Audi RS 4 Avant review - Reliability and Safety

The RS 4’s impressive brakes can be upgraded to ceramic discs for ultimate stopping power, but at a price - they're around £6,000 extra. Standard safety kit includes blind spot assistance, Audi Pre Sense with automatic emergency braking, which works at speeds up to 53mph, and able to stop the vehicle completely under 25mph.

Cruise control with a speed limiter function is also standard fit. The Tour Pack is optional and completes the suite of assistance features with adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance assistance, traffic sign recognition and extending the automatic braking system to work right up to 155mph. Rear side airbags are an option that costs around £350. The standard A4 saloon notched up a five-star Euro NCAP crash test rating back in 2015, and this will apply equally to the RS 4 version.

Less impressive is Audi’s performance as a marque in the Driver Power new car survey. The marque tends to finish in the lower half of the manufacturer ranking, with owners clearly feeling that the company's cars and dealerships fail to meet their expectations when it comes to quality and customer service.

Warranty

Audi’s standard warranty is included on the RS 4 and gives cover for 60,000 miles over a three-year period. Two extention packages are also offered. For around £400 buyers can opt for a four-year warranty that extends up to 75,000 miles or for around £900 a five-year 90,000-mile warranty is available.

Servicing

Being a performance car, consumables are going to be costly to replace, but Audi does offer a fixed-price servicing package on the RS 4. It's arranged on a one-to-one basis, and will be tailored to suit your needs, although it's likely to be expensive. At least you can bundle the cost in with the car, especially if you're buying on finance.