Audi RS4 Avant And Porsche 911 Turbo

Audi RS4 Avant

Reveling in the fury of a high-revving V8 and keeping an eye on the oil

Audi RS4 Avant 4.2 FSI Quattro - Front Angle

A little while back I received an email from a reader who berated me for talking about the RS4’s load bay when I should have been regaling you with tales of bouncing off the rev limiter during early-morning blasts over the moors.

Audi RS4 Avant 4.2 FSI Quattro - Interior

First things first: one reference to an estate’s load-carrying ability in the context of living with a car for eight months isn’t out of order, is it? And is now a good time to mention the fact that my bike won’t go into the boot without a struggle? As for the rest, the frustrating dynamic set-up of our RS4 hasn’t exactly encouraged me to take it out on early-morning thrashes just for the sake of it, but I’m more than happy to wax lyrical about the engine, because the RS4’s 4.2-litre V8 is a bit of a weapon when it’s unleashed.

With its ultra-linear power delivery and an 8,250rpm red line, Audi’s naturally aspirated V8 reminds me more of an old-school Honda VTEC than, say, the comparable 6.2-litre V8 of a Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG. Which is to say, it’s quite highly strung, but working it hard is like witnessing the mechanical precision of a Swiss watch in motion. While low-rev flexibility isn’t anything to write home about, the pay-off is a soaring mid-range and a spine-tingling top end that makes you want to floor the throttle in a low gear and let the engine bounce off the rev limiter at every opportunity. There, I’ve said it. Do so and the RS4 is probably one of the fastest, most intoxicating cars you’ll drive this side of a Ferrari 458 Italia.

With its red cam covers, the RS4’s engine even looks good when you open the bonnet. Which is just as well, because we’ve been under there a few times to top up the engine oil. In 11,000 miles we’ve had to add a litre of oil on three separate occasions, on average every 3,500 miles or so. I don’t see this as a problem; perhaps it’s the price you pay for driving the four-wheeled equivalent of a Breitling.

Porsche 911Turbo

Porsche 911 Turbo 2014

Having replaced the waste gate, a problem I knew about before I bought the 930, the next job was to change the oil. This is normally a straightforward, mundane task, but then this is a 911. The 930 has a dry sump system like a competition car, which means the oil is stored in a large tank inside the rear wing. Getting the old oil out is easy enough; just unscrew a plug on the bottom of the tank and out it comes. But filling the tank with the right quantity of fresh oil — around 10 litres — needs care.

Like other 911s of the period, this one has an oil level gauge on the dash. It’s not just any old gauge, either. Oh no — this is a 911 gauge, which means that to understand how it works, you need to read the instruction book.

The gauge is only accurate when the engine is warm and the car is stationary and on the level. When you start from cold, the needle loiters in the red zone, which can be a worry until you know what’s going on. The gauge is useless when the car is moving and, as the book warns, “movements of the needle while driving are without significance”.

A small metal dipstick inside the filler of the tank is more accurate, but the same rule applies: only believe it if the engine is properly warmed up. If it isn’t and you top up to the line when the engine is cold, you’ll overfill it.

2014 Porsche 911 Turbo Rear Badge

I’ve used an off-the-shelf semi- synthetic oil in the 911. Like all Porsche boxer engines (even new ones), small amounts of oil creep past the piston rings when the engine is lying idle for a period of time, and there’s a puff of smoke when it fires. The oil consumption of the 930 when new is given in the handbook as “up to 1.5 litres/1000km” (621 miles), which kind of explains the routine smoke screen. The great thing about using a synthetic or semi-synthetic oil, though, is that the smell is not unlike the old Castrol R racing oil, so I don’t worry about it; I just take a good long sniff.