German Car Zone

Eni, if you consider how much less "compact" the addition of two turbos has made the N52, then surely the small advantage of mounting the compressor in between the Vee (in terms of packaging space) is outweighed by the increased weight, poorer centre-of-gravity and not to mention the fact that a supercharger (particularly a less-than-efficient Roots-type blower) can consume up to 20% of an engine's power.

Torque is up by 90 Nm to 420 Nm vs. the 3.2 litre FSI. But this is at 2,500 rpm. That BMW is able to make 400 Nm from just 1,300 rpm with turbocharging makes this latest Audi "development" all the more underwhelming...

Talk of the engine in the S4 producing just 245 kW is equally bemusing. Down 15 kW on the old model you say? So I guess Audi takes the first step in reversing the horsepower wars. What next? An RS4 with 295 kW?

take a look at the torque and horsepower curve, 290 hp from 4,850 RPM to 7,000 RPM and peak torque 2,500 to 4,850 RPM.

the fact that peak horsepower and peak torque connect with one another seamlessly is unheard of, i would say this engine is very carefully engineered.

wonder what the driving experience would be

Looks like a beast.

I wonder if this engine is going to be underrated just like the 335i engine from BMW. More power than the factory claim.

If S4 to be position against 335, 290hp should be adequate as A4 is lighter than 3 series.

Well, technically speaking the power and torque curves are "seamlessly" connected in any engine as power is merely a product of torque at those particular rpm. But I get what you're saying.

Also, with forced induction it's not that much of a feat to get the max power and max torque curves to intersect at the same rpm.

The Audi RS6 Avant already does this with max power and max torque being available at 6250 rpm. Heck, the 2.0T in the Golf GTI produces max torque all the way to 5000 rpm with max power coming in just 100 rpm later at 5100 rpm.

The twin turbo arrangement in the 335i sustains max torque all the way thru to 5000 rpm from a lowly 1300 rpm. Max power comes in at 5800 rpm but believe me the sensation of torque dropping away between 5000 and 58000 rpm is completely non-existant. In fact it feels like the car pulls even harder as it revs to 7000 rpm.

So this thing of max power following directly on from max torque isn't really going define the motoring experience...

Very disappointing that Audi who has given us many wonderful turbo engines would switch to something so inherently inefficient as a supercharger. I would be surprised if it is in real world any more efficient than similar NA engines.

One of the advantages of supercharger over turbocharger is max torque from very low RPMs but even their it lacks behind BMWs I6 TT engine. The only reason, like someone else suggested could be lack of space but I would have expected Audi to come with something innovative like the turbos in the V or something. Oh,well, may be there is a silver bullet somewhere in there.

How reliable is the claim that in S4 form this engine will give 245 kW?

It is a little surprising that I see quite a bit of "negative" impressions about this new supercharged engine from Audi. Both supercharging and turbocharging have their pros and cons. Just because BMW happens to make a VERY good twin turbo setup doesn't mean that supercharging is a bad idea.

Merc and AMG have had supercharged engines for a long time (from the 1.8L Kompressor in their small cars to 5.4L Kompressor in the 55 AMG cars). These cars made decent power, had a flat broad torque curve, and were pretty fuel efficient compared to the competitors. They've pretty much "been there, done that" with supercharging, so they are likely moving towards turbos. Audi, on the other hand, has always championed turbo technology.......they've "been there, done that", and now are trying an alternative in supercharging. Nothing wrong with that, as I'm sure the supercharging technology is always continually improving (like turbo technology). BMW (prior to the 335i) has championed a naturally aspirated approach for the LONGEST time. Now they are into turbocharging their smaller engines to make the same power as bigger naturally aspirated engines.

There is a natural tendency to "change" to seem keep up with the times. Bottom line, everyone recognizes the need to go "green" to a degree, and forced induction (with either supercharing or turbocharging) is the way to go while still making decent power.