Audi S4
Acceleration from a standstill to takes 5.1 seconds for the saloon with manual gearbox, the Avant one tenth of a second slower at 5.2 seconds. The same dash to 100 km/h in the saloon with S tronic takes 5.3 seconds, and the Avant at 5.4 seconds. The top speed is electronically limited to . However, a comparison in the American automotive magazine "Road & Track" showed the sprint from 0 to 60 mph in only 4.5 seconds for the 6-speed manual transmission. With figures like these, the B8 S4 accelerates more quickly than its V8-engined predecessors. Audi of America claims that the version of the S4 achieves 28 highway miles per gallon, and a 0 to acceleration time of 4.9 seconds with the manual transmission and 5.1 seconds with the S tronic. Fuel consumption is rated at a combined . Therefore, the B8 S4, unlike the V8-powered B6/7 models, avoids the US gas guzzler tax. The B8 S4's 3.0 TFSI engine also gets only 1 m.p.g. less than the base 2.0 TFSI engine. This is one of the most important reasons for Audi to downsize their engines, while keeping the output equivalent better, by using forced-induction such as supercharging or turbocharging.
Audi S4
There were two different types of high performance brake systems on offer for the C4 S4. All S4s' initially had diameter by thick, radially ventilated disc brakes up front, each with an ATE single-piston sliding caliper inside a 'UFO' styled bell-shaped disc. With the introduction of the V8 engine, a new front brake setup became standard; again the discs used radial ventilation, but these front discs were now sized at by - with a conventionally mounted Lucas-Girling caliper in an external position over the disc. US models had smaller discs. The rear brakes, by and also radially ventilated - remained the same throughout C4 production; they used a Lucas-Girling single-piston sliding caliper with an integrated cable-actuated handbrake mechanism. A Bosch three-channel operation (four-channel sensing) Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) with a mechanical load sensing valve for the rear brakes was standard throughout production.