Audi haven’t given up the battle with arch-rival BMW and it seems they got the recipe for a sport sedan finally capable of making our 2010 Best10. What’s it about? Well…

a 3.0 supercharged V6 with less power and a strange “T” badge. Yes, they dropped the “old”  4.2-liter V8 but for an engine that’s just 7hp lazier. That 4.2L V8, that produces 340 HP and that is still used in nearly every car Audi makes, from the platform-sharing 2010 Audi S5 to the Audi R8 4.2. It’s an amazing engine in all its forms, combining V8 sound with instantaneous revs. Hopping in the S4 for the first time, I was pretty disappointed by its absence, the new direct-injected and supercharged V6’s drone would sound right at home in a Camry and there’s no audible sign of the supercharger whatsoever.

The new 3.0L produces 333hp, but, compared to the 4.2L, torque is up by 23 Lb-Ft to 325, with the peak now arriving 900 RPM earlier and spreading across a plateau from 2,900 to 5,300 RPM. The effect of that is predictably much more low down shove for everyday driving, but, unpredictably, fuel economy gets a huge boost from 13/20 (city/highway) on the V8 to 18/27 MPG for this manual six speed.

S4 starts at the price of $45,900, also coming with an optional $1,100 torque-vectoring rear differential that works with the 40:60 front to rear power split and stability control to all but completely eliminate understeer.

Welcome, S4!

Photos after the jump