp4OhT bwhahahahah look bro it’s MEANT for 500
@@Apfp4OhT if you think that's crazy then you know nothing about these motors.
@@ElyciusM nah these engines suck, the break with anything over 300whp, whoever owns one of these cars is an absolute idiot and doesn’t deserve anything good
I would love to hear more about Regular's feud with Altimas.
Same as the rest of us. For some reason people buy them at disgusting interest, and then think they're an F1 driver everywhere they go because their last car was a Sunfire
My theory is this. Sometime in the mid to late 2000's Nissan of America's corporate strategy shifted from providing economical, sporty, and legitimate sports cars for the everyman to, "sell as many cars as possible". Lots of Nissan dealerships were doing no money down no credit/bad credit deals, and the build quality was...not poor, but cheap. No shame there, this is America and most people need cars. But you get some people in cars like that who just don't give a fuck about anything. I see more Altimas driving around without front or rear ends than any other car
@@sonsauvage Renault merge in 2000
@@sonsauvage I would never buy a used Altima.
Ya know how a certain model just tends to attract people who don't just have zero interest in cars, but zero interest in driving one properly either? The kind of person that has 2 screaming children in the back, a starbucks late half spilled in the cup holder and "healing crystals" super glued to the dashboard.
Well the altima seems to be that kind of car right now
Always a beat up Altima/Maxima speeding, zipping across lanes and cutting people off with no signals and one brake light out
i miss my 97 5 speed maxima, for what it was it was pretty quick, i could beat 3 series, RT chargers and would absolutely whoop any civic, i was that guy going 130 dipping thru 5pm traffic
I also had a 97, loved it! I think Nissan was just the cheapest way into 200+ horsepower, so shitty drivers flock to them
Oh man the accuracy of this…
Don't forget the spare tire(s)!
Here in NY, it's always BMW's and older Nissans/Infiniti's swerving around and cutting people off without using their signals. It's like a religion with those cars.
As somebody else already mentioned, the factory tune on the car (250hp) was ridiculously conservative. A different tune and it’s 325hp no problem. Add bigger turbo’s and inter coolers and run it on e85 and 500 hp or more is very obtainable.
I owned 5 different S4's over the years, starting with a 2000 and ending with a 2008. I loved every one of them, and never had any real problems with any of them. I'll admit, however, that I never kept any of them long enough for the factory warranty to expire so I can't comment about them over the long haul. But for the couple of years that I kept each of them, they were great. I was already an Audi fan, as I'd owned a 4000 CSQ, a couple of A4's and a couple of Couple Quattros before the S4 made it to the US. I've also had an RS4 and RS7 after the S4's.
Why an S4? I live in Southern California, but was a weekend ski instructor in the local mountains (Big Bear) or Mammoth (in the Sierras) for all of those years. That meant up to 600 miles in a weekend, which is why I turned them over so often. With snow tires on all 4 corners, the cars were unstoppable. I didn't want or need a bigger car, although 3 of the 5 were Avants. Notwithstanding the narrator's remarks, they were great cars on mountain roads and very few cars ever passed me. Particularly in the early 2000's, pretty much the only cars you could get with awd were Audis and Subarus. (I can't stand trucks or SUV's. They always feel like they're going to tip over.) If you wanted some degree of luxury and performance, with winter driving ability - the Audi S cars were the only show in town.
I still get nostalgic every time I see one, which occurs more and more infrequently. Since then, although I still drive an awd drive car with power, I've upgraded a bit - to a Panamera Turbo S Sport Turismo. It's conceptually similar to my last S4 Avant - just bigger (quite a bit) and faster (HUGELY!) Not to mention the price...
For years my friends and I called it the "Keystone Shuffle."
It's when you're in the far left lane and jump all the way over to the exit ramp nearly killing 5 people.
😂
In Georgia, they call it the "Georgia Nose Dive". I've seen a semi change 4 lanes doing 85 in a 70 without signaling. Absolutely terrifying.
Someone get this man an Altima! Long overdue for a classic RCR rant!
Gotta make sure the rear suspension is completely sagging! Otherwise it's not an authentic Altima.
My old college car would have been perfect. It had all the hallmarks: sagging rear end, the QR25 had just started its oil eating, it had a different colored right hand mirror, and the cheap paint had baked off the roof.
And yet I still hold some fondness for it.
2005-2006 Altima SE-R with a 6speed manual
Get one with the cvt and blown head gasket. That's the misery of the Altima.
You could always hit up your grandfather, I'm sure he could muster some wack one liners too
This was a car I fell in love with solely based on the engine. But seeing this one, well; if a sedan doesn't look 'dated' at age 20... that's good styling.
Timeless design,no flashy,no sharp edges.Beautiful car.
Winter storm outside and a new rcr. What a morning to be up on a holiday.
These came out when I was in high school. It was this car, along with a Mercedes E55 AMG, that were my dream cars. Not Camaros, not Mustangs, not Corvettes. These. Loved this.
You could have been a German in past life. A fascination with Teutonic relics.
Your dream car was an S4? That is sad... That is like your dream job being regional manager of a plumbing supply company.
@@michaelblaszkiewicz7283 why is that sad? Some people don’t feel the need for a massive luxury land yacht. I drive a Volvo S60R and I often feel that it’s too big. Small cars are cool, man, and fast small cars are especially cool.
@@MicahS70T5M The S4 is a fine car, its just not something I think of possibly owning in my wildest dreams. Frankly, the sad part is a lack of imagination.
@@michaelblaszkiewicz7283 oh I see what you’re saying. And honestly… those kinds of crazy cars (I assume you mean Ferraris and McLarens and stuff) don’t have much appeal to me, because they aren’t very usable on the road, and I’m not a good enough driver to take advantage of their abilities on a track… not that there’s anything wrong with them but anything much past what would be considered a sports car (or sports sedan) isn’t something that calls my name 🤷🏻♂️ very impressive? For sure! But I have no want of such cars.
Had a B7 S4 a few years ago - lived in constant fear that one day the timing chain guides would just POOF, but they never did. And what Mr. Regular said about the gearing is as true in the B5 as it is the B7. These cars are happiest at 90 mph. They barely even notice the speed. It's an autobahn car, zero doubt about it.
We'll, I live in Europe (The Netherlands) and I owned a dark blue version of this car from 2001-2005 and while fast it was fairly fragile at the same time with lot's of minor issues and serious full consumption. In Europe these cars came with 265 HP stock and you could buy upgrade kits which would improve the output up and above 700 HP.
Not really an agile car but a great European (German) cruiser, traveling at 140 mph without breaking a sweat. I can relate to much being said in the review.
Apparently way back in the day Bam Margera went into an Audi dealership to buy his first nice car back in 2000, got an Audi A4. Went back later that day to see if he could trade it for the S4 instead but ended up buying the S4 anyways so he had both. That is the target audience.
Excellent where I remember it from the blue S4 in CKY2K
As long as you don't drive it, you won't have to pay for the repairs. You should see the number of Audi's rotting on people's front lawns and in the front yards in my state...
@Erikk Hyndman audi has achieved a business model where it's cheaper to lease a new one than it is to own an old one. planned obsolescence.
@@albchudisagree. I love buying the ones people give up on over dumb shit.
Get em cheap and end up with a hell of a lot of car for not a lot of money. Im honestly thankful people are afraid to fix them, and they have that reputation.
Dont get me wrong, you gonna learn alot, or spend alot to fix other people's vw/audi headaches 😂, but I'm far from the only one who thinks its worth it.
Yes, I see it has the optional autotragic dimming mirror that looks like it's ready to puke all of it's LCD goodness on the dash. Also can I just say, that's the nicest driver seat I have ever seen in a 150 thousand mile + VAG product.
I'll send you pics of my mk5 gti with 170k. Freaked spotless.
*freaken
Hey that mirror looks pretty good...mine was all settled on the bottom. At least $65 on eBay gets you a new one with compass. Cheapest fix on the car.
@@joshb556 mine fell off when i hit a bump so i just put a mk4 gli one on😂
The 90s early 2000s german car seat leather holds up really good except for the driver's bolster. My A6 with 300k doesn't have issues even with the bolsters. Passenger and back seats are like new (because some salesman never used them :D)
My father’s first car as a college grad was a 97 B5 a4 quattro 1.8t s line with a 5 speed, it was the first car I ever rode in and the first car I ever loved. Despite it not being an s4 I yearned to drive it and shed tears when he parted from it after 15 years due to poor maintenance by jiffylube. These cars are special no matter what trim level or even engine as long as they ran they served their purpose diligently. Without that silver on silver a4 I would never be the enthusiast or person I am today, so a solemn salute to the b5 a4 is well deserved.
Iron block, aluminum heads, 2 turbos... that valve cover gasket must spray oil like crazy. You'll notice at 2:35 it's burning oil out the exhaust by the ton.
You would be surprised, I did my valve covers 2017 and now in 2022 they are just starting to seep in the corners. Might do a lil cleaning on that today actually and monitor the leak more.
It was going through a puddle- that was spray.
"The urgency which the quattro system just digs in, it's delightful. It makes you look like a better driver than you are."
That's the truth. I had a '99 A4 Avant quattro 5sp and it just digs through 8" of NY snow like it was nothing. And that's with all season tires. It wouldn't spin and pull to one side. It was a straight launch at stop lights while everyone else would baby the throttle so they don't just spin and slide to the side.The only other vehicle that I've had that came close to the quattro system was a manual '07 Subaru Outback.
Remember the Audi ads "Audi.....Quattro"? The first Christmas I owned my 2003 Audi A4 Avant 3.0 6spd, we had 6 inches of snow. I was driving my family home from my in-laws house that evening. I drove up and down all the hills in PA. The streets in my neighborhood covered in virgin snow. My Audi just drove through like it was NOTHING! I pulled into the garage, turned the engine off, and looked at my wife and said, "AUDI! QUATTRO!" with a huge grin on my face!
Add winter tires on top of the quattro system and it is pretty much unstoppable. The only time I got stuck was in 2 feet of snow on a seasonal road because my car was too low, lol.
I have the same exact A4 now! It’s so fun to drive but now the clutch is starting to slip…
oh my, I've had a couple of these, definitely was my post highschool hoon mobile. I've rebuilt several of these 5V engines, learned my wrenching skills on a "B5" S4 which was good because they always need something constantly but man do I have a lot of good memories from it.
3:43-4:27 is amazing explanation of the gears and speed. Perfect. Nice job
BTW the extra "n" is obviously intentional, but necessary due to the feeling that you implanted with the story of the drive. nicely done.
Nice review. However, I own 2 of these cars so I have to confirm, that wood trim is definitely legit.
Oh man, you would love my 2003 Audi s6 avant. Significantly more reliable due to the 4.2l V8 with a timing belt. Significantly more stealth due to the wagon. Nearly 100 more hp. Very great noises. Mine has 286k miles and still rocking strong. All I do is change the oil and grease it. It's my daily
Respect. All time great wagon
@@nathanchildress5596 agreed
I have the same S6 with a 6 speed swap and 115K. Where are the grease points you mentioned because I am unaware of any zerks. Love the wagon. It's a fantastic high speed cruiser. --jb
@@jenniferholland7414 that's awesome, I'm working on 6 speed swapping mine soon. I have some greasable sway bar links. And I under oil it for winter. That's kinda what I refer to as greasing it
I could not afford the S6 Avant, but I got close with a2003 A4 Avant 3.0 6spd with the sports package I bought new. I still have it with 138K miles and still drives like new and has been super reliable.
I live in Montana. A high speed car that functions in the winter is huge. The General Motors LS4 FWD v8s are great alternatives to complex S branded Audis and turbocharged Subarus. Snow tires in the winter and ZR rated tires for those 3 months of not winter.
Yep, my GXP handles the winter great. Lots of weight on the front tires to get through adverse conditions. I’ve got all seasons that are getting close to needing replaced but still have little issue with traction, other than with that low down torque.
I feel like one of those FWD GM's is not the best trade off. Drove a lot of them working in a couple different GM dealerships. The design, trim quality and driving experience I found were very lackluster. Either fix the German car regularly, or have a reliable-ish car that is absolutely depressing to drive. Hmmm.
@@snackler6102 turbo Subarus blow up too. Turbo audis blow up too.
@@Eatinbritches I put 150k on mine. All the trim stays on and in place while hammering down dirt roads. Weak points are the lifters and transmission. Coppart exists. Engine/trans/ subframe swap only cost me $1200. I had an E55 amg once and it broke more and couldn’t winter
@@snackler6102 Toyota’s are superior but if I was doing an engine swap crossover I’d probably build a 4.0 AMC Eagle. I had 6 friends with turbocharged Subarus. 5 of them failed catastrophically before 200k. The one that still runs is a 1st gen legacy turbo but it’s not daily driven.
The rear fog light... That was me once. In my first German vehicle. Full of buttons and switches I didn't understand. And this was a mid 90's Passat glx. I couldn't begin to imagine, how much more there is in this car. I can imagine, I would still fail to grasp the purpose of most of them.
OH my god I had a 2002 Laser Red S4. Watching this kills me. Intimate interior at night with the red lightning overhead. Smooth power, but savage at stage 2 with downpipes. I miss it so much!
I have a 2001 S8 and these things are a dream to drive. It's so smooth and comfortable. I've only had it for about six months but it's one of my favorite cars I've driven. Cupholder (singular) sucks tho
That's another one of my favorite all-time cars, they're so classy and good looking. 👌
start a channel about it! would love an a8/s8 but haven't been able to find too much regarding buyers guides, diy, etc
Hell ya. I love the old 40v V8 quattros. D2 look so classy. I recently bought a C5 S6 6mt
I've loved the S8 ever since Ronin
@@cjmhall best chase scene in any movie, ever 👌👌
Replace the Bose speakers but DO NOT TOUCH THAT ORIGINAL HEAD UNIT WITH THE TAPE DECK SO HELP ME GAWD
Why? Because hipster? Why aren’t we allowed to make our stereos better just because you dweebs are like “That’s a collector car! How could you?!”
@@nathanchildress5596 My experience with this generation of car has shown me that replacing the head unit brings out gremlins, lots of gremlins.
@@nathanchildress5596 you'd be amazed what it'd do to the resale value. at least keep the OG head unit to put back in, but, well, what Accomplice said. Shit that had no business involving the damn RADIO involved the damn radio. Changing the radio on my Buick would break: The car alarm, the door chime, and it already has strange issues with grounding....
I would just stick a Apple car unit in and put the original back in when it comes to selling. I couldn't live with that stock head unit
It's ok guys. Anyone who knows more about cars than Nathan is a HIPSTER.
I love my 2002 A6 2.7T. Same motor, bigger car, automatic trans. Thanks to a computer tune, it is about as fast as the S4 manual. I have 152,000 miles on original drivetrain/turbos. It is expensive to maintain but otherwise reliable.
God i love these generation of S4, understated good looks and all the performance in a practical 4 door package.
Looks better than 90% of modern cars. Reliability doubtful tho.
Also, this one has 184k on it. It's waiting to blow up on you.
@@LLG47 Yeah, if the turbos have not been replaced yet, they're due for it. The rest of the drivetrain is reliable though. The engine itself is perfectly fine and will last a ton of time if serviced regularly.
If you take the time to let it warm up before stomping on it, and then let it cool down before you flick the key off, these are nowhere near as unreliable as some people would lead you to believe. If you rag on it when cold, don't replace your oil regularly and don't let it cool down after hard drives though, you'll be swapping turbos along with the timing belt.
I dunno Audi B5 are very reliable .... at least the 1.8 turbo lel
Our old one had 600,000km (I don't know what it is in miles sorrryyyy) and all he ever had was oil changes
8:41 other choices for a high performance tire would be the Michelin Pilot Sport line or the Goodyear Eagle F1 line, Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 line, or the Continental ExtremeContact line.
Indy 500 best bang for the buck!! Super sticky and great in the wet too…had them on a 500hp and were stubborn to break loose. Enough sidewall for corners too.
Bro you are listing my purchase history right now.
I like the Continental Extreme Contact, higher tread wear than a lot of performance tires but the grip is still right there
I have the Indy 500s on my Volvo S60R and they’re great. Even with broken AWD they can hook pretty good after you get out of first.
This is the BEST B5 S4 review ever. A 1999 Ming Blue Avant has been my daily driver (yes I like it) for 20 years and 307k miles. I love the performance, understated appearance, and the refined ride. Plus every winter I put on the winter tyres and snear at all the amateurs not dressed appropriately.
Damn, thing is clean! Whoever owned that kept it up great, it looks amazing.
back when the germans were still mad at americans for wanting to drink from a cup while driving.
lol
How far the self righteous germans have fallen.
Lol silly Germans
A friend had one of these in the late 2000's, I absolutely LOVED it. Understated speed and luxury in a timeless design
A bit generic looking from the side, but the front of this car is absolutely beautiful. The face of this car is the height of late '90s early '00s maturity in design.
@@12ealDealOfficial The tail end is also excellent, with that angled-out bit at the top and the just-right taillights (ignore the stupid foglight).
As a Pittsburgh driver and an S5 owner (if you couldn't tell already lol), you're right on the money about Pittsburgh dads driving 68 in the left lane on 376 and 76, but I'd say that also goes for 79 and 279 as well.
Around 2010 i was fourteen dreaming of getting one of these as my first car. They were $8-$10k, little did I know it would’ve been 2-3k a year in maintenance probably lol
Bose also stands for:
Buy
Other
Sound
Equipment
The full jingle for Bose, which Reg almost gets right, is:
"I hear no highs
I feel no lows
It sounds sh*t
It must be Bose"
I will always love the B5 S4.. Long Live the B5 S4
I remember my dad and I regularly averaging over 80 on the way to Coors Field in our manual 2.7TT. What a car.
B5 S4 owner this is my 5th year of ownership 128k miles, car has been stage 3 since 119k. I'm happy whenever these cars get brought up in videos etc. That being said its not a car for people who aren't absolutely in love with it. They can be reliable, I can attest to that I daily drive mine and many others do too.
What the hell is wrong with Nissan drivers?! It’s like they don’t care if they hit something as long as it’s more expensive.
So 90% of the other cars…
I had one of these for almost a decade. The audio system from the factory truly was awful but there was a secret menu that if tuned properly made it come to life.
Was it a secret menu that changed the speakers for you as well?
Finally you review my favorite car I wish I never sold!
Intake, chip and exhaust made almost 400 ❤️. How I miss it.
My dad had the A4 1.6L and I dove it on a regular basis here in greece in my 20s. To me it is the best looking, most complete sedan out there. I still love it.
Haha.. " No highs, No Lows, must be Bose.". That was our motto when I worked in a high end home theater shop in the early 2000's. People used to come in and drop the Bose name thinking it made them sound sophisticated or wealthy. We'd be like "Well, Bose is ok for the people that like them, but let me show you the real good stuff..."
PWK....FTW!
@@omercarrothers7537 They started partnering with GM in the mid 80's. 84 Corvette had Bose option. Don't know if that was the first.
@@seththomas9105 the first car with a OEM bose audio system was the 83 cadillac seville
The Bose speakers built into my IBM aptiva CRT monitor were amazing. then again it was the 90s and i was a child.
I always got the sense Bose was well regarded for home audio and maybe even headphones. Perhaps they just sucked at car audio. I've heard of cases where a company that is really good in one niche tries to enter a different but seemingly related niche and really falls short.
@@quillmaurer6563 Bose sucks ass at home and in headphones as well. Their home stuff sells because it is small, not because it’s good. And even if you want small, companies like Monitor Audio with their Radius line have options that are much cheaper and far better than Bose, and only marginally bigger.
In the headphone realm, the only thing Bose is good at is noise canceling. They do seem to be at the forefront of that… otherwise they’re overpriced, muddy, bass-heavy junk.
Generally there are almost always better options for audio, but their marketing team has done such a wonderful job of making them the best in the eyes of the public that they’ll probably stay there.
I saw a lot of these growing up. It was my mom's dream car when I was young, and so in turn it became one of mine. I still love it, owning one would be fun if I had a fat enough wallet!
My uncle had one. Absolutely a car guy. He loved it and did ALL the work himself in his garage on his lift, and got quite a few KMs out of it before a truck backed out of a driveway onto the highway…
Edit: he replaced it with an A6.
Absolutely love my 01 S4 and my 03 RS6. I literally have both of the early 2000s audi maintenance demons :D
Audi: sounds great until you receive your first repair bill.
Yes I knew many people who bought these , may they Rest In Peace . The repair bills killed the owners
All "special" models of cars are expensive when they fail. I drive a normal Audi A4 B5 and the parts are dirt cheap.
I have been waiting for this video for years. Thank you ❤️ I love my B5S4 and will keep it forever.
I have a stage 3 Nogaro Blue B5 S4. Makes ~double the stock HP. It is my favorite car I have ever owned, hands down.
Some people don't understand the appeal of being powerful AND subtle, and it shows.
I remember the stock Bose system sounding great in my B5 A4 with just 2 12” subs and an amp in the trunk.
Holy cow RCR I’ve followed you guys since the first vid, so excited for this giveaway, am S4 is my absolute dream car right now, everyone gives too much credit to Subaru when Quattro is so great
I loved my 1999.5 A4. It was the first "nice" car I owned. I daily drove that thing for years and I had very few mechanical issues with it. Quattro, V6, 5 speed- the tiny gas tank was the only thing that irked me. I couldn't make it a full week of commuting without filling up again. Ah, the good old days. Mine did not have a LCD screen in the center of the gauge cluster, just idiot lights.
Own 2 and have loved them since I first got a ride in my Dad's. Ahhh, they are complicated but they aren't that bad. And there is a massive, MASSIVE online community. The workshop manual is available as well as the factory software.
Say what you will about bose car speakers, but my QC25s are one of the best audio products I have ever bought from a utility and longevity standpoint.
It can be so infuriating as a brand. My first experience was with my 2008 Mazdaspeed 3 and I agree with Mr. Regular and/or The Roman (whoever wrote the script plus the comment they reference) and many others in that this era of Bose car audio was arguably a mid range option, sold as a high end.
My QC35 are still solid, it has it's own audio profile but they're not terrible and the noise cancellation is damn good, plus everyone makes earcups for them so when you wear those out you have a huge choice of materials/plushness for the replacements(I can't say the same of some Shure BT headphones I bought to replace these). I only hear great things about their aviation headsets.
"Mmmm, nice lipstick red"
lol simmer down Buffalo Bill!
I don't think PPL trully appreciate how well rounded this car is. You can even weld the torsen pull out the front axels and have an rwd drift beater car. It's like an e36 in that regard. It can do everything and put a smile on your face doing it
I really love the old S4 Audis the 2.7 V6 also tunes very nicely some even run over 1000hp
Died at new nemesis is the Nissan ALTIMA
My first ever car was a 2001 A4 Quattro and I absoltely loved it. That was 6 years ago now and ever since then I've wanted a B5 S4 but they're just so horribly unreliable and everyone has modded them to 400hp 😔
They are not unreliable
I still daily a stock 2001 6spd. Much more reliable and better quality than the half dozen BMW's I've owned. I always thought BMW had longer gearing btw. It's very comfortable, all business, smooth and silent, high quality materials, lots of thumbs up and waves from car enthusiasts, with twin turbo fun at the flick of your foot.
This was one of our holy grail cars in high school and twenty years later I'm realizing that dream and riding the wave of nostalgia. Great car. Very underrated. Prices going up for nice examples. Reliable if maintained and treated properly.
Man, I remember my cousin had an Audi Allroad, that car had the same engine, and same quattro system. That car was stupid fast, had the worst air suspension that was prone to failure all the time, but when it worked you could lower it down to s4 height, and boost it up to tourag height when you needed it.
You would struggle to break traction with that quattro system even with all the damn torque that it had.
The B5 S4 is my favorite modern classic. I might even prefer to the E46 M3 😮💨
2 minutes in and already burning oil driving up that hill. Ahh audi.
I am so glad someone else noticed that LOL
I thought that too, looked like a white puff, I thought is was just a trick of the light though.
I saw that too. Could be a clogged pcv or worse turbo seals. Hopefully pcv. The intransigence internals are usually very good
I've always felt like the 1.8t A4 (basically this car with 2 less cylinders) would be a good car for you based on your glowing review of that Rover you reviewed when you were in the UK.
Not quite as special as the S4, but definitely close to it. Can't really get a small luxury sports sedan with a turbo and AWD any other way. And it's half the price and twice as reliable. Same long gearing and shifter feel, Same glass smooth ride
I've owned my 2000 S4 since 2019. And honestly it's the best daily driver I've ever owned. It's a permanent fixture in my car stable now
I thought you were going to say a permanent fixture in my yard now 😂 I like them too especially the look of this generation and interior
I remember when these were new. They looked so good on paper, and dealers wouldn't let you test drive them. I finally got the chance at one place with them telling me "this is the service manager's personal car, so you can drive it and then we'll go inside and do paperwork". I got it about a mile down the road and I was like "where do I turn around?". So disappointing. Not particularly quick , overboosted numb controls, just bleh. Sales guy went from "doing me a huge favor" by letting me drive one to basically begging me to drive it longer.
Ngl, you just described how mr regular sounds in this video lol he sounds like a desperate used car dealer trying to pawn off a huge mistake of a purchase. Oversell its features in specs, hoping some poor fool enters the contest enthusiastically.
That’s the Diesel engine of the Le Mans winning car that was converted to a gas engine. These engines came with forged internals and can handle quite a bit of power before needing a rebuild. Also the timing system and turbos are problematic in this car and suspension parts tend to wear out faster because of the engine lay out.
That sounds interesting. Can you link the article or video where you read/saw that?
@@JoseSantos-ys3rj I have to correct myself. I got my engines mixed up. So this v6 is based of the Diesel engine that Audi was building. In mid 2000s they used a v12 which was developed based of the 2.7 diesel at the time. I was thinking backwards. The r10 RDI was the first diesel to race at Le Mans
"Le Mon"
Lol
@@tim3172 thanks I saw that. I’ll correct that
Oh man the best comment ever : "No highs, no lows, gotta be Bose".
We have been saying this for over 20 years lol
Had the same drivetrain in a 2004 A6 - last year of the stick and bi-turbo. It made a gentile executive express (but you really had to rev it for the express piece, thus losing the gentile part). I'm sure the vast majority were sold auto by people who then thought - it isn't that fast. Interior looked great, and I could get my Starbucks in that holder no problem. But it had ultimate FWD handling characteristics as most Audi quattros do. Was sad to see it go but it was time for a 5 series and by that point Audi had abandoned stick in the middle sedan market and BWM was still hanging it there. Agree about the Bose - I was very happy when I first stepped into the car, having come from a Lincoln Alpine that gave up the ghost. But quickly realized the sound is what Bose wanted you to hear, and adjustment for preference or even music type was pretty much moot.