Bruce

"As reported last month, the RS4’s original Pirellis have been replaced by a set of Michelin Pilot Sport 2s. Now they’re bedded-in I’m starting to lean on them a bit more, which is revealing some differences.

As mentioned previously, the ride feels as supple and the road noise is no higher than on the Pirellis, but when you’re pushing on there’s a brighter, slightly lighter feel to the steering. The nose reacts more crisply to steering inputs and feedback is more detailed too, though with a healthy 7.5mm of tread depth all round, the grip level feels a fraction down. But to be honest, with the natural traction conferred by the drivetrain and the fine poise of the chassis, this ranks merely as an observation.

Peterborough Audi called about a week after the first service to say that they’d got the CD from Germany that would allow them to update the engine management software to eradicate the occasional rough running after a buzz to the red line. There has been no repeat of the misfire-like behaviour, though, so I’ll wait until the brake-pad warning light comes on and get both jobs done in one visit, as agreed.

I’ve noticed that the V8 feels a little less smooth during warm-up than it used to, though fuel economy has gradually improved – on a gentle commute I can see up to 25mpg, and the trip computer shows that the average since we took on the car has risen from 20.8 to 22.4mpg. Not bad considering that, as ever, those gentle commutes are interspersed with cross-country runs that involve checking and re-checking where that glorious V8’s rev-limiter is."



EVO Statistics

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Date acquired:March 2006
Total mileage:16,206
Mileage this month:1,368
Costs this month:£0
MPG this month:23.2mpg