Trying to adult! B8.5 Audi S5

[Miroteknik]

These cars are so beautiful. Don't get another RS5 grille, somehow the S5 grille looks much.... better?

[rightfullrudder]

Wheel look so much better in that silver now. Are they 20s? I think the size is perfect, these cars need a bigger wheel. I wouldnt mess with the stance at all.

Yeah, they are 20s. 20x10 et25 with M E A T Y 275/30 tires all around. The fenders aren't even rolled! It's insane that on my Mazda I had to pull the living shit out of the fenders to fit 225 width tires on a 10" wheel at a similar offset. Anyway... It's about time for a new set of tires so I'm thinking of stepping down to a 255 (closer to OEM diameter anyway) and spacing the wheels out 10mm or so. I am still looking for something more interesting wheel wise but I should be picking up my Avant soon so the S5 will go on the back burner unless I find an insane deal!

[hinrichs]

Wheel look so much better in that silver now. Are they 20s? I think the size is perfect, these cars need a bigger wheel. I wouldnt mess with the stance at all.

[rightfullrudder]

Little bit of an update. Have the forums been jacked up for anyone else? Glad they're back now.

Anyway, on 285 one day after I installed my RS5 grille, a piece of.... something? Debris? shattered the emblem section so the car looked stupid. I ended up finding an OEM gloss black optics grille for $100 and threw that in until I figure out what I want to do long-term. You'll notice the fog light trim is still silver. I sort of think it works with the DRL pattern in the headlights, and also with the new wheel color (more on that below).




Anyway, I've always kind of disliked dark colored wheels. I work in logistics/operations management for an auto parts company and we stock a Duplicolor kit in our warehouse that's intended to replicate hyper silver so I picked it up and gave it a try! I wouldn't call myself a talented painter, spray paint or otherwise, and powdercoating would have been better but it's tough to justify $400+ for wheels you don't like anyway. These RSEs will be my spares when I end up getting other, more interesting wheels. For $20 worth of paint and an afternoon of drinking beer and maybe 10% working they turned out nice and look a lot better.




Here's a few shots:






Finally took the car to Riverside Chattanooga this past weekend. We had a ton of fun and it was the first "show" for the new car! I haven't really done much sceneboi stuff in a few years so it was great to get out and see people I haven't seen in forever. Here is @Kenz bothering our buddy who is just trying to make his aftermovie in peace. He gave us his vlog camera to get some B roll footage so God knows what will end up on there.

I think I am almost low enough to where I could get away with 19s if I drop the front maybe 1/2". What do you guys think?

[xxcody2130xx]

That looks like such a cool daily, perfect height for those wheels

[rightfullrudder]

Not a ton to report other than getting a carbon duckbill spoiler and installing it back in January. Looking at a new set of wheels, like I said I really don't care for the RSE that much. Probably going to need 20s unless they're 19s with meaty tires.

I actually bought Airtekk struts for a great deal but due to other priorities I have them up for sale currently.

Here it is with the spoiler!!

[Fruttolo]

This is a cool daily for sure it definitely needs the black trim pack, those silver accents stick out like a sore thumb IMO
The plate frame would not be so off if you source a nice set of big jdm 3 piece wheels just because I love euro cars with jap styling LOL

[19birel]

Looks great lowered man! I like the black optics style trim too, I'd keep the silver mirrors though, it gives a nice contrast I think.

[rightfullrudder]

Looking really good! Are you strictly Audi now with the two S cars?

Thanks! Actually yes I am -- S5 and S6. The Mazda sold in November. Not really planned or anything to have only S cars, but it just ended up that way.

Why.. why is there an ax in this pic?
Also, do people run staggered setups on these? hom much wheel can the front and rear take(width and approx offset)?
Thanks

Because that's objectively the best tool to install coilovers.

You can run staggered setups as long as the tires are the same diameter. Plenty of people run 20x10, 20x11 with offsets in the 20-30 range and have room for meaty tires. I'm running 275s on a 10 +25.

[zoo]

Why.. why is there an ax in this pic?
Also, do people run staggered setups on these? hom much wheel can the front and rear take(width and approx offset)?
Thanks

[cblock406]

Looking really good! Are you strictly Audi now with the two S cars?

[rightfullrudder]

Hot damn that looks killer now

Thanks man! I am really not a fan of the RSEs on this car, but the deal was too good to pass up. I might like them better in silver but then they'd be even more impossible to clean than they already are.

Gave the car a wash and was able to install the RS5 grille over the New Year's long weekend. I gotta say, I miss the two bolts it takes to remove the UrS6 bumper compared to the 30+ on the S5. Planning on retrofitting the Black Optics package, which is basically black mirrors/window trim/fog light trim/grille. Got the windows done. I will need to source the black optics fog light grilles or possibly wrap the front silver trim black -- looks kinda jumbled now IMO.

The plate frame probably doesn't fit the car but I still have to give a nod to my fun side! (And my girlfriend who bought me the plate frame as a surprise.)

[hinrichs]

Hot damn that looks killer now

[rightfullrudder]

Sweet find! I just finished rebuilding a totaled B8.5 A4, I'm jealous of your 3.0T haha

Interested to hear how those JOMs ride, these cars look killer when lowered but personally I'm scared to ruin the comfort of mine haha. Don't forget to get a DRC (Dynamic Ride Control) delete kit! Otherwise you will get an error on the dash and an annoying beep since you have the adaptive suspension.

I've been following your thread! Nice work.

Well, looks like I can answer your question now. Went home to NC for Christmas and had a few days with absolutely nothing to do, so I shoehorned my jack, tools, clothes, coilovers, etc into the back of the S5 and decided to try and install the coilovers while I was there.

I don't have a lot of pics of the install itself, but it took us maybe 11 hours spread over two days with two people, minus final height adjustments. Very thankful for my awesome girlfriend, who got me an impact gun for Christmas. The fronts were a lot more bolts, but overall easier to do. We removed the end links, top links on the control arms, top strut bolts, strut pinch bolts, and unbolted the Y-looking arm from the control arm so it would be easier to remove. To get to the top strut bolts on these cars you also have to remove the cowl trim, and wiggle the windshield washer reservoir out of the way.

After working from maybe 10am-2pm here's what we were left with. Oops, looks like some adjustments up are gonna be necessary. These things go LOW!





The rears were a bitch and a half. Essentially there are two ways you can do it --

1) unbolt nearly everything connected to the lower control arm and use spring compressors to get the springs out
2) Drop the rear subframe enough to give you clearance to pull the springs out without compressors.

We chose option 2. It seemed like it would be easier despite the "seriousness" of dropping the subframe. Pretty simple at first -- unclip fender liner, pull it back, remove the old struts with one bolt at the bottom and two at the top. The old strut mounts had a really weird top nut that was sort of like a rectangle with 2 rounded edges. We were able to stop the shaft from rotating by using channel locks on the tube of the old struts.

Next we removed the underbody braces on each side which exposed the subframe bolts and loosened each one enough to droop the subframe down with everything attached. We only had one jack to hold the subframe in place so obviously if we totally dropped it it would be a PITA to get back in. Note concentration on my buddy's face.






It turned out that even with the subframe lowered, there still wasn't enough clearance... had to use one spring compressor on each side, hammer it down with the impact, and wiggle to get the springs out.


Lots of potential energy:






Finally, after dealing with a lower strut bolt that was apparently made of diamonds and tried to strip the threads out of the LCA we were on the ground!

You can see how low the front is in this pic. Before final adjustments. Still very excite.






After adjusting the fronts up about 1.25 inches. Note: In the future I will install coils all the way up and adjust downward instead lol. The fourth center cap is en route from Rotiform if anyone is wondering.

Pretty happy with the way the car sits, rides, and handles as of now -- although I am tracking a clunk in the right rear over isolated bumps/potholes. Going to re-torque everything on that corner tonight. It's been about 4 years since I had a low static car!

[19birel]

Sweet find! I just finished rebuilding a totaled B8.5 A4, I'm jealous of your 3.0T haha

Interested to hear how those JOMs ride, these cars look killer when lowered but personally I'm scared to ruin the comfort of mine haha. Don't forget to get a DRC (Dynamic Ride Control) delete kit! Otherwise you will get an error on the dash and an annoying beep since you have the adaptive suspension.