Question on mods for Ss.5 4.2...

[Lizard 1]

So, I understand that the internals are different on an RS5 vs the S5 V8s. And I also know everyone seems to say to not waste the money on getting a tune for our cars. However, there has to be a way to get a little more juice and performance from these things. I am thinking air intake kit and possibly the smooth inlet hose.

Is there anything at all outside major items such as superchargers and turbos? Why can't they unlock these things to be closer to the RS5 motors?

[Sazexa]

You won't make huge power without spending big money. The biggest "gains" you'll get are going to be from something like going catless, and yes, tunes. Unitronic claims to gain up to 20 something horse power on 93 Octane. The tunes are nice as MOST of them will net you some decent power gain, I believe in the 5-15 HP/TQ range. Not bad for the price. More than most exhaust systems will net you, and cheaper. If you do remove the cats, that is I believe potentially upwards of 25 HP or so you're gaining. I'd remove mine if it wasn't necessary to pass emissions in my area.

I did a K&N air filter with the 034Motorsport intake tube. I also trimmed some internal pieces of the air box. According to the butt dyno, it helped a bit. So did my exhaust. I still have cats and factory down pipes, but, no mufflers at all.

The RS5 does use a lot of different internals, but, though the RS5 is faster stock, according to JHM you can be basically as fast with some bolt ons. Proven by their 1/4 mile runs. There is some other small stuff here and there too, like stiffer drive train mounts (help gain power lost through the drive train, as well as pedal feel) but for the most part if you're looking to drastically go faster, you're spending some money.

On the same foot though, if you do a nice balanced set of mods between small performance gains and handling gains, you'll find your every day driving experience not only feels significantly faster, but, significantly more fun as well.

The reason they're different, partly is in the timing between the two engines. The RS5 has two throttle bodies to take in double the air, as well as operates to a higher red line. The RS5 actually makes slightly less peak-torque, but quite a bit more power, simply because it red lines around 8,400 RPM. The RS5 is also slightly heavier than most S5's. The V8 S5's are typically around 3,850 pounds, 355 HP/325TQ. RS5's are generally 450 HP/317TQ, and weigh in around 4,030.

There is always small stuff you can do, like nitrous, for quick bursts if you're just worried about highway racing. I think for the B8 S5's, depending on which tune, it's worth getting. Especially a JHM tune if you plan to eventually supercharge it. As of right now, with JHM's kits, you can bring your V8 upwards of 100 to 130 WHEEL horsepower, more at the crank with their stage one kit. Another 50-70 WHEEL power with their stage 2 add-on as well. It's pricey, but, you'll be faster than even a "tuned" RS5 with just the stage 1 kit.

Basically, if you want to maximize your power on a N/A S5 without throwing money out the door for custom items, do the following to make it not only FEEL faster, these are what you should do.

- Intake filter and tube. (The "cold air intakes" are essentially more glorified, pretty looking version of this. Should see gains between say 8-12ish HP most likely)
- Exhaust (If possible, removing the cats will be a REAL big increase. If not, a full down-pipe back system can probably shed up to maybe 10-15 HP or so, depending on the kit)
- ECU tune (Necessary if you do remove the cats, go with someone like APR/JHM/UNI/GAIC, I believe these are the best rated ones. Should be anywhere between 10-20 HP, a little more with no cats)
- Lightweight pulleys (Probably only a minute difference in horsepower but, will help with the overall mods done)
- Suspension mods (Notably a rear sway bar and coil overs, including suspension mounts as well)
- Drivetrain mounts (Will help retrieve lost power, and car feeling)
- Short throw shifter/shifter linkage kits (Assuming it's a manual)
- Maybe high pressure fuel pumps (Might help squeeze a tiny bit more power out of a tune)
- Remove unsprung weight (lightweight wheels, whether to go bigger for stock weight, or just save weight will help a lot. As will lightweight rotors.)


Once you've done all that, I'd wager your S5 would feel and probably be, faster than most RS5's on the road. Because most RS5's are left stock. Even still, I don't think there are many performance upgrades for speed for the RS5's anyways. If you did all that to your S5, the only real things you'd have left to do would be a performance clutch and flywheel (if manual,) and then supercharge it. You'd have one quick ride before super charging it though, and more fun. Keeping up on your maintenance will help significantly as well. New coils and plugs every 30-40K, as well as a carbon cleaning every 50K, will keep you feeling fast.

Hope this helps.

[Dan255]

Honestly a JHM tune is probably what you'll notice the most. The JHM "race" pipes and an exhaust will help a bit too. Intake and inlet hose probably won't do much of anything.

[Lizard 1]

Great info!

Sazexa - I would be interested in the airbox mod you did. Able to share details? PM?

As far as what I have now, I did the Corsa system with resognators. I've heard to eliminate those, but to do that, my neighborhood and local police may not approve. I also did the wheel deal with the vorsteiners. I think the solid mounts are a good idea and maybe thee rear sway. I cannot justify the coilovers, but possibly the springs. I worry at the lower height due to the 285s I am running, but maybe.

I think a tune may work with the airbox tricks. The mounts also.

I want a sweet running coupe to ride along and play a little. No drag racing or anything and she will not be a regular track day car. I'd buy a Miata or something for track play. I just want a snappier coupe as what I have now sounds awesome, but I always want that little more and an RS5 has that.

I love the sound this thing makes and she is a decent runner. Just a little more...

- - - Updated - - -

Oh, she's an auto...

[Sazexa]

As far as the air box mod I did, if you remove the upper lit to the air box, there is a channel where it pushes the air downward away from the intake filter at first. Every after market intake box removes that piece and lets air go straight into the filter. I took a hack-saw, and cut that piece out, the filed down the edges. I don't have any photos, but, perhaps I can get some.

A tune will definitely help give you what you want. Especially as most of them make their biggest gains down low. The factory ECU is a bit... "Lazy," so to say. The car always feels sluggish below around 3,200 RPM's or so, then it really comes alive, right? The JHM tune, I know specifically, helps alleviate this and provide better low end. It removes the factory ECU's acceleration hesitation.

I would much suggest coil overs over springs by themselves. If your car has over say 70,000 miles on your factory absorbers, you should consider at least replacing the absorbers with springs, or coil overs. Every coil over kit I've seen so far is adjustable as well, so, if you're worried about rubbing, I'm sure you could find a spot that works.

As far as stiffer mounts, I've done the transmission mount, the transmission brace, strut mounts, and something else, which I'm drawing a blank on... But, it was a subtle, yet noticeable difference. Not so much in maybe making the car feel faster, but in making it effortlessly go faster, and have better throttle response. This may sound counter intuitive, but, the stiffer I've been making the car (between mounts, and suspension mods) it doesn't necessarily feel as dramatic when going fast anymore. Probably because there is less build up and less rocking/throwing of the body. I put my foot down and it just kind of goes fast. Next thing you know you look down and you're going much faster than you were expecting to be.

EDIT: @Dan255 I noticed a fair difference with the filter, tube, and little mod I did to my airbox. One of the most notable locations, when sitting in traffic out in your neck of the woods, on Longwharf on I-95. Before this mod I found the car sometimes hesitant when trying to accelerate from the stop and go traffic. It helped it with the low end pick up more so than the high end for sure, and, made keeping my space in traffic heavy areas a bit easier. Plus you hear the induction noise a bit more and that's just fun.

[11S5V8]

JHM has a sale on their intake hose, $99 with free shipping. Bought one yesterday.

I'm kind of in the same boat as you on this.

I have AWE Touring exhaust aaaand that is it!

What I'm looking into:

1.) Intake upgrade
2.) JHM Tune
3.) downpipes
4.) Supercharger (coming way down the road)

I was at my mechanics last night and he said the tune you'll feel in the mid-range to top end more, with increased throttle response and that fine tuning you'll appreciate the tune. His words not mine. I trust him, he's an Audi enthusiast. Has never steered me wrong.

One thing I just did complete was a front end rebuild (control arms upper and lower, tie rods) Night and day difference, wish I did it 6 months ago.

[gqambitions]

JHM has a sale on their intake hose, $99 with free shipping. Bought one yesterday.

I'm kind of in the same boat as you on this.

I have AWE Touring exhaust aaaand that is it!

What I'm looking into:

1.) Intake upgrade
2.) JHM Tune
3.) downpipes
4.) Supercharger (coming way down the road)

I was at my mechanics last night and he said the tune you'll feel in the mid-range to top end more, with increased throttle response and that fine tuning you'll appreciate the tune. His words not mine. I trust him, he's an Audi enthusiast. Has never steered me wrong.

One thing I just did complete was a front end rebuild (control arms upper and lower, tie rods) Night and day difference, wish I did it 6 months ago.

let me know if you feel a difference in response with the inlet hose. Also my Miltek non res DP will be for sale soon if interested

[11S5V8]

let me know if you feel a difference in response with the inlet hose. Also my Miltek non res DP will be for sale soon if interested

could be placebo but I feel the throttle response and mid range is more responsive. not disappointed for $99

[BuyTheWarranty]

Hey Gents!

I'm happy to respond to this! I had a 2012 S5 (tiptronic) which I recently traded in for a 2015 RS5, and when I was looking for information, there was very little. I combed through the forums dozens of times looking for info on how to boost the power on the NA V8. Everyone had their opinions on mods and how their was 'very little to no power to be gained', 'mods aren't accumulative' & 'where's the dyno'. While I'll admit, I never had a dyno done, I can tell you from first had experience that the exhaust + tune + intake made a substantial difference. On a few occasions I was able to race my brothers E92 M3 from a roll in 2nd gear and was able to keep up (he did begin to pull away at higher speeds).

I had the V8 S5 for 4 years and did the following mods, over 3 years:

1. AWE Touring Catback
2. AWE Non-resonated downpipes
3. AWE S-Flo intake (non carbon)
4. Had a 'Stage 2 tune' built by REVO, which I had to send them my factory ECU settings. The 2.5" exhaust and intake were required for this map and they stated a gain of 15hp and almost 20ft lb torque, but a nice increase in overall power throughout the curve.

Regarding the tune, I bought an SPS 'switcher' in which you could change the tune back to a 'factoryesque' setting, and it would store 3 performance modes which you could manually set on a computer. You could also adjust throttle response, timing and the fuel you're using (richer, leaner). I had my timing set to 6, throttle set to 9 and fuel set to 94octane (99RON).

Performance wise, the largest gains were from the intake, and then the tune. I could feel a large difference adjusting the timing back to 'stock' vs. the most aggressive setting of 6. Anything above 6, and you were to use race fuel. The car, which previously felt sluggish and extremely lacking into 2nd gear, felt completely different. Throttle response was much better, and as someone previously mentioned, way more responsive in the mid-range. I actually came across JHM after I had already purchased my tune, but from what I've read, I'd go with JHM's tune regardless of which exhaust you've got. They have ton's of 1/4 mile times posted, which are shaving anywhere from .5 to 1 second off stock times (though, that's with test pipes)

To even further prove that the intake is a good upgrade, I ended up getting a CEL after the install. I took it to Audi to diagnose the problem, and they noticed that both banks were 'running lean' and were recieving about 20-30% more air. The ECU was compensating by dumping more fuel, so I ended up adjusting the setting to have the tune run a bit more rich. In the end, the CEL was caused by the MAF getting a little dirty from the wet filter, but proof that the intake really drove more air into the system.

I do believe the RS5 is faster than my old S5, but to be honest ... I don't feel like it's a night and day difference. The cars drive different, my S5 had way more torque and I'm still adjusting to really winding out the RPM'S on the RS5 to make use of that 8250 redline. The RS5 also makes peak numbers at like 7600 RPM. I'm hoping for more torque (which I miss from my S5) and for now I ordered the JHM 2.75" exhaust and am patiently awaiting their tune for hopefully even more power!

If you have any more questions, feel free to PM me as I went down this path and did basically every upgrade besides JHM's supercharger for the S5.

[Sazexa]

That's actually a pretty important post, for me, @BuyTheWarranty. I was constantly going back and forth on either just buying a RS5, or continuing to mod my S5. Considering the lack of options out there for the RS5, I think I'm better off keeping my S5. I knew there wouldn't be a big difference between the two cars, but, really what I need to do to be happier with my S5 is a proper tune and a carbon clean, and, I think I'll be happy with how fast it is for some time. Then JHM supercharger down the road. >:)

[BuyTheWarranty]

That's actually a pretty important post, for me, @BuyTheWarranty. I was constantly going back and forth on either just buying a RS5, or continuing to mod my S5. Considering the lack of options out there for the RS5, I think I'm better off keeping my S5. I knew there wouldn't be a big difference between the two cars, but, really what I need to do to be happier with my S5 is a proper tune and a carbon clean, and, I think I'll be happy with how fast it is for some time. Then JHM supercharger down the road. >:)

I was in your exact same shoes and had debated for 2 years. In the end, I do like the RS5 better ... was it worth the price to upgrade ... that remains to be seen! We'll see what JHM comes out with by way of tune, and I'll also see if I notice any improvements with the exhaust upgrade!

[Terrance38]

You will not gain 50-70hp between stage 1 and 2. There is a shift in the power band but that's it. There is no increase in boost between the stages. Stage 1 boost used to peak around 5500 and drop to around 5ish psi by 7k. Now boost peaks right at 7k. So the pull is different. That's about it as far as differences in the stages.

[Sazexa]

This is from JHM's page on the stage 2 kit (click here);

"With the addition of our Stage 2 Supercharger Upgrade, you can expect to see an additional 50-70 WHP over Stage 1."

If you scroll down and look in the included parts list, you'll see a new belt and and a pulley specifically for stage 2 as well.

[Terrance38]

I have the stage 2 installed on my car, so I kinda have 1st hand experience lol.

[S5Pilot]

I can second Terrance. Something is off on the stage 2 upgrade.

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[11S5V8]

I have the stage 2 installed on my car, so I kinda have 1st hand experience lol.

I can second Terrance. Something is off on the stage 2 upgrade.

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Is this what triggered your thread Terrance? Interested in the outcome as I will going JHM S/C and eventually go stage 2

[Terrance38]

My performance at the 1/4 mile track is what made me create the thread. It needs to be fixed asap. I've only had my s5 for 9 months and I have spent a little over 12k at jhm. And the performance doesn't feel right for what I've spent. Running a 12.3@117 mph with stage 1 felt great. Then I go back with stage 2 and barely broke into the 12s with a 110mph trap. Your traps never lie.

[11S5V8]

I'm sure they'll fix it, the amount of feathers you're ruffling here will force them to do something. Out of curiosity, what parts were missing and isn't JHM just the seller of hardware and tune on this, isn't it a vortec s/c?

[Terrance38]

I'm sure they'll fix it, the amount of feathers you're ruffling here will force them to do something. Out of curiosity, what parts were missing and isn't JHM just the seller of hardware and tune on this, isn't it a vortec s/c?

I was missing small things that I could easily pick up from the auto parts store, so it wasn't a big deal for me. Small things like the relay for the pump was missing. And all of the hose for the intercooler kit. I had to buy like 20ft of it. And some hose connectors. Btw I think the kit is made and assembled by jhm. But they get the supercharger from vortech. The quality of the parts are great.

[S5Pilot]

I was missing small things that I could easily pick up from the auto parts store, so it wasn't a big deal for me. Small things like the relay for the pump was missing. And all of the hose for the intercooler kit. I had to buy like 20ft of it. And some hose connectors. Btw I think the kit is made and assembled by jhm. But they get the supercharger from vortech. The quality of the parts are great.

I was also missing parts from my stage 1 and stage 2 kit. There is no packing list with the kit so you really don’t know if you have everything when it shows up. After it happened the first time I sent JHM an email when I got the stage 2 with a picture confirming that everything was there and they said it was but as I started installing it there were missing pieces. JHM was kind enough to offer me a credit for the missing pieces.


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[Sazexa]

I believe it's assembled by JHM as well.

You guys didn't need a retune for stage 2?

[S5Pilot]

I believe it's assembled by JHM as well.

You guys didn't need a retune for stage 2?

There was a new "tune" for stage 2 but I can't comment on if the file was just renamed stage 2 tune or if there was actually some custom tuning that went into it due to the car feeling pretty much the same.

[Terrance38]

There is no stage 2 tune. The shop I go to, to flash my car called jhm and was told that no such tune exists and I could just run the car as is. But they said that there was a new revision of the original tune which was #8, and I was on #7.

[ezridah]

Retroactive thanks to everyone for the info in this thread. Super helpful, placing the order for a tune + intake + exhaust this week!

[ieatshotslike50]

What tune, intake, and exhaust are you going with?

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[ezridah]

What tune, intake, and exhaust are you going with?

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Going JHM tune, 034 intake and JHM/fast intentions full cat back exhaust, reasonated (listened to a million vids). I live in Cali so need the exhaust to pass smog and went resonated since I live in a -quiet- neighborhood. If I find it’s not loud enough or my ears adapt, I’ll remove the resonators. Exhaust and intake on order, Carb cleaning and the rest to be scheduled in a few weeks. Can’t wait!

[travisw]

Regarding the tune, I bought an SPS 'switcher' in which you could change the tune back to a 'factoryesque' setting, and it would store 3 performance modes which you could manually set on a computer.

Could you provide a link to the SPS switcher you went with? I'm looking to do something similar.