Since launching in 2017, the outgoing Audi RS4 – the B9, as chassis code enjoyers know it – never truly shone in standard guise. It always fell into the classic fast Audi trap of being quick and effective, but never truly involving in the way that, say, the sensational B7 was.
Things were much improved by 2023’s harder, firmer Competition version, which we assumed at the time was also a goodbye for the B9. Turns out, though, that Audi had one more trick up its sleeve, unveiling the RS4 Edition 25 Years in 2024.
Audi RS4 Edition 25 Years – rear, static
Ostensibly, it was to celebrate a quarter-century since the original B5 RS4 arrived, which is why it was unveiled in the B5’s wonderfully eye-melting signature shade, Imola Yellow (although the Edition 25 also came in grey or black in case you were a bit boring). Really, though, it was a farewell to the RS4 as we know it: the combustion-powered A4 has become the A5, and the hot version will likely be a hybrid, while the next actual A4 is going to be electric.
This, then, is Audi’s final fast, small-ish estate powered solely by thrashing pistons, and it’s a lot more than some yellow paint. It gets the Competition’s manually adjustable coilovers, which leave it sitting a delicious-looking 10mm lower than the standard car, with the option to drop it by another 10mm. (How many owners are actually going to get their hands dirty and do this is another question.)
Audi RS4 Edition 25 Years – wheel detail
Carbon ceramic brakes and Audi’s torque-juggling Quattro Sport centre diff are standard, and Audi has increased negative camber at the front and fitted stiffer control arms. Racy Pirelli P Zero Corsa tyres are standard, and a set of barely road-legal Trofeo RSes were optional.
The 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 still makes 443lb ft, but power is up from 444 to 464bhp. This helps cut the 0-62mph run from 4.1 to a properly rapid 3.7 seconds, while the speed limiter’s been binned for a 186mph top end. It sounds proper, too – thanks to a standard-fit sports exhaust, it crackles into life with a lot more enthusiasm than lots of PPF-neutered six-pots these days, and stays rorty throughout the rev range.
Audi RS4 Edition 25 Years – interior
Inside, the big change is the installation of a pair of utterly fabulous carbon-backed bucket seats, but you’ll also spot many (thankfully subtle) flashes of Imola Yellow and the option of a set of white-backed dials for the digital instrument display, a nod to Audi’s original fast estate, the RS2.
It all points to a car that builds on the already excellent Competition to give the RS4 as we know it a proper send-off. In short, it’s worked.
It’s fast, obviously. Viciously, pin-you-back-in-your seat fast, in part because the Quattro system means you can take liberties with the throttle that you couldn’t in something rear-drive, or even with a more rear-biased all-wheel drive system. It also helps that there’s almost no turbo lag. The power is dealt out with boundless efficiency right through the rev range, and the eight-speed automatic swaps cogs quickly and enthusiastically.
Audi RS4 Edition 25 Years – front, driving
The carbon ceramics are as ferocious as you’d expect, making it feel like all your bones are trying to escape through your skin as you touch the superbly-weighted pedal at the last possible moment before a corner.
Ah yes, the corner, the traditional fast Audi stumbling block. Happily, The Age of Understeer is long behind us. Those front suspension tweaks help give the Edition 25 an astonishingly pointy front end. It turns in and immediately grips up rather than scrubbing wide, aided by decently feelsome, well-weighted steering.
With all those old Audi traits dialled out, it feels utterly unflappable along a twisty road, aided by a damping setup that irons out the worst a nasty surface can throw at it and keeps things impressively flat in the bends.
Audi RS4 Edition 25 Years – side, driving
Essentially, it’s all the good bits of the fast Audi recipe and none of the bad bits. While it doesn’t offer the knife-edge theatrics of an M3 CS or Giulia Quadrifoglio, the thrills come from the way it stays planted at outrageous cornering speeds, with seemingly nothing capable of upsetting it or knocking it off line. Only if you really give it a bootful in the wet can the rear end get unsettled, and even then, the all-wheel drive quickly pulls things back into line.
Ease off, and the Edition 25 remains a pleasant thing. The suspension setup errs towards the firm, but it’s never too punishing, and despite how racy they look, you can settle into those bucket seats for the long haul without getting uncomfortable.
Audi RS4 Edition 25 Years – interior
It’s based on a generation of A4 that’s now a decade old, and you can kind of see that in some of the interior materials. That’s a positive in other areas, though, namely still having a somewhat sensible layout with proper HVAC controls and no over-reliance on the screen.
The Edition 25 Years is unquestionably the best this generation of RS4’s ever been, and the best RS4 since the V8-powered B7. However, only 250 were built globally, with just 50 coming to the UK. It’s a shame such a small handful of cars enjoyed such a transformative round of upgrades, and so late in the B9’s life. More pertinently, it started at a massive £115,880. Like the equally special RS6 GT, that price and rarity are its biggest problems.
Audi RS4 Edition 25 Years – rear, driving
See, the upstart BMW M3 Touring has grabbed the RS4’s claim to the small fast estate throne. The Edition 25’s a fantastic thing, unquestionably better looking and arguably packing a much bigger cool factor than the Beemer. But an extra £25,000 over the younger, quicker, non-limited and equally entertaining car from Munich? You’d have to be one of the biggest Audi fans in the world to have put your name down for one (indeed, as we write this, lots seem to be sitting in UK dealers with hefty discounts).
If you did, though, then you probably haven’t been disappointed by it. The Edition 25 Years finally uncorks the full potential that was always there in the RS4 platform, and feels like a suitable send-off for the badge as we know it, albeit an expensive and niche one. It’s just a shame it didn’t arrive sooner.
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