Quote:
Originally Posted by Team Plutonium
Sure... I had the pleasure taking the RS5 for the day (many dealerships in Germany will give you the car for a test drive for a day, or weekend. Granted my family (company) has a nice history with that Audi/Porsche dealership.
The RS5 has a fantastic presence - inside and out, and the interior of the current M3 looks like it was designed in the early 90's compared to Audis. The sound is equally fantastic. Stock for stock - another win for the RS5.
Off we go to drive around... around town it obviously has more "usable" torque than the M3, I put usable in quotes since I never felt the M3 was lacking. Being from Germany I drove around town with tiny displacement engines and 45hp.... so torque is all relative. I should also note that currently I'm quite used to the power and gearing of my current SC'ed M3, so that obviously skewed my perception a bit on the other end of the spectrum.
Here are the things I found mediocre- again, I use this term based on the insane price tag (especially in Germany).
Steering felt numb, especially during a spirited drive on back roads, very disappointing, but nothing new.
Gearbox, again very hesitant at times, and I even prefer the old gearbox from the C63 a lot more.
Power, it sure moves... it was fantastic on the Autobahn, didn't quite have the bite on the back-roads.
Chassis, great on the Autobahn, felt very planted, again, on the back roads the car felt bouncy at times. On the flip side it felt very heavy at times.
Quatro, I always loved it... my dad had the (Ur)-Quatro Sport back in the day, and it offers you tons of grip. But it comes at a cost, hence the weird steering feel.
Again, I'm biased since I have much more power than the stock M3, but overall the RS5 left me rather cold. Not a car I would ever lust after.
Having said that, I don't think you'd find any RS5 owner unhappy with her or his purchase. And many Audi costumers buy these cars BECAUSE it's not a BMW.
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I just noticed the extend of your m3 upgrades. Wow. I don't think many stock cars would leave you breathless.