After a long hiatus, the second generation RS4, now built on Audi's "B7" A4 platform, became available to European customers in the Summer of 2005. Price is roughly 66,629€ in Europe. It was introduced at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in January and will arrive in August 2006 in North America with a base price of $66,000.
The B7 RS4 is an almost complete departure from previous RS cars, as it will debut as a sedan, with an Avant and Convertible version coming later; only the RS6 has gone this route before, the previous RS4 and RS2 were available exclusively as Avants. In addition, power comes from an FSI equipped, naturally aspirated 4.2 L V8, whereas all previous RS cars have been turbocharged. Nonetheless, this engine is very powerful, producing a total output of 420 PS (309 kW/414 hp), over 100 PS/litre. The engine also produced 317 ft·lbf (430 N·m) of torque.
Audi factory numbers indicate that the vehicle will be able to go 0-100 km (62 mph) in 4.8 seconds. Since Audi's factory times tend to be conservative, most experts seem to agree that a time under 4.5 seconds is a likely possibility.
BMW's upcoming, V8 powered M3 will be the RS4's primary competitor based on its pricepoint and it being the only other vehicle in the class with as much emphasis on sporty driving as the RS4. Mercedes Benz's AMG variant of the C-Class (currently the C 55 AMG) also provides some secondary competition.