I have owned one VW and it wasn't super reliable, either. Definitely no B5 S4, though. I knew going in there were potential problems with the S4. However, make no mistake the car failed because of Audi's inherent design flaw, not because it was highly modified. At first I blamed the modifications, but in the end it was Audi's infinite wisdom that caused the issues that made the car FAIL. I have friends who own or have owned Audi's and had issues as well. Not nearly modified enough to get out of their own way, though. Read: very near stock, stage 1 or less.
There is no doubt that if I wanted to get into a wreck with a large, heavy object and live, there is no doubt in my mind that I would want to be in a b5 or big body benz. I survived a severe wreck in a Subaru vs a pcp'd fool on a crotch rocket and it held up like a champ, too.
Every time I look around I see someone with an Audi having problems. I have been a member of vortex for years and have scanned through those threads on occasion and have seen nothing but issues for anything other than stock VAGs. I also see daily issues every time I logged into Audizine. I'm not knocking the people owning the cars, I'm knocking the cars. Their not for me and I am certainly not for them and I'm more than ok with that.