Today’s Nice Price or No Dice RS4 is a hot shoe Audi that calls Vancouver, BC its home. Let’s have a look at the price tag and see if it’s worth racing to the Canadian coast to buy.
There was a lot of chiding chit-chat in the comments on yesterday’s 2007 Subaru Impreza WRX Limited. It wasn’t so much on the car but on the imagined flat-bill cap-wearing vape-puffer that many of you seemingly consider is the model’s stereotypical driver. That negative association rubbed off on the WRX’s $17,500 price, giving the car a massive 88 percent No Dice loss.
So, I’ve done a little research and it turns out that Canada isn’t actually “America’s hat,” nor is it little more than a poorly-organized parking lot for 18-wheelers. It turns out, it’s much more — and much bigger — than that.
According to worldometers.info, as a nation, Canada is second in size only to Russia, dwarfing both China and all of the United States. That’s a pretty big place, and from what I’ve gleaned, it’s full of moose, polar bears, and poutine-snacking hockey fans. It’s also home to today’s 2007 Audi RS4 saloon.
This is the second 2007 car we’ve had in a row, and just like yesterday’s ’07 Subaru, this RS4 is a hot edition of a standard sedan that marries a competent AWD chassis with a potent engine and an engaging manual gearbox to keep you busy. With 414 horsepower on tap, however, this Audi corrals almost twice as many ponies as did yesterday’s WRX.
The power comes from a 4.2 liter DOHC V8 that hangs out over the front wheels, Audi-style, and does its thing through the company’s lauded Quattro AWD system. Here that system carries a base 40/60 torque split but can adjust that bias front or rear automatically via its center diff wherever and whenever traction is needed.
Ok, let’s address the moose in the room which is the design of that 4.2 V8 in the B7 body. This is the engine that is backward-built, with the cam chains driven off the flywheel side of the crank. Audi did that to allow for a shorter engine and better weight distribution, the engine remains notorious and notoriously expensive to fix failure point of the car.
Fortunately, much like T.S. Garp’s Piper Cub-perforated house, this RS4 has been pre-disastered. According to the ad, of the 133,000 total kilometers this Audi has covered, 87,504 of those were via the car’s original motor. It apparently shit the bed at that point and was replaced with a donor unit that had only 47K on it at the time.
The seller goes to great lengths of explaining the car’s ownership history (three) and that while it was originally from Calgary it’s been moved to Vancouver. For some reason, the seller thinks it’s important to note that this is the second Audi they have relocated from Alberta to British Columbia.
We also get assurance in the ad that the car has been maintained by professionals, as well as the offer of a Vehicle Inspection Report from a dealer to vouch for the car’s condition.
Visually, that condition looks pretty great. I mean, who doesn’t love the aggressive metal-robot styling of the B7 RS4? The silver paint helps here, and the car hunkers down on the factory alloys like a fat kid on free pie. By the way, just like yesterday’s Subaru, this Audi comes with a second set of BBS wheels and meats for skating season.
Inside, there’s leather and carbon fiber and a bunch of analog controls for making the car go, stop and shift. It’s modern enough that there are plenty of buttons to play with, as well as a big screen in the dash so you don’t feel like you’re driving a Conestoga wagon or something. The seller says that a Bluetooth link has been added to that factory double-DIN so you can connect your phone and do phone things in the car too.
The title is clean and the car comes with a $38,000 asking price. Now, before you all get your granny garters in a half-hitch, remember that this Audi calls Canada home and that means the price is in Canadian dollars which are typically at a disadvantage to American dollars. Or, maybe it’s an advantage, I don’t know, I was terrible at global finance.
At any rate — or more specifically, exchange rate — that CAD$38,000 price equates to about $30,000 in U.S.A. cash. That’s a lot easier to swallow, and we now need to decide how many of you would, in fact, be willing to swallow… er, spend that much.
What do you say, is this hot Canadian Audi worth its asking as it is presented in its ad? Or, does that price tag have you saying “no, thank you” because everyone in Canada is polite?
You decide!
Vancouver, BC, Canada Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to FauxShizzle for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at rob@jalopnik.com and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.
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