[BMW269]

I never said BMW is superior. I just like BMW more than anything else (between Audi, Mercedes, Lexus, lest us say Infiniti) and would take it even if it is inferior.

[footie]

Originally Posted by bavarian beauty

get off it footie, I know who you are...give me a break!...car enthusiast my ass!
All of you Audi fan boiz gotta come to terms with what is said on this forum...this is a BMW forum...you will always have members defending their car/brand/model...especially when you say how great the RS5 is and how its going to crush the M3...members will jump all over you....THIS IS A BMW FORUM!...DEAL WITH IT!

No one has a problem with anyone preferring the brand of BMW, they make some truly memorable motors with the M3 being one of them. But to dismiss other brands as crap and shit it not the kind of belief a true car enthusiast has, which one are you?

Also who here is claiming the M3 will be crushed?

In any case why get upset if the RS5 did beat it as there already is numerous cars more capable of giving the M3 a good thrashing, one that comes to mind is the GTR. In no way will the RS5 be capable of such a thing but it might show that there is something German other than the M3 worth considering.

[footie]

Originally Posted by Levi

I never said BMW is superior. I just like BMW more than anything else (between Audi, Mercedes, Lexus, lest us say Infiniti) and would take it even if it is inferior.

I wasn't claiming you were so no worries.

[ArmyBimmerDude]

Originally Posted by bavarian beauty

get off it footie, I know who you are...give me a break!...car enthusiast my ass!
All of you Audi fan boiz gotta come to terms with what is said on this forum...this is a BMW forum...you will always have members defending their car/brand/model...especially when you say how great the RS5 is and how its going to crush the M3...members will jump all over you....THIS IS A BMW FORUM!...DEAL WITH IT!

And this is the "General Automotive (non-BMW) section of E90post, so unless you own this website and we suddenly live in North Korea or China or some other communist country, people willl voice their opinions and that's it.

Must've been a rough weekend for you. Are you a Magic or Suns fan? Chill out, it's only the internet. Have an e-beer on me.

[footie]

Telegraph's verdict on the RS5

Another meisterblaster from Ingolstadt and the mental checklist clicks like an idling threshing machine. Four-wheel drive? Check. Enormous V8 engine? Yes. Humungous grip? Present. Steering feel? Er, he's not here miss. Driver involvement? He forgot his kit, sir. Fun? Sorry, the dog ate his homework.

Meet the latest RS5, complete with a 444bhp, 4.2-litre V8 capable of sprinting this 1.7-ton coupé from 0-62mph in just 4.6 seconds. What is it about these behemoth RS Audis? They look great on paper, with a blood-curdling specification sheet, yet when it comes to it the result is bloodless and clinical and appeals only to the IT consultants who make up the main customer base.

One year ago, driving the same sinuous mountain route in much the same conditions, I drove the then-new V8-engined BMW M3 and the yellow triangle warning lamp was on for much of the time as the traction control reined in rear tyres struggling to handle the power. Similarly, on a slimy Silverstone circuit last November, another RS 5 rival, the Mercedes V8 AMG coupé, had luridly slithered and slipped round the bends. "Was that as wayward as it looked?" asked one of the senior instructors. It was.

Yet on slippery Spanish hairpins the Audi's 275/30 ZR20 Pirellis on two-tone-grey, five-spoke alloys had barely lost grip. That's one of the advantages of four-wheel drive. A disadvantage is understeer, but most of that is man made. Just because the rear tyres aren't lighting up, it doesn't mean you can simply stand on it and expect the front tyres to track round a corner. Except, in this Audi, you almost can.

This is because the RS5 has a set of mightily clever differentials, a centre one which splits torque via an elegantly mechanical crown-gear set, up to 70 per cent to the front wheels and up to 85 per cent to the rears. The other is the standard (on UK-spec models) sport differential which actively splits torque between the rear wheels. The traction control is graded to allow a bit of wheel slip and the active electronic damping system automatically adjusts to suit the road conditions according to the selected mode; Comfort, Auto, or Dynamic. Sounds like it's impossible to get it wrong but, to be honest, in everyday driving you'd barely notice any of it.

When you speed up, however, you can feel and hear the diffs shuffling blobs of torque round the chassis. Throw the RS5 into a bend and stand on the throttle and while most four-wheel drive cars will head straight on, the Audi sweeps round imperiously. On the 3.37 miles of the Ascari race resort it was yet more impressive, sliding gently and controllably at nose-bleed levels of side loadings, while using so much mechanical grip that the Pirellis' rain channels had opened up like a fish's gills after just a few laps.

So it rides well and it handles, which removes one of the traditional drawbacks to Audi's Quattro system. The seven-speed, twin-clutch transmission handles the power quite brilliantly and in manual mode allows you to exploit the massive torque. And the engine is quite magnificent. Its all-aluminium-alloy block is girdled at the bottom end for strength, with forged Mahle pistons and floating gudgeon pins to reduce friction, and bigger main bearings for longevity. The torque peak is high up the revs, but there's plenty enough lower down.

Normally it's quiet and docile, but if you floor the throttle, exhaust valves open and the mellifluous offbeat warble fills the cabin. The electronics also allow a spot of fuel into the exhaust when you short-shift up the gearbox which gives a pleasing reverb as you change. It's also reasonably economical – if such a thing could ever be said of a 444bhp V8 – and the optional carbon-ceramic front brakes (£6,250) are strong if inconsistent in feel.

As for its appearance, the standard A5 coupé is a handsome base and the RS5's pulled-out rear wheel arches, while resembling John Heffernan and Ken Greenley's 1996 Bentley Continental, add purpose and a ripe plumpness to the coachwork. The fist-sized exhaust outlets seem over the top, though, and the grille even more so, being not much more than a series of aggressive air intakes. The constabulary might be interested to not that the rear spoiler rises at 74.5mph and lowers at 50mph.

The cabin is a mixture of the garishly flashy and outstanding. The dashboard, with its black plastics, leather and silver chromium, is like a bad watch, although the seats, front or rear, are comfortable and supportive. This is a proper four-seat coupé and that practicality extends to the generous boot and storage space.

So it's jet-fighter fast, as grippy as gum, as practical as a shopping bag and as much fun as a family of otters in your bath. Through painstaking refinement and technical development, Audi has, for the first time, produced an RS model that can stand alongside the competition in every way – and leaves it for dead when it rains.

Now that is progress through technology.

Verdict:
A mighty performer and very sure footed in treacherous conditions. Surprisingly fluent when pushed hard, but lacks the sheer scariness of some rivals

[BMW269]

The X5/X6 M also do not understeer as most of AWD sportcars.

[gonzo]

^ What?




A bug crawled across my windshield this morning on the way for coffee.

[footie]

Originally Posted by Levi

The X5/X6 M also do not understeer as most of AWD sportcars.

Some claim that one.

Well the X5/6M has a rear torque vectoring diff which will benefit it's ability to resist understeer, but they don't (to the best of my knowledge) have a full torque vectoring system like that present in the RS5, the 997.2Turbo or the GTR. But as I haven't driven one so I can't comment on whether that is true or not, but if you say so.

[Garduna]

Another review with a similar verdict. Now I can't wait to see a rematch review of the M3 C63 and RS5 (previous review was RS4) on Top Gear

[UltimateBMW]

A few months ago I saw the C63 was getting a new TT V8 engine? What ever came of that? Just rumormill? Would certainly make a rematch episode on Top Gear more exciting.

[th3Stig]

Levi, you can't honestly post that type of misinformation and expect to get away with it...


Torque Vectoring Differentials make a huge difference in driving/cornerning characteristics nowadays.... not to mention tire technology.

My R35 GT-R still had intial understeer; but you say the X5/X6 M does not understeer?

Get out and drive.

[BMW269]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

A few months ago I saw the C63 was getting a new TT V8 engine? What ever came of that? Just rumormill? Would certainly make a rematch episode on Top Gear more exciting.

Just rumormill. C 63 AMG will never get the new 5.5l V8 Biturbo. This new 5.5l V8 Biturbo will only replace the 6.3l V8 in the E 63 AMG, S 63 AMG, S-Coupé 63 AMG (CL 63 AMG), SL 63 AMG and probalby ML 63 AMG. I don't think the SLS 63 AMG will get this new engine though. The next C AMG might get the 5.5l V8, but not as Biturbo, just as the previous C 55 AMG and SLK 55 AMG got the 5.5l V8 without Kompressor, compared to the E 55 AMG, S 55 AMG, SL 55 AMG, CL 55 AMG and ML 55 AMG 5.5l V8 Kompressor. But I think AMG will build a new 3.5l V6 Biturbo, in order to perfectly match the next M3 3.0l I6 TwinSrollTwinTurbo, just as the first C 32 AMG.

[footie]

Originally Posted by Levi

Just rumormill. C 63 AMG will never get the new 5.5l V8 Biturbo. This new 5.5l V8 Biturbo will only replace the 6.3l V8 in the E 63 AMG, S 63 AMG, S-Coupé 63 AMG (CL 63 AMG), SL 63 AMG and probalby ML 63 AMG. I don't think the SLS 63 AMG will get this new engine though. The next C AMG might get the 5.5l V8, but not as Biturbo, just as the previous C 55 AMG and SLK 55 AMG got the 5.5l V8 without Kompressor, compared to the E 55 AMG, S 55 AMG, SL 55 AMG, CL 55 AMG and ML 55 AMG 5.5l V8 Kompressor. But I think AMG will build a new 3.5l V6 Biturbo, in order to perfectly match the next M3 3.0l I6 TwinSrollTwinTurbo, just as the first C 32 AMG.

It will eventually get either the 4.6 or 5.5TT but until then the C63 will soilder on with the 6.2N/A but at least it's to receive the 507hp that the other AMGs get which should still make it the one to beat in a straight line...........as if it already wasn't the case.

[footie]

Originally Posted by th3Stig

Levi, you can't honestly post that type of misinformation and expect to get away with it...


Torque Vectoring Differentials make a huge difference in driving/cornerning characteristics nowadays.... not to mention tire technology.

My R35 GT-R still had intial understeer; but you say the X5/X6 M does not understeer?

Get out and drive.

At most torque vectoring helps resist understeer but won't stop it completely, in reality or design because in affect understeer is still an important element of safety that lets the driver know the limits are approaching and I doubt any manufacturer will wants to do away with this fully.

[BMW269]

Wow, the RS5 has no understeer?

[BMW269]

Originally Posted by footie

It will eventually get either the 4.6 or 5.5TT but until then the C63 will soilder on with the 6.2N/A but at least it's to receive the 507hp that the other AMGs get which should still make it the one to beat in a straight line...........as if it already wasn't the case.

That is awsome. So AMG still hasn't finished the power race? Imagine a 670 HP Mercedes C AMG. The 5.5l V8 Biturbo makes 570 HP. A chip and you get 100 HP more. And all this power and torque on rear wheels? Already te actual C 63 AMG has difficulties to put the power to the ground. A 670 HP C AMG with 900 Nm will need 6WD to put the power to the road.

[NFS13]

Originally Posted by Levi

It is obvious the RS5 will be quicker, corner harder, lap in less time and brake shorter, but there are NO FACTS YET. I shall wait until Auto Motor und Sport compares the RS5 and M3. (Even if the M3 is better in everything, the RS5 will win, as in this magazine all VW and Audi win. A very unobjective magazine, seams to be sponsored by VAG.)

I don't understand why so many people put their trust, and seem to get their opinions from auto mag reviews? Drive the car and form opinions and make decisions.