RS5 - Worth it?
#17
08-05-2012, 06:40 PM
Black RS5 at Audi North Scottsdale MSRP $86,xxx. Had front-only (weird) carbon ceramics for $6,000. Looked phenom though. This was was likely sold because I was lurking in the back lot; looked like a fresh arrival, dirty, window sticker on the back seat.
#18
08-05-2012, 07:17 PM
And the ceramic brake option on the RS5 was only for front rotors. Agree - strange. The RS5 is a nice sporty coupe, if a bit heavy. Worth it? Who knows, but I'll bet most will be sold fairly fast.
#19
08-07-2012, 12:56 PM
Yes the new s5 is 3.0 supercharged from the S4.
I just sold my 10 S4 which we used to develop parts on.
In terms of performance it the 3.0 blows away the 4.2
Its lighter more responsive and delivers power better not to mention you dont see your self at the pump every 220 -230 miles... Had the first 08 S5 4.2 in Ca when Audi launched the car at the LA Auto Show.
I think the S5 with the 3.0 and a few goodies such as a GIAC tune, GMG headers and hi flow cats, a complete GMG WC exhaust and our fully dampened lower crank pulley bumps the power in the 410-425 range on pump gas...
I think the S5 with the 3.0 will be a great car and handle much better than the 4.2 version.
Well thats my 02. on the matter, in the meantime ........... Sept 15th cant get here soon enough.............. I want my RS5 NOW
!
I just sold my 10 S4 which we used to develop parts on.
In terms of performance it the 3.0 blows away the 4.2
Its lighter more responsive and delivers power better not to mention you dont see your self at the pump every 220 -230 miles... Had the first 08 S5 4.2 in Ca when Audi launched the car at the LA Auto Show.
I think the S5 with the 3.0 and a few goodies such as a GIAC tune, GMG headers and hi flow cats, a complete GMG WC exhaust and our fully dampened lower crank pulley bumps the power in the 410-425 range on pump gas...
I think the S5 with the 3.0 will be a great car and handle much better than the 4.2 version.
Well thats my 02. on the matter, in the meantime ........... Sept 15th cant get here soon enough.............. I want my RS5 NOW
!
#20
04-25-2014, 10:13 AM
I ordered a Rs5 I also had an opportunity to own anything I wanted. I have owned a ton of cars over the years and I think that Audi has the perfect balance of performance and luxury in a daily driver. The Rs5 is a great all around car it is better built than its rivals from BMW and the GTR. Since its a RS car I wont have to worry about seeing myself coming and going everywhere either. Those who know what a RS model represents know and those that dont.. Well im perfectly fine looking like another Audi
#21
04-25-2014, 10:17 AM
Former Vendor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Orange County SoCal
Posts: 4,765
Rep Power: 0 
We have done extensive testing with the RS5 and it really needs both.
We do have them in stock - shoot me a email and we can get you set up.
fabryce@gmgracing.com
#22
04-25-2014, 11:05 AM
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 249
Rep Power: 23
I have had my 2014 RS5 for about 5 months and did a few track days recently. I posted my thoughts on a few other boards, but will repost it here.
I have already installed the Alu Kruez stabilizer and upgraded the pads to Porterfield R4-S along with ECS Tuning SS brake lines. I am now considering sway bars.
Somewhat of a detailed/long post with video...
I finally had the opportunity to take the RS5 on the track yesterday. I ran in the intermediate group at MSR (Dallas, TX) on the 1.7 mile CCW track. It is a great track for the RS5, some good straights, two high speed sweepers and some very tough twisties and bends. It was a damp/rainy and cool day in Dallas. The first run of the morning was in the mist on a cold track. The RS5 was superb! Other than a Mitsu EVO, I was by far the fastest and had little difficulty with the rain. The Quattro is impressive in slippery conditions. It was almost laughable to watch the ZL1, Boss 302's attempt to gingerly navigate the track. Kudos to Audi to build a car with such great technology and firm "planted" feel on the track.
As the day went on, things dried and warmed up, this is where the high speeds finally kicked in and the RS5 stretched its legs. You can certainly feel that the car is somewhat heavy, especially compared to the Miata's and a Lotus whipping around the track, but it held it's own. This is my first experience with an AWD/Quattro based drivetrain, it does take some getting used too. You need to be on the power early and harder as well as not being afraid to throw the car into the corners so that the torque vectoring, crown diff, etc. can really do something for you. Once I figured this out, my lap times went way faster and I was able to stay with the small/light cars in the corners and way ahead of all of the high HP (read:American) cars on the track.
OK, my real impressions...
Good
- The acceleration of the car when you keep it up above 5000 RPM is amazing and feels great in your hands. I stayed in 3rd most of the time and shifted to 4th on the longer straights, maxing out my speed at around 115MPH on the longest straight. When shifting under full throttle the DCT/tranny is simply awesome, you do not even feel it and it is instantaneous. The rev limiter is handy as well as occasionally I would take the revs all the way up to 8500, but was coming close to a braking the zone, the rev limiter would gently remind me to back off
- The drivetrain is astounding and really gives you confidence in hard turns, you can hear my tires squealing yet the car felt planted and I was not concerned with a slight slide, in fact I used that to my advantage to rotate the car around for the turn, works great
- Electronic nannies - I had the car in sport mode (traction control), dynamic and was manually shifting. I found that the traction control was perfect, especially for the conditions and that things like the ABS came on at just the right times, but was not unstable, for the most part.
Bad
- High speed braking - I upgraded my fluid to Motul 600 and installed ECS stainless brake lines, I am sure this helped, but I found that at very high speeds, >100MPH, trying to stop the car for a tight turn, that the car felt a little unstable. I have the wavy rotors and stock pads. I need to upgrade the pads to something like EBC just for the track. Quite a few of the outside drilled holes are filled with pad material and there is pad material smeared all over the rotors. Essentially the stock pads are crap and need to be changed out for a heavy track day.
- Tires - I had the stock tires on, Pirrelli Pzero. They are ok and still in good shape after 4 hard runs. But, I found that at the limit the tires did not quite have the grip I am looking for on the track. When they are worn, I will switch to Michelin PSS.
- Steering - this is the most concerning as I cannot change this out. No huge issue, but I did find that the steering feedback is not as much as I would want. When I am diving hard into a turn, I want the steering wheel to give me more feedback in real time. It is not terrible, but feels a little digital to me if that makes sense.
All in all, I thought the RS5 did quite well and the only issues I see are the stock pads and the conditions of the rotors. I can easily fix that... Would love to hear feedback from others on the brakes/rotors, non ceramics.
Video of one session, it's 20 mins. I needed a lap to warm up the tires.
I have already installed the Alu Kruez stabilizer and upgraded the pads to Porterfield R4-S along with ECS Tuning SS brake lines. I am now considering sway bars.
Somewhat of a detailed/long post with video...
I finally had the opportunity to take the RS5 on the track yesterday. I ran in the intermediate group at MSR (Dallas, TX) on the 1.7 mile CCW track. It is a great track for the RS5, some good straights, two high speed sweepers and some very tough twisties and bends. It was a damp/rainy and cool day in Dallas. The first run of the morning was in the mist on a cold track. The RS5 was superb! Other than a Mitsu EVO, I was by far the fastest and had little difficulty with the rain. The Quattro is impressive in slippery conditions. It was almost laughable to watch the ZL1, Boss 302's attempt to gingerly navigate the track. Kudos to Audi to build a car with such great technology and firm "planted" feel on the track.
As the day went on, things dried and warmed up, this is where the high speeds finally kicked in and the RS5 stretched its legs. You can certainly feel that the car is somewhat heavy, especially compared to the Miata's and a Lotus whipping around the track, but it held it's own. This is my first experience with an AWD/Quattro based drivetrain, it does take some getting used too. You need to be on the power early and harder as well as not being afraid to throw the car into the corners so that the torque vectoring, crown diff, etc. can really do something for you. Once I figured this out, my lap times went way faster and I was able to stay with the small/light cars in the corners and way ahead of all of the high HP (read:American) cars on the track.
OK, my real impressions...
Good
- The acceleration of the car when you keep it up above 5000 RPM is amazing and feels great in your hands. I stayed in 3rd most of the time and shifted to 4th on the longer straights, maxing out my speed at around 115MPH on the longest straight. When shifting under full throttle the DCT/tranny is simply awesome, you do not even feel it and it is instantaneous. The rev limiter is handy as well as occasionally I would take the revs all the way up to 8500, but was coming close to a braking the zone, the rev limiter would gently remind me to back off
- The drivetrain is astounding and really gives you confidence in hard turns, you can hear my tires squealing yet the car felt planted and I was not concerned with a slight slide, in fact I used that to my advantage to rotate the car around for the turn, works great
- Electronic nannies - I had the car in sport mode (traction control), dynamic and was manually shifting. I found that the traction control was perfect, especially for the conditions and that things like the ABS came on at just the right times, but was not unstable, for the most part.
Bad
- High speed braking - I upgraded my fluid to Motul 600 and installed ECS stainless brake lines, I am sure this helped, but I found that at very high speeds, >100MPH, trying to stop the car for a tight turn, that the car felt a little unstable. I have the wavy rotors and stock pads. I need to upgrade the pads to something like EBC just for the track. Quite a few of the outside drilled holes are filled with pad material and there is pad material smeared all over the rotors. Essentially the stock pads are crap and need to be changed out for a heavy track day.
- Tires - I had the stock tires on, Pirrelli Pzero. They are ok and still in good shape after 4 hard runs. But, I found that at the limit the tires did not quite have the grip I am looking for on the track. When they are worn, I will switch to Michelin PSS.
- Steering - this is the most concerning as I cannot change this out. No huge issue, but I did find that the steering feedback is not as much as I would want. When I am diving hard into a turn, I want the steering wheel to give me more feedback in real time. It is not terrible, but feels a little digital to me if that makes sense.
All in all, I thought the RS5 did quite well and the only issues I see are the stock pads and the conditions of the rotors. I can easily fix that... Would love to hear feedback from others on the brakes/rotors, non ceramics.
Video of one session, it's 20 mins. I needed a lap to warm up the tires.
#24
04-25-2014, 11:33 AM
Former Vendor
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Orange County SoCal
Posts: 4,765
Rep Power: 0 I have had my 2014 RS5 for about 5 months and did a few track days recently. I posted my thoughts on a few other boards, but will repost it here.
I have already installed the Alu Kruez stabilizer and upgraded the pads to Porterfield R4-S along with ECS Tuning SS brake lines. I am now considering sway bars.
Somewhat of a detailed/long post with video...
I finally had the opportunity to take the RS5 on the track yesterday. I ran in the intermediate group at MSR (Dallas, TX) on the 1.7 mile CCW track. It is a great track for the RS5, some good straights, two high speed sweepers and some very tough twisties and bends. It was a damp/rainy and cool day in Dallas. The first run of the morning was in the mist on a cold track. The RS5 was superb! Other than a Mitsu EVO, I was by far the fastest and had little difficulty with the rain. The Quattro is impressive in slippery conditions. It was almost laughable to watch the ZL1, Boss 302's attempt to gingerly navigate the track. Kudos to Audi to build a car with such great technology and firm "planted" feel on the track.
As the day went on, things dried and warmed up, this is where the high speeds finally kicked in and the RS5 stretched its legs. You can certainly feel that the car is somewhat heavy, especially compared to the Miata's and a Lotus whipping around the track, but it held it's own. This is my first experience with an AWD/Quattro based drivetrain, it does take some getting used too. You need to be on the power early and harder as well as not being afraid to throw the car into the corners so that the torque vectoring, crown diff, etc. can really do something for you. Once I figured this out, my lap times went way faster and I was able to stay with the small/light cars in the corners and way ahead of all of the high HP (read:American) cars on the track.
OK, my real impressions...
Good
- The acceleration of the car when you keep it up above 5000 RPM is amazing and feels great in your hands. I stayed in 3rd most of the time and shifted to 4th on the longer straights, maxing out my speed at around 115MPH on the longest straight. When shifting under full throttle the DCT/tranny is simply awesome, you do not even feel it and it is instantaneous. The rev limiter is handy as well as occasionally I would take the revs all the way up to 8500, but was coming close to a braking the zone, the rev limiter would gently remind me to back off
- The drivetrain is astounding and really gives you confidence in hard turns, you can hear my tires squealing yet the car felt planted and I was not concerned with a slight slide, in fact I used that to my advantage to rotate the car around for the turn, works great
- Electronic nannies - I had the car in sport mode (traction control), dynamic and was manually shifting. I found that the traction control was perfect, especially for the conditions and that things like the ABS came on at just the right times, but was not unstable, for the most part.
Bad
- High speed braking - I upgraded my fluid to Motul 600 and installed ECS stainless brake lines, I am sure this helped, but I found that at very high speeds, >100MPH, trying to stop the car for a tight turn, that the car felt a little unstable. I have the wavy rotors and stock pads. I need to upgrade the pads to something like EBC just for the track. Quite a few of the outside drilled holes are filled with pad material and there is pad material smeared all over the rotors. Essentially the stock pads are crap and need to be changed out for a heavy track day.
- Tires - I had the stock tires on, Pirrelli Pzero. They are ok and still in good shape after 4 hard runs. But, I found that at the limit the tires did not quite have the grip I am looking for on the track. When they are worn, I will switch to Michelin PSS.
- Steering - this is the most concerning as I cannot change this out. No huge issue, but I did find that the steering feedback is not as much as I would want. When I am diving hard into a turn, I want the steering wheel to give me more feedback in real time. It is not terrible, but feels a little digital to me if that makes sense.
All in all, I thought the RS5 did quite well and the only issues I see are the stock pads and the conditions of the rotors. I can easily fix that... Would love to hear feedback from others on the brakes/rotors, non ceramics.
Video of one session, it's 20 mins. I needed a lap to warm up the tires.
AudiRS5 MSR CCW 1.7 - MAr. 2014 - YouTube
I have already installed the Alu Kruez stabilizer and upgraded the pads to Porterfield R4-S along with ECS Tuning SS brake lines. I am now considering sway bars.
Somewhat of a detailed/long post with video...
I finally had the opportunity to take the RS5 on the track yesterday. I ran in the intermediate group at MSR (Dallas, TX) on the 1.7 mile CCW track. It is a great track for the RS5, some good straights, two high speed sweepers and some very tough twisties and bends. It was a damp/rainy and cool day in Dallas. The first run of the morning was in the mist on a cold track. The RS5 was superb! Other than a Mitsu EVO, I was by far the fastest and had little difficulty with the rain. The Quattro is impressive in slippery conditions. It was almost laughable to watch the ZL1, Boss 302's attempt to gingerly navigate the track. Kudos to Audi to build a car with such great technology and firm "planted" feel on the track.
As the day went on, things dried and warmed up, this is where the high speeds finally kicked in and the RS5 stretched its legs. You can certainly feel that the car is somewhat heavy, especially compared to the Miata's and a Lotus whipping around the track, but it held it's own. This is my first experience with an AWD/Quattro based drivetrain, it does take some getting used too. You need to be on the power early and harder as well as not being afraid to throw the car into the corners so that the torque vectoring, crown diff, etc. can really do something for you. Once I figured this out, my lap times went way faster and I was able to stay with the small/light cars in the corners and way ahead of all of the high HP (read:American) cars on the track.
OK, my real impressions...
Good
- The acceleration of the car when you keep it up above 5000 RPM is amazing and feels great in your hands. I stayed in 3rd most of the time and shifted to 4th on the longer straights, maxing out my speed at around 115MPH on the longest straight. When shifting under full throttle the DCT/tranny is simply awesome, you do not even feel it and it is instantaneous. The rev limiter is handy as well as occasionally I would take the revs all the way up to 8500, but was coming close to a braking the zone, the rev limiter would gently remind me to back off
- The drivetrain is astounding and really gives you confidence in hard turns, you can hear my tires squealing yet the car felt planted and I was not concerned with a slight slide, in fact I used that to my advantage to rotate the car around for the turn, works great
- Electronic nannies - I had the car in sport mode (traction control), dynamic and was manually shifting. I found that the traction control was perfect, especially for the conditions and that things like the ABS came on at just the right times, but was not unstable, for the most part.
Bad
- High speed braking - I upgraded my fluid to Motul 600 and installed ECS stainless brake lines, I am sure this helped, but I found that at very high speeds, >100MPH, trying to stop the car for a tight turn, that the car felt a little unstable. I have the wavy rotors and stock pads. I need to upgrade the pads to something like EBC just for the track. Quite a few of the outside drilled holes are filled with pad material and there is pad material smeared all over the rotors. Essentially the stock pads are crap and need to be changed out for a heavy track day.
- Tires - I had the stock tires on, Pirrelli Pzero. They are ok and still in good shape after 4 hard runs. But, I found that at the limit the tires did not quite have the grip I am looking for on the track. When they are worn, I will switch to Michelin PSS.
- Steering - this is the most concerning as I cannot change this out. No huge issue, but I did find that the steering feedback is not as much as I would want. When I am diving hard into a turn, I want the steering wheel to give me more feedback in real time. It is not terrible, but feels a little digital to me if that makes sense.
All in all, I thought the RS5 did quite well and the only issues I see are the stock pads and the conditions of the rotors. I can easily fix that... Would love to hear feedback from others on the brakes/rotors, non ceramics.
Video of one session, it's 20 mins. I needed a lap to warm up the tires.
AudiRS5 MSR CCW 1.7 - MAr. 2014 - YouTube
Thanks for the feedback...
A few points from personal experience.
1. As many of you may or may not know GMG runs the R8 Ultra in Professional racing here in the USA.. We are partners to Audi Sport Customer racing.
2. Brakes:
Audi has a VERY aggressive ABS system and the reality is that most brakes pads and brake fluid cannot take the abuse that the system puts on the components.
We have had a lot of success with Endless pads and brake fluid over the years in Endurance racing and Endless is also the supplier to Audi Sport Customer racing.
We do offer several pad compounds from street/track to full endurance compounds for the RS5.
Additionally we have found that the Endless RF650 works the best with the Audi braking system and can withstand abuse that no other fluid on the market can.. It is also factory fill on Audi and Porsche race cars.
Happy to help anyone with track set up recommendations with the Rs5.. We have a ton of data from these cars...
Feel free to email me with questions and needs.
Fabryce@gmgracing.com
Additionally we are working on a Carbon Ceramic brake upgrade with our partners Fusion brakes.. I have a set on our R8 at this time and they work amazing.
These system utilize the stock brake calipers as well.
#30
04-29-2014, 05:20 PM
Still looking for those rotors, thought I had a lead on a source for slightly used parts but no go. I need to find a salvage Lambo/R8 place. Probably in the west coast, can't find anything here in the south.