Audi RS4 Avant

In 20 years of road testing and writing about cars, I have been privileged to have driven some of the world's most exciting and exotic machinery. There have been many memorable moments. None moreso than the Audi RS4.
When I first drove one in 2001, never before had I experienced such jaw dropping acceleration and power in what was basically a small family sedan.
The engine was, and remains a masterpiece.
A 4.2 litre 32 valve, hand built V8, with 301 kw and 430 nm of torque.
Incredibly the RS4 engine achieves this with normal aspiration...there's no turbo or supercharger, It's redline is 8,250 rpm...almost two thousand more than a V8 Supercar.
Even that hard headed "Top Gear" cynic Jeremy Clarkson, lavished praise on this engine as one of the finest he'd ever sat behind.
Twelve years on and I have revisited one of the performance bargains of the decade.
This time it's the RS4 Avant, (or station wagon in Aussie lingo,) with an extra 30kw or so.
Just one full throttle takeoff  leaves you breathless, shaking your head and laughing in awe at the sheer thrill of that visceral howl from under the bonnet, and stentorian roar blasting out the dual exhausts.
Unleashed, it assaults the senses with its brutal, almost stupefying, ferocious mechanical snarl.
By the way, it's absolutely compulsory to wind down the windows, and find the nearest tunnel, just to revel in the experience.
You will want to do it again and again.. it's addictive!
Once tried it's not forgotten, believe me! 
Zero to 100 is reached in about 4 seconds, faster than a Porsche 911.
All this towering performance is linked to Audi's Quattro all wheel drive system.
Gigantic drilled discs effortlessly haul the RS4 down from speed.
The RS4 Avant is something of a chameleon.. from full on racer, to being easily able to tootle around town with nary a hint of complaint.
Fuel consumption averaged about 13 L /100 k mainly in urban driving, and about 8 on the highway. Naturally if you want to hear and feel more of that stunning aural symphony, you will pay for it  at the pump. 
The car driven here is a 7 speed automatic with the usual D, Sport and Manual settings. There are numerous suspension modes available as well, from Comfort to Dynamic.
In Sport  and manual mode, the engine will "blip" itself ready for a lower gear, with a masculine throaty cough on overrun.
Despite having almost race car pretensions, the RS4's suspension is quite acceptable even in Dynamic mode, where shockers stiffen up to enable safer, surefooted, spirited driving.
265/35 series tyres on 19" multi spoked alloy wheels keep everything tracking truly.
Inside it's all traditional Audi detail...no complaints about room, seat comfort or ease of instrument use.
If you ever tire of the mechanical symphony up front (not that that's likely) there's a 180 watt 10 speaker sound system (with sub woofer) to keep you entertained.
So: Family wagon, (check) Shopping runabout, (check) School taxi, (check) Racing car,(check) Good.
That's that then..all bases covered!
If you crave a genuinely multi purpose supercar,(and you can spare a lazy 149 thousand dollars,) this could be a match made in heaven, and money well spent.
Peter Sellen