The twin turbo V6 with 30 valves puts out 250 horsepower and 258ft/lbs of torque. The subtle badging on the car causes many people on the road to mistake the car for the A4. This is a big mistake as the A4's performance is about two seconds slower on a sprint from 0-60 than the S4. In fact, the 0-60 time of the S4 is the equivalent of a Mustang GT V8 or Porsche 911 Cabriolet. The car comes with a suspension that is just as happy on the road as it would be on a track. While there have been a few complaints from hardcore racers about body roll, this can be fixed with minor suspension upgrades. For a car of this price, everything is power or electrical. The seats are heated and the mirrors are auto dimmed in case you encounter a car who insists on leaving his fog lights or high beams on behind you.
While Audi says the car can seat five people, I imagine four full size adults is probably the maximum you want to use for a comfortable ride. With a very linear acceleration and torque curve, only you need to know how fast you are driving while others in the car wonder, "Gosh, it seems like everyone else on the road isn't even driving...it's like they parked their cars all along the highway..."
The car only costs about $42K fully loaded and probably around $45K after tax, title, and license. While this may seem expensive, if you can put at least $20K down on the car you will have very low payments.
There are currently less than 20,000 S4 Quattros (model year 2000-2002) in the United States.
I'm interested in more than straight line speed. I'm not interested in cheap plastic interiors. Fully loaded in the S4 means that $45K gets you AWD twin turbo V6, leather with alcantara (synthetic suede), stability and traction control, xenon headlamps, sport suspension and brakes, power seats/windows/steering, all mirrors are autodimming for those trucks with really bright lights, tape/CD/radio in the front with a CD Changer in the trunk (Bose components), once touch up and down windows, heated front seats, heated windshield and headlamp washers (the headlamp washers pop out of the front bumper, squirt fluid, and then retract). This car is stealthy and does not look fast (i.e. not a ticket magnet). Four doors gives easy access to the car for four adults (it seats five, but things start getting cramped here). In the rain, this car launches as if it were fitted with God's feet while other cars are scrambling for traction. The power delivery is linear, not jerky.
The interior relaxes the driver. Even the glovebox opens gracefully while slowly lowering to expose its contents. There are tasteful aluminum accents, not an overdose of chrome. The plastics used in the dash are high quality and do not look like they could have come from the inside of a toy.
This is why I chose an S4.