SHEER AUDICITY; Taking flight with the RS 4.(News)(Product/service evaluation)

Byline: MAC MORRISON

Somewhere in the middle of the night, mid-corner, P-Zeros chirping, engine screaming, chassis dancing toward the apex, suburban Detroit circa 2006 feels a lot like Monaco 1999. Or probably what any ostentatious European enclave must have felt like to drivers of Audi's original, Europe- only RS 4 as they dodged the gendarme at ludicrous speed through the mountains.

You're lucky to find a hill in Detroit, let alone mountains. A typical Friday night drive means droning up and down Woodward Avenue, fending off invitations to drag-race frat boys in Evos and STis that snap, crackle and pop with every touch of the throttle, flames shooting from exhausts. This can become quite depressing.

Thus it's no small compliment that the latest sport sedan from Audi's performance experts, quattro GmbH, renders the shoddy local byways irrelevant. It's fun-stunning, really-to drive, no matter the road, and it's amusing to see cocky street racers whipping out camera phones to record evidence: Yes, we really did see that.

But not for long. Raise the revs to 4000 or so, dump the clutch, and the Audi spins its tires briefly before the awd sorts out the grip and launches you into a realm of otherworldly performance. Audi's claimed 0-to-60-mph time of 4.8 seconds feels conservative, but the actual time is beside the point. This is an experience.

The FSI direct-injection V8 makes its maximum 317 lb-ft of torque at 6000 rpm, and achieves its 414-hp peak at 7800 rpm, just 450 revs short of redline. Thus acceleration fades only when dipping the clutch to snap off shifts through the click-clack six-speed gearbox; it's an impressive lesson in the benefits of flat torque and power curves. More than one wide-eyed AutoWeek tester climbed from the cockpit mumbling something about video game-like physics.

Worries the RS 4's raw speed would be tempered by numb handling characteristics that are common in relatively nose-heavy, awd cars dissipate within two corners. The Torsen center differential normally sends 60 percent of the drive to the rear wheels and can apportion up to 100 percent to either front or rear. This, along with a sport suspension and wider front and rear tracks, gives the RS 4 a neutral ...