New S5 Owner- A couple questions...

[ChipB]

Originally Posted by leetjon00 First time poster... If the state your car is registered in requires you to have license plates attached and displayed on the front and back of your car is there any work around? There is no work-around, you simply take your chances and pay the piper if caught. Some jurisdictions take the missing front plate more seriously than others. Here in the Chicagoland 'burbs I've had no issues running without a front plate for the past 4 years, EXCEPT when in Chicago proper. I made the mistake of parking in the long-term lot at O'Hare and didn't realize that the city of Chicago actually has patrols ropaming the lot looking for violators like me. So I got a $50 ticket - paid the fine and am still without a front plate. Some states offer a "fix-it" ticket option, where if you can show that you've rectified the problem you can get the fine reduced or perhaps even eliminated, but there is no such option in Illinois. Another data point - I lived in TX for 3-1/2 years with no front plate and was never cited. YMMV.

[blitzboy76]

Originally Posted by zairegp

I have a manual 2009 S5 and saw the same issue. Turning traction control off fixes it for me, so my guess is that at that rpm range the torque is high enough to get the traction control to kick in, making it feel like you lost power (which you did!)..

Interesting point. It is as though the car is cutting power to the wheels purposefully. I will have to play around with the TCS settings and see if I get the same result as you.

[BrianG]

Cool... I didn't realize that the euro filler plate was underneath the one that I want to remove. I will take a look at this in the morning.

Thanks!

[BrianG]

Nice. Option 2 is exactly what I was looking for. I will order the filler plate right away.

Thanks!

[BrianG]

My car is a manual trans, so I believe the hesitation I'm feeling is related to the engine only. Based on what I have been reading about the 4.2 FSI engines, the carbon buildup in the intake system could be related, although I don't know if I could have enough carbon after only 19k miles...

[ChipB]

Originally Posted by zairegp

I have a manual 2009 S5 and saw the same issue. Turning traction control off fixes it for me, so my guess is that at that rpm range the torque is high enough to get the traction control to kick in, making it feel like you lost power (which you did!)..

By "traction control" do you mean stability management? That system should have nothing to do with any hesitation in a certain RPM range, as it works by sensing different wheel spin rates, not torque. So unless the OP is driving on ice or sliding around corners that should not be the issue. Besides, engine torque is higher at higher revs, so if that was the issue it would be worse above 3000 RPM, not below.

BrianG - do you have Audi Drive Select on your car? I don't, and FWIW, I have no such issues on my 2009 manual S5. I wonder if the throttle response of the ADS system my be the culprit?

[Force-1]

http://youtu.be/67XcjBuRY04

[KarlFEvans]

^ Very cool. Watching that video gave me the inspiration to ditch the front plate on my S5. Your car looks fabulous without that plate.