Audi S4 And S5 To Drop To Four-Cylinder Configuration

Thought the week was over?  Well hold onto your hats chums, this is hot news.

The Audi S4 has already dropped a pair of cylinders between the last iteration and the 2010 model - and the S5 is expected to drop a couple as well - but now there’s talk that the S4 and the S5 will both switch to a four-cylinder format in the near future.

According to a recent interview US mag Car And Driver held with Audi engineering director Michael Dick, come 2014, the hero cars will feature turbo-charging to make up the power difference, and lose a load of weight: in the case of the S5, some 400kg (880lb).

To that end, Mr Dick said Audi will increase its use of structural aluminium and magnesium (which will be no surprise to one of TMR’s readers), and that the S5 prototypes currently under testing weigh around 1350kg  (3000lb).

And don’t think anything will be given away on the performance front either, with the new S5 prototype apparently able to lap the Nurburgring some eight seconds faster than the current model.

While the 2014 S5 and S5 prototypes being tested look identical to today’s models, Dick says we should expect to see styling cues taken from the upcoming A7 – based on the Audi Sportback concept shown at Detroit – including the narrow angular headlights, more defined grille, and super-sharp tail lights.

If this weren’t all coming from the mouth of Audi’s engineering head honcho, we’d be inclined to suspect shenanigans at work here – and we’re not alone.  Car And Driver came away with a distinct impression that Dick might be saying all these things before any of it is confirmed, in an effort to force his team to come through with the goods.

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[Car and Driver]