2013 Audi S4 IV 3.0 TFSI quattro S tronic

Like most Audi S cars, the S4 is only available with Audi's quattro four-wheel drive (4WD) system, with the S4 utilising the Torsen-based permanent "full-time" 4WD. The S4 has a larger more powerful engine, larger uprated brakes, and high-performance suspension systems which are not shared with the remainder of the A4 range.

See also: Audi Ur-S4 / Ur-S6and Audi S6#C4

Audi was reconfiguring its model range during the early 1990s, and introduced the original S4 (Typ 4A) in 1992, as the performance version of the restyled Audi 100 (C4) saloon/ sedan. Despite being based on the Volkswagen Group C4 platform, and sharing its basic structure with the 100, the S4 effectively took the place of the Audi 200 quattro turbo, which had been discontinued the year before. Being the first S4 model from Audi, it is commonly referred to as the Ur-S4, derrived from the German augmentive word - Ursprünglich (meaning: original).

Following Audi's decision in discontinuing the 100 nameplate, it re-badged the car as the Audi A6 in 1994, and the S4 became the S6, although the only real changes to the model were minor cosmetic updates, and the addition of a more powerful limited edition "S6 Plus" model using the V8 engine. After the first generation A6 was replaced in 1997 by an updated version based on C5 chassis, the S4 and S6 became distinctly separate from one another.