Josh/AWE

As you all know by now, our B8 S4 development car has gone to a new home and a 2013 Audi S5 has taken its place. We have been long admirers of the S5, and now with the 3.0T in the coupe version, it was the ideal choice to fill the void in our fleet.

We ordered the car from our good friend Tommy at Winner Audi in Wilmington, Delaware and checked the boxes for common options like Bang and Olufsen Sound and Sports Differential, as well as one that is not so common - Audi Individual Paint. After a history of White, Black, Red and Silver, it was time for something a bit off the grid.



Boom.

Samoa Orange was largely used by Audi on many cars at the key Auto Shows such as Geneva and Tokyo in recent years and is currently available on the R8 GT and TT models.

So that’s where our tale begins. Stay tuned for ongoing chapters as we keep you in the loop on how AWE Tuning has unlocked performance on this beauty, while maintaining perfect daily driving manners. The build will also be placed on our blog, which can be found right here.

DoubleA4

Am I seeing this right or did you get a head start and already swap out the exhaust? Great color choice. Is blacking out the trim (a la Titanium Package) on the radar? Good luck and look forward to seeing the transformation.

Josh/AWE

In this picture, the car is 100% factory fresh, and blacking out the window trim is on our shortlist of things to do.

Bader.Abbas

awesome!

Josh/AWE

Let’s work on the corners.



With wheels in transit (more on this shortly), we needed to get the car to sit more aggressively. Enter H&R’s Street Performance Coilovers. The H&R System offers the ride characteristics that we were after, and the adjustability to achieve the look that we were after. H&R Street Performance Coilovers and Sway Bars arrived, and the S5 went on the lift for install.



The stock suspension came off the car, and the new components began to come together.



The front struts were then attached to the suspension assembly, and re-installed on the car.



While the car was apart, we also installed H&R Sway Bars to keep the S5 a bit more composed in the bends.









Once this was all completed, we aligned the car using our Hunter PA100 ProAlign Laser alignment system.



Unfortunately at the height that the car was, we couldn’t quite get the front camber to where we wanted it. This is a problem, but luckily one that will be resolved in an upcoming segment of the build.



Now the car started to look properly aggressive, but we were anxious to receive our new wheels and put them on the AWE Tuning S5.

rarslan

I have intention to watch the thread but please ignore my ignorance; how does changing the suspensions and sway bar makes the car look "properly aggressive"? I understand it will effect how it will behave but the looks?

Josh/AWE

It's a matter of preference. Some people like their cars to sit at stock height, others like them lower. Many enthusiasts feel that lowering a car's ride height makes the car look more aggressive.

Once the wheels go on (next post) I think that you will agree that the S5 looks much more aggressive.

DoubleA4

With the car lowered and the new wheels not on I think everyone would agree that the stock wheels look sunken-in. There's a good reason AWE isn't showing a side shot. Will/AWE is right, once the new wheels are on it should look more aggressive.

rarslan

Thanks. I suspected it had to do something with the stance but couldn't tell from pictures. Not knowing enough did not help either, hence my question.
I never realized till I've got mine that the S5 is head turner as it is in stock (people roll their windows to ask questions or I see people walking around it and trying to see inside when parked). This project car will be phenomenal when finished, I am guessing. I should stop by when I stop by at the Fast by Ferracci on the other side of the Turnpike.

Josh/AWE

Absolutely! Fast is right around the corner, and they brought some bikes to our BBQ last year. It's a great shop.