Audi RS4 B9 review – design
The B9 RS4 is Audi Sport by the book: butch yet balanced, aggressive yet subtle. The bespoke body is broad in all the right places.
If you’re into fast estates, you’re into fast Audis and the B9 RS4 appeals as they all have. It could be the last of its kind, as the A5, S5 and inevitably, the RS5 that’s to come, move in a more amorphous aesthetic direction. As mentioned above, Audi did the incredibly expensive job of designing a bespoke body-in-white for the B9 RS4, sharing only a few exterior panels with lesser A4s. On the road, the B9 RS4’s stance and overall detailing is superbly thought out, and while the basic A4’s facelift wasn’t entirely successful, the RS4 benefitted.
Those geometric arches on both axles are pure Audi Sport theatre, this definition making the B9 RS4 even more distinct compared to standard A4 models. The amount of attention they get on the road is a testament to that.
The front and rear bumpers were more cuboidal in their detailing on the pre-facelift cars, but got RS6 and RS7-mimicking updates for the facelift. They ditched the brightwork and complicated intake openings of the previous RS4 model.
While the standard 19-inch wheels always filled the arches well, the larger 20s have a tad more width, aggression, and trademark dish. Even if there’s probably a ride quality sacrifice to be made. While it’s hardly a Q-car, the B9 RS4 pairs aggression and understatement in expertly judged measures.
