Straight-Piped, 200K-Mile Audi B7 RS 4 Avant Impresses at the Nürburgring

There are plenty of reasons to take it easy on a nearly 20-year-old performance car with 200,000 miles on the clock. Strange noises suddenly become concerning. High temperatures are watched like a hawk. And hammering around the Nürburgring probably isn’t at the top of the recommended maintenance schedule. But this B7 Audi RS 4 Avant shrugs off such concerns.

The odometer on this wonderfully used RS 4 Avant reads an incredible 322,000 kilometers, or roughly 200,000 miles. And rather than spending its retirement cruising between Cars and Coffee events, it’s still being driven exactly how Audi Sport intended. That is with Misha Charoudin behind the wheel pushing it to the limit around the Green Hell.

Under the hood is one of the engines that helped make the B7 RS 4 legendary, Audi’s naturally aspirated 4.2-liter V8. It produced 420 horsepower when new, although the owner somewhat jokingly estimates that maybe 400 horses are still present. Whatever the actual number, there’s apparently enough left to make the old Audi seriously entertaining. This particular example has also received some modifications, including suspension work and a straight-pipe exhaust that allows the high-revving V8 to provide a suitably dramatic soundtrack. Ceramic brakes, Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires, bucket seats, and that all-important six-speed manual complete the package.

There was some understandable apprehension before heading onto the Nürburgring. Would the brakes survive? Would something break? Would nearly two decades and enough mileage to circle the Earth eight times finally catch up with the RS 4? Nope. “Phenomenal quality,” Charoudin says afterward. “322,000 km and to still perform this nice. Really nice.”

And the praise only gets better. The brakes held up, the engine delivered, and the combination of that naturally aspirated V8 and straight-pipe exhaust produced what Charoudin described as a “fantastic emotional performance.” It wasn’t perfect. The RS 4 displayed some understeer, and its lowered suspension setup wasn’t ideal for maximum performance. None of that seemed to matter much. “It was amazing the way that this car danced,” he said. “I’m impressed.”

Nearly 20 years and 200,000 miles later, the B7 RS 4 can apparently still remind us why it became an Audi Sport legend in the first place.