Another V8 Daily Driver - 2012 Audi RS5
Discussion
As seen in this thread:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Running an old V8 barge as a daily driver resulted in many a trip to my local VAG specialist and a just as frequent emptying of my bank account. On one such recent trip (last Saturday - it needed a new battery) I was cooling my heels in the office awaiting delivery of said battery and struck up a friendly conversation with the guy who runs the place regarding the tidy RS5 on the forecourt and after describing to me how it felt "utterly ballistic" in dynamic mode he suggested that I take it out and "have some fun" to occupy myself while I waited. He then lobbed me the keys and sent me on my way.
After trying out "Comfort" mode on the nearby M55 I switched to "Dynamic" and took it for a blast down some back roads. Boy, it was addictive. After three quarters of an hour or so I decided that I really should be taking it back to see if the S6 was back on it's feet and also, frankly because I was genuinely concerned that if I didn't I'd end up not wanting to give it back and doing something foolish.
So I rocked back up to the garage and reluctantly handed the keys back. The S6 once again had a healthy supply of electrons but had lost the coding for the key so while the tech busied himself recoding that I made small talk with the boss some more. My never ending direct connection between my bank account and theirs (something of a running gag between us) prompted him to joke that with the amount of money I spend there I'd be able to afford the RS5. We laughed and I went on my way in the now ready S6.
Fast forward to Tuesday and I was heading down to Warrington for a meeting and I attempted to wash the windscreen - the washer jets did their thing and the wipers came up.. and stopped halfway across the windscreen. They stubbornly refused to move from that position despite pushing, pulling, turning the car off and on again etc and I had to complete my trip with slightly obscured vision and a desperate hope that it wasn't going to rain.
That done I took the car back to the garage and was informed that the wiper mechanism had seized and would need to be replaced - for the bargain price of £123+VAT and fitting. I may have said some bad words and grudgingly booked it in for the following morning. In a moment of sulky pique I asked what he'd give me for the car if I traded it in against the RS5.
Some quick figures later and there was a pretty reasonable-sounding deal on the table. Madness, I told myself and exited stage left before things got out of hand.
But I couldn't get the idea out of my head. The monthly payments for the RS5 meant that what I had spent just fixing things on the S6 this year would get me 10 months worth of payments towards a car that was quicker, newer, better equipped an hopefully less prone to going wrong every five minutes and man-maths wasn't letting me forget that fact.
I spend the rest of the evening trying to talk myself out of it but the next morning as I was getting showered and ready to take the S6 back to it's second home I gave up. So when I dropped the car off I asked him to put a proper quote together for the RS5, and while the finance company were chewing over the application and the wiper surgery was ongoing he gave me the RS5 as a courtesy car to potter around in.
Long story short the people with the money gave the thumbs up and after hashing out that the RS5 didn't need any prep and would be MOT'd and serviced FOC later in the year when due we concluded there was no point in me taking the S6 back and I transferred all my crap over and that was that.
So I'm now the proud owner of a '61-plate RS5 in black. I'm not 100% of the full options specced on the car but what I do know is:
The good
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Running an old V8 barge as a daily driver resulted in many a trip to my local VAG specialist and a just as frequent emptying of my bank account. On one such recent trip (last Saturday - it needed a new battery) I was cooling my heels in the office awaiting delivery of said battery and struck up a friendly conversation with the guy who runs the place regarding the tidy RS5 on the forecourt and after describing to me how it felt "utterly ballistic" in dynamic mode he suggested that I take it out and "have some fun" to occupy myself while I waited. He then lobbed me the keys and sent me on my way.
After trying out "Comfort" mode on the nearby M55 I switched to "Dynamic" and took it for a blast down some back roads. Boy, it was addictive. After three quarters of an hour or so I decided that I really should be taking it back to see if the S6 was back on it's feet and also, frankly because I was genuinely concerned that if I didn't I'd end up not wanting to give it back and doing something foolish.
So I rocked back up to the garage and reluctantly handed the keys back. The S6 once again had a healthy supply of electrons but had lost the coding for the key so while the tech busied himself recoding that I made small talk with the boss some more. My never ending direct connection between my bank account and theirs (something of a running gag between us) prompted him to joke that with the amount of money I spend there I'd be able to afford the RS5. We laughed and I went on my way in the now ready S6.
Fast forward to Tuesday and I was heading down to Warrington for a meeting and I attempted to wash the windscreen - the washer jets did their thing and the wipers came up.. and stopped halfway across the windscreen. They stubbornly refused to move from that position despite pushing, pulling, turning the car off and on again etc and I had to complete my trip with slightly obscured vision and a desperate hope that it wasn't going to rain.
That done I took the car back to the garage and was informed that the wiper mechanism had seized and would need to be replaced - for the bargain price of £123+VAT and fitting. I may have said some bad words and grudgingly booked it in for the following morning. In a moment of sulky pique I asked what he'd give me for the car if I traded it in against the RS5.
Some quick figures later and there was a pretty reasonable-sounding deal on the table. Madness, I told myself and exited stage left before things got out of hand.
But I couldn't get the idea out of my head. The monthly payments for the RS5 meant that what I had spent just fixing things on the S6 this year would get me 10 months worth of payments towards a car that was quicker, newer, better equipped an hopefully less prone to going wrong every five minutes and man-maths wasn't letting me forget that fact.
I spend the rest of the evening trying to talk myself out of it but the next morning as I was getting showered and ready to take the S6 back to it's second home I gave up. So when I dropped the car off I asked him to put a proper quote together for the RS5, and while the finance company were chewing over the application and the wiper surgery was ongoing he gave me the RS5 as a courtesy car to potter around in.
Long story short the people with the money gave the thumbs up and after hashing out that the RS5 didn't need any prep and would be MOT'd and serviced FOC later in the year when due we concluded there was no point in me taking the S6 back and I transferred all my crap over and that was that.
So I'm now the proud owner of a '61-plate RS5 in black. I'm not 100% of the full options specced on the car but what I do know is:
- 4.2 FSI V8 engine producing 444bhp
- 7-speed S-tronic semi-auto box
- PDC front and rear
- Nav with 3G
- B&O Sound system with AMI & DAB
- Bluetooth phone prep
- Cruise control (need to check if it's adaptive)
- Xenon lights
- Storage pack
- Dynamic Ride Conrol
- Servotronic Dynamic steering
- 20" alloys
- Full leather RS5 embossed electric heated front seats
- Climate control
The good
- DRC lets me swap between a comfy cruiser with a dollop of waft (equal to the old S6) and an insane growling hooligan at the touch of a button.
- The seats are phenomenally comfortable and supportive. Even better than the Recaros in the S6
- It's seriously, seriously fast.
- The paddle gearshift is fast and smooth and blips the throttle nicely on the downshifts (my inner five year old just loves that!)
- The engine note has a wonderful growl when let off the leash and is quiet and understated when cruising or pootling around town.
- So. Much. Grip.
- So. Much. Traction.
- Steering is sharp and responsive in dynamic mode and there's very little body roll.
- While it should be better than the S6 fuel economy isn't going to be great. I expect my patronage of the local petrol stations won't drop much.
- Despite having the top of the range MMI/AMI "infotainment" unit installed that can play DVDs, use SD cards for music and handle phone functions over bluetooth it can't steam music over the Bluetooth connection. What the hell Audi? it's not 2003 any more!! The £120 Pioneer unit in the S6 could do that!
- Those 20" alloys might look the part but I'm not looking forward to stumping up for the requisite tires when the time comes
Has the gearbox oil been changed? In theory it should have been done twice, or just due for the second change at that mileage. It’s an absolute must do to avoid any DSG borkage.
A set of tYres
will set you back around £200 each corner if you do your homework, ive just done my S5 and have 20’s so feel your impending pain. Bad thing is due to Quattro they tend to wear pretty evenly so you end up doing the lot in one go, ouch!
A set of tYres
will set you back around £200 each corner if you do your homework, ive just done my S5 and have 20’s so feel your impending pain. Bad thing is due to Quattro they tend to wear pretty evenly so you end up doing the lot in one go, ouch!Cupramax said:
Has the gearbox oil been changed? In theory it should have been done twice, or just due for the second change at that mileage. It’s an absolute must do to avoid any DSG borkage.
A set of tYres will set you back around £200 each corner if you do your homework, ive just done my S5 and have 20’s so feel your impending pain. Bad thing is due to Quattro they tend to wear pretty evenly so you end up doing the lot in one go, ouch!
Yeah I was expecting around that for tires.. especially for decent rubber.A set of tYres
will set you back around £200 each corner if you do your homework, ive just done my S5 and have 20’s so feel your impending pain. Bad thing is due to Quattro they tend to wear pretty evenly so you end up doing the lot in one go, ouch!I had a flick through the service history etc this morning and I definitely saw a bill for the change of gear oil - and I think it was only about 4k mies ago but I'll double check that tonight.
MUN 802 said:
Was this the one from the Volkswagen garage? Had a nosey when I went to look at a gt86 there with my friend. I'm right around the corner on Cropper Road. Absoutely lovely car.
Thanks! I bought it from Volk Service over on Clifton Road - is that where you meant or were you talking about Lookers VW at the end of the M55?KaraK said:
Thanks for the info.. I've had a look and no it's not adaptive. tbh I'm not sure how much I would have been able to trust it anyway!
I recently bought an S5 cabriolet that someone went a bit mad on with options. It's got adaptive cruise which I've never had on a car before, and it's a revelation. It certainly makes motorway driving much more relaxing.
KaraK said:
Thanks! I bought it from Volk Service over on Clifton Road - is that where you meant or were you talking about Lookers VW at the end of the M55?
Apologise, now I think about it, it was an s5 in Lookers VW not an RS. Yes, I know volks service, very good garage. As mentioned, absoluetly lovely car, look out for some moron waving from a bright blue E36 
MUN 802 said:
Apologise, now I think about it, it was an s5 in Lookers VW not an RS. Yes, I know volks service, very good garage. As mentioned, absoluetly lovely car, look out for some moron waving from a bright blue E36
Will keep an eye out for you!Yeah I've got nothing but good things to say about Volk Service, I've used them for about a year and a half (since I bought the S6) and they are always bending over backwards to help and as a result I've now bought two cars off them (a Seat Mii for my mother and now the RS5)
Cupramax said:
Has the gearbox oil been changed? In theory it should have been done twice, or just due for the second change at that mileage. It’s an absolute must do to avoid any DSG borkage.
A set of tYres will set you back around £200 each corner if you do your homework, ive just done my S5 and have 20’s so feel your impending pain. Bad thing is due to Quattro they tend to wear pretty evenly so you end up doing the lot in one go, ouch!
Do these cars have DSG? I thought they had a torque converter auto.A set of tYres
will set you back around £200 each corner if you do your homework, ive just done my S5 and have 20’s so feel your impending pain. Bad thing is due to Quattro they tend to wear pretty evenly so you end up doing the lot in one go, ouch!Cupramax said:
Has the gearbox oil been changed? In theory it should have been done twice, or just due for the second change at that mileage. It’s an absolute must do to avoid any DSG borkage.
A set of tYres will set you back around £200 each corner if you do your homework, ive just done my S5 and have 20’s so feel your impending pain. Bad thing is due to Quattro they tend to wear pretty evenly so you end up doing the lot in one go, ouch!
Do these cars have DSG? I thought they had a torque converter auto.A set of tYres
will set you back around £200 each corner if you do your homework, ive just done my S5 and have 20’s so feel your impending pain. Bad thing is due to Quattro they tend to wear pretty evenly so you end up doing the lot in one go, ouch!Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff