Tag: C4

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Black or White Double Take: 1995 Audi S6

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If you weren’t paying attention, a few weeks ago we saw a record high price (since they were new) for a C4 Audi. It was a particularly impressive 1993 Audi S4 with a scant 12,000 miles on the odometer, and it sold for $33,000. If that sounds like a lot, I’d wager it was still a relative bargain. Find an equal contemporaneous M5 or 500E, and you’d likely have to add a “1” in front of that sales number to take it home.

So here we are looking at two turbocharged quattro sedans of the same ilk. Both are the revised S6, both are well presented, but both are also driver-quality, with far more miles than appeared on the S4. Which is the one to take home? Let’s start with the late build 1995.5 in Pearlescent White Metallic:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995.5 Audi S6 on eBay

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1995 Audi S6

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Of course, the ultimate evolution of the Type 43 blueprint emerged in 1995 with the launch of S6. If you want to be technical, it wasn’t really – there was a far more potent and special version in the S6 Plus to come for Europeans, and truth told there weren’t many changes from the prior S4 to the re-badged S6. Despite this, for U.S. fans of the traditional Audi inline-5 mated to a manual transmission and all four wheels driven, it didn’t get much better than the S6 you see here.

The last S6 we looked at seemed to be a pristine example, and bidding was very aggressive – in fact, problematically so. Several times it was bid to $12,200 and though it was a no reserve auction, each time it failed to trade hands. I ran across the listing again on Craigslist, where it was listed for $19,900. Ouch! Worse, there were claims from a reported ex-owner that the car was grossly misrepresented. Today we have what promises to be a better one to pick up, then – and it won’t cost you nearly as much:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 Audi S6 on Syracuse Craigslist

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1995 Audi S6

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Update 9/9/18: After being listed as sold at $12,200, this S6 was relisted again with no reserve, ending 9/18/18.

Update 8/27/18: This S6 has been relisted with no change in mileage and again at no reserve.

Update 8/22/18: A second listing was generated for this car, apparently by the previous owner, who claims it had 125K when he sold it and the current seller has forged documentation on the car. This clearly got the attention of eBay, as both listings were pulled. The last bid I saw was $12,200, indicating strong interest in clean examples of the chassis.

Back in the 1990s, the latest release of top-tier executive sedans out of Germany still got me pretty excited. Each generation introduced a bit more power, much more refinement, exciting designs and unorthodox technology. While today even fairly basic economy cars have nearly 200 horsepower, crossing that threshold in the age of grunge actually meant quite a lot. It moved you into a new performance category of sporting automobiles, and the war which was waged between BMW, Mercedes-Benz and relative new comer Audi was at its most compelling during this time. If you wanted race-car pedigree and a high-strung personality, you bought the M5. Now in its second generation and with over 300 horsepower on tap, though larger and more refined it was still the defacto driver’s car bar setter. If you wanted the velvet hammer, you jumped into Mercedes-Benz’s 500E. Topping the power charts for these sedans, it also offered enough torque to reproduce the carrier-launch scenes from Top Gun. And then there was the Audi.

Audi went about things completely differently. It, too, had a race-bred engine, albeit an unconventional one. Still sporting a cast-iron inline-5 levered all the way to the very front of the car longitudinally, drive was transmitted through a 5-speed manual only like the M5, but of course drive was executed by all four wheels. Displacing only 2.2 liters – less than half of the Benz’s power plant – the Audi approached the competition as a serious underdog. But a KKK turbocharger and electronic fuel injection meant 227 horsepower and a wide torque band maxing at 258 lb.ft. Yes, it was down on power to the others, but on the move, over changing terrain and especially in real-world situations, the Audi was just as fast as the beefier competition.

But sales were slow in the early 1990s for Audi, and it didn’t trade many of these expensive sedans. But their extreme competence, stout build quality and ability to easily take on modifications – allowing them to outpace their countrymen – have made these sedans legendary. With a strong fan base, you’d expect a lot of pristine examples out there. But coming across a sleeper like this ’95 happens fairly infrequently:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 Audi S6 on eBay

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1995.5 Audi S6 Avant

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Yesterday we took a look at the great C4 Audi S6. Although the turbocharged sedan was down on power to the M5 and 500E, it made up for its deficits with clever all-wheel drive power delivery which made it as fast on the fly and on back roads. But, of course, the real trump card for the C4 over its competition was that it was the sole wagon offered in the class. If the S6 is sought by fans of the chassis, the S6 Avant achieves near God-like status and knee-trembling reactions among the faithful. That means that even a higher-mile, less than pristine example usually will pull similar numbers to a better-condition sedan historically:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995.5 Audi S6 Avant on eBay

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Double Take: 1995 Audi S6

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There are quite a few collector cars out there that we talk about often. In most cases, instead of being ahead of the trendsetters, enthusiasts are left lamenting how cars that are now worth capital could once be bought for pennies. Name the classic that you grew up with, and for the most part really nice examples will be priced out of the reach of many. Because of this, often those that can afford these classics at top-dollar wouldn’t dream of daily driving them.

But there are still bastions of hope for those who want a special car that can be driven daily but will be quite unique and in good shape, yet remain within a reasonable budget. Sound too good to be true? These twin 1995 S6s spooling up their AAN 20V turbocharged inline-5s beg to differ:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 Audi S6 on eBay

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1992 Audi 100CS quattro

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So on to the C4 chassis. Though it was instantly recognizable as an Audi, the all-new C4 bore little resemblance to the boxy C3 it replaced. Fluid lines and curves dominated the design, while new running gear and motors made a splash in performance. The C4 continued to stress Audi’s pioneering aerodynamic tradition, but the result this time was a car which seemed far less top-heavy than the chassis it replaced. It looked more trim even if it was a big bigger than the outgoing model.

On the fly, the 100’s new motivation was a revelation. The 2.8 liter V6 replaced the 2.3 liter inline-5, and though horsepower was only 172 and torque 184, both figures represented a nearly 30% gain over the 5-pot. New, too, was a 4-speed automatic transmission. And while the inside looked little different from the last of the C3, only switch gear was shared and the C4 brought a host of new safety and convienence features to the large-chassis Audi.

Strange, though, was the re-appearance of Audi’s earlier naming convention in the U.S.. Back in the early days of the 5000, Audi had used the “S” and “CS” monikers to denote turbo and quattro models at times (but, again being Audi, inconsistently). Well, the S and CS were back after a four-year hiatus. Base model 100 came with steel wheels, while the “S” model stepped you up in options and gave you alloys. But outside of the 20V turbo S4 model, the 100 to get was still the 100CS, which was the most loaded and gave you the option for Audi’s quattro drivetrain. Fully loaded, they were around $35,000 – not cheap, but also not the most expensive in class, and were still unique in offering all-wheel drive.

However, like the C3, the front-drive 100/100S/100CS outsold the quattro model by a fair margin. Audi claims they traded 2,230 of the new 100CS quattro in 1992, and here’s the nicest one out there:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1992 Audi 100CS quattro on eBay

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1997 Audi S6 Plus

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Update 2/12/18: A year after we originally featured it, this ultra-rare S6 Plus is back with 1,000 more miles for $500 less. It’s still a steep price for one of these super-S models, but it’s pretty hard to find them at all, never mind like this.

Audi’s sleeper sedan squared up against some seriously stiff competition in the early 1990s, and to be frank, though it was innovative it came up a bit short in the power department. In turbocharged 20 valve form, the 2.2 liter inline-5 cranked out 227 horsepower and 258 lb.ft of torque. That was impressive by 1980s standards, but in the early 90s you needed to carry a bigger stick. BMW’s E34 M5 brought nearly 100 horsepower more to the party at 311 with the revised 3.6 (and yes, it had more torque than the AAN, too), but Mercedes-Benz really crashed the party with the E500, whose M119 held a full 100 horsepower and 100 lb.ft of torque advantage over the Audi. You could be as clever as you wanted, but a 50% power disadvantage was a bridge too far to cross for the legendary 5 pot no matter how many wheels were driven.

The writing was on the wall, and Audi decided to offer an upgraded V8 model alongside the S4 in the rest of the world. Starting in October 1992, you could select the same ABH 276 horsepower 32V 4.2 liter all-aluminum V8 in the S4. The switch to S6 saw the introduction of the revised AEC, which gained 10 horsepower for the 1995 model year and would continue to be the standard V8 in the S6 until production ended. But the big new was the 1996 introduction from Audi’s skunkworks quattro GmbH of the Plus model.

The Plus upped the ante quite a bit with the reworked AHK V8. Though it displaced the same 4.2 liters and had the same 32 valves, the breathed on motor had 322 horsepower and 302 lb.ft of torque. Power was matched with upgraded suspension, brakes, wheels and some small “Plus” badge details – this was still the decade of stealthy performance, after all. Few who look at this model would see anything other than a C4 sitting on slightly larger wheels. But for those in the know, this was one of the most potent super sedans (and wagons!) of the 1990s:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1997 Audi S6 Plus on eBay

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Feature Listing: 1995.5 Audi S6 Avant

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It’s often difficult for a second act to follow a legend, and that’s just what the C4 S4 had to do when it launched for U.S. customers in 1992. The Type 44 was already a fan favorite before the 20V version appeared here briefly for the 1991 model year, with wider flared track, bigger brakes, and more power. To answer fans, Audi introduced an even more potent version with the S4; even bigger wheels, lower suspension, and a few more horses were encased in a thoroughly modern shape, yet one that was easily recognizable to fans of the brand. With a reputation for smooth power delivery and still the market cornered on all-wheel drive performance luxury vehicles, Audi’s new S4 sold out almost immediately in a period when the European makes had difficulty moving their expensive wares.

But the Type 44 still held one advantage over its replacement; an optional fifth door. While the Avant version of the new 100 was available immediately, there was no range-topping S4 wagon brought here. That was finally remedied with the relaunch of the now renamed S6 Avant for 1995. With smoothed out bumpers, revised passenger mirror, rolling changes such as new Speedline Avus 6-spoke wheels replaced the Fuchs that the S4 wore, and headrests became closed. There were more changes with the ‘95.5’ model; the infrared remote locking became radio frequency and the B-pillar receiver disappeared; so, too, did the option to lock the rear differential yourself, as Audi opted to work in an electronic differential lock utilizing the ABS speed sensors rather than a physically locking rear end.

These were really only minor changes to the recipe, which at its roots remained a fan fantasy. The traditional inline-5 that had hung out of the nose of the high-end Audis was still there, with its dual-cam head augmented by electronic fuel injection and electronic boost control. The turbo spun up quickly and had an overboost function, giving drivers 227 horsepower and 258 lb.ft of torque to be mastered solely by a manual transmission with Torsen center differential. Form-fitting electric sport seats kept front passengers firmly planted in place through the prodigious grip generated by the meaty 225 section tires. Combined with the prodigious space the Avant offered families and the ability of these cars to eat up highway miles with aplomb regardless of weather, not to mention the incredible tuning potential of the AAN 20V turbo, they’ve become highly sought steeds with a very limited pool of around 300 originally imported:

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Quattro Conundrum: 1987 Audi 4000CS quattro or 1993 Audi S4

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While usually our ‘Double Take’ features look at one model, today I’m going to look at two cars that share a brand, and idea, and a price point. Both of these Audis represent a huge leap forward from their predecessors; versus the front-drive Type 81, the Type 85 B2 was much more modern-feeling, refined and introduced all-wheel drive to the mass market (excusing its bigger brother, and twice as expensive and exotically flared Quattro brethren, of which only 664 sold here) and the C4 S4 introduced the U.S. market to S-cars and merged the 200 20V’s setup with a modern body and more sporty interior along with even a bit more power. Both are legendary in the 4-ringed circles for their longevity. Both have cadres of fans who seek each model out. And both are hard to find in good condition.

So here we go, Alice – red or green pill? For your $6,000 investment, which of these inline-5 all-wheel drive legends would be your choice?

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1987 Audi 4000CS quattro on eBay

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1995 Audi S6 Avant

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After two clean 90s, it’s time to look at the much greater appeal of the turbocharged S6 Avant. Imported in even more limited quantities than the 90 quattro 20V, the wagon form of the C4 with AAN turbo power has been legendary since its inception. But with a very limited stock and a chassis known to pile on mileage with aplomb, clean and low mileage examples are few and far between.

So I’ll start off with admitting that this S6 Avant is not perfect; if anything it’s probably far from perfect by most standards. There’s body damage, a replaced hatch, the wrong wheels, a fair chunks of missing paint. It’s got 179,000 miles and is in need of a suspension refresh. It’s 22 years old, too, so you can bet it’s got some Audi idiosyncrasies. And with that, most of the 911 crew just tuned out.

But, and it’s a big but, it’s a S6 Avant. As such, it’s automatically worth investigating if it runs at all. And dig beneath the (admittedly somewhat ruined) exterior, and there’s a fair amount to like here:

CLICK FOR DETAILS: 1995 Audi S6 Avant on eBay

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