By Matt Bird \/ Thursday, 7 December 2023 \/ Loading comments<\/p>\n
Those of us less enthusiastic about the festive period will already be looking ahead to 2024 and the promise of a new year. No doubt there will be plenty of automotive anniversaries to celebrate over the next 12 (and a bit) months, so here\u2019s one to kick things off early: the Audi RS2 is 30 years old in 2024. <\/p>\n
We won\u2019t dwell on that car for long – heaven knows we\u2019ve all heard enough about the Porsche-fettled 80 Avant for a good while yet – but instead focus on the anniversary. Will it be marked by Audi? Probably not. The RS2\u2019s distant descendent, the B9 RS4, will be out of production soon, and it\u2019s already had its end-of-the-line special edition in the shape of the impressive Competition. With Audi charging ahead (no pun intended) towards the electrified future, looking back on a five-cylinder cult curio seems unlikely. <\/p>\n
How different things were not so long ago. In 2014, to mark 20 years of the RS2, Audi launched something called the RS4 Nogaro at that year\u2019s Geneva motor show. It very much did as it said on the tin: the Nogaro was a B8 RS4 painted in Nogaro Blue, with even more of it inside. The special edition was also treated to additional carbon, red brake calipers and the 174mph delimit as standard. A simpler time. <\/p>\n
Back then the Nogaro almost felt like a missed opportunity to really sign the B8 off in style, ramp up the attitude for a car that had never been quite as loved as its predecessor. A nice thing to look at, but little more. Now, with just 25 allocated to the UK right at the end of the production run, it surely represents one of the more appealing ways into that sublime powertrain. <\/p>\n
The B8 was better to drive than you\u2019ve heard, and this Nogaro benefits from the sport differential as well. Though replacing this high revving, less torquey V8 with a twin-turbo V6 made complete sense given the RS4\u2019s remit, these old ones – complete with a DCT, don\u2019t forget, where later cars were torque converter autos – feel rather more special now. It seems crazy to use the term \u2018modern classic\u2019 for a car on a 64-plate, but consider how fast we\u2019ve moved away from ideas as wonderfully daft as 8,500rpm estates. <\/p>\n
This Nogaro has been kept busy, with basically an owner a year from new and 66,000 miles recorded. These V8s have never been cheap to run, so perhaps the reality of RS4 life bit a little too hard for some of them. Despite that, it looks brilliant, particularly that very special paint. Some of the interior has inevitably faded a little, though that could surely be remedied. With so few ever available in the UK, those keen on a Nogaro RS4 (it\u2019s not hard to see why) aren\u2019t exactly spoilt for choice – this is the only one of its kind currently on PH. Do your history checks, try to negotiate as much free super unleaded into the deal as possible, and enjoy – any more RS2 tribute acts look very unlikely now.<\/p>\n