Originally made by Car and Driver


Audi decides its fantastic RS 4 is safe for U.S. consumption in convertible form as well.

BY JARED GALL, June 2007
Maybe you need a 420-horsepower, 8250-rpm V-8 in your family convertible. Or maybe you need to peel the top off of your 420-hp, 8250-rpm, V-8-powered family sedan. Either way, the time to rejoice is now. Audi has announced that it will be bringing its RS 4 Cabriolet to the U.S. for 2008.
Mechanically identical to the RS 4 sedan (http://www.caranddriver.com/roadtests/11333/2007-audi-rs-4-quattro.html), the RS 4 Cabrio is powered by a high-winding 4.2-liter direct-injected V-8 herding 420 horsepower through a six-speed manual to all four wheels. The conversion from sedan to convertible cuts the door count to two and adds about 300 pounds to the RS 4’s saddle bags, but the RS 4 Cabrio should still be good for 0-to-60 toots in 4.8 seconds or so.
The other great—as in scale, and as in uh oh—addition in the transformation from sedan to convertible is in the price tag. Audi has yet to announce pricing for the convertible, but figure on paying at least $8000 more for the drop-top two-door than for the sedan, meaning a cool $77,000. First thing we’d do after driving this sweetie off the lot (well, after the break-in miles, anyways) would be a top-down rip through a nice, long tunnel, since the 4.2 screaming up to its 8250-rpm redline is one of the tastier exhaust symphonies this side of $100,000.

Those with the money will want to wipe up their slobber, get to their nearest Audi dealership quickly, and throw down a deposit, as only 300 2008-model RS 4 convertibles will make it to the U.S. Keep an eye out for them starting this fall.

this is old news man

300 pounds... ouch. this is why i don't necessarily like convertibles; they add a quite large amount of weight :-k. and they're kinda girly i think... a man sitting in a sexy coupé suits more than a man in a cabrio. who agrees? lol...

damn that sounded gay lol!

The Audi RS4 looks terrible in 2 door convertible form :(

It looks fine and dandy to me... ^^

Im happy they did this already, i mean all the other euro countries got these beasts, why cant we?! Finally, i can see some RS4 cabrio's around. hopefully one of my friends get one

Do you think they figured out how to get that big-assed engine behind the front axle?

Didn't think so.

I'm still not sold.

For an example of textbook understeer, see this car.

i always thought this will be the faster than the sedan since its 2 doors ,, :p any how im not liking it ..doesnt looks as good.. ill have the RS4 avant

Converitables are stupid.

Without a roof you have to add all kinds of structual bracing, and even then its still no where near as stiff as it was before.

Convertible sportscars are the worst, this audi will be like a 77k dollar, 420 HP spagetti noodle.

Do you think they figured out how to get that big-assed engine behind the front axle?

Didn't think so.

I'm still not sold.

For an example of textbook understeer, see this car.

it's a Quattro. in normal conditions, most of the power is going to the back wheels (you can even select to what axle you want that precise % of power to go) so yes, it is understeering, but not as much as you'd expect with such a big engine.
the power is pushed to the front only when it's necessary (ESP walks on, etc.) plus, with this amount of power a 4x4 system is preferable (as this is not really a sportscar but a sport saloon in which you can safely get your kids to school).

for me the RS 4 is way ower the old M3... and I'm waiting the new RS 4 for the end of next year or in 2009 to challenge the new M3...

and yes, I also think that taking the top off makes it lose a bit of it's charm. the Avant for me, please.