Although it shares its V-8 engine with the R8, the Audi RS 4 didn’t impart the same sort of driving satisfaction. It’s a porky beast—at 3952 pounds, the heaviest of the 13 cars featured here. It’s actually better at masking its weight than the similarly obese Shelby GT500, but the mass is especially apparent when cornering, where the tires squeal in a protracted wail of protest.
The closest comparative car this time around was the BMW 335i coupe, which also has decent-sized rear seats. The BMW was almost one second quicker around VIR, despite dramatically lower peak speeds on the straights. The RS 4 simply overloads its tires too quickly when the steering wheel is turned. If it weren’t for the four-wheel-drive system ensuring that the power can be applied early at corner exit, the RS 4 would have been even farther behind the competition in the LL3 class.
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