Audi S5 loss of umph

guyinkk

Am feeling that my 181 Audi S5 that has 60K kms on the clock is lacking the acceleration it used to have when I bought it new. I know this is a first world problem but it is a niggle.

It has been serviced at a main dealer as per manufacturer recommendations but am wondering if something like a terraclean would be worth investing in now.

Am interested in hearing from other if this is worth the money or not.

Thanks.

bazz26

Are you sure that your not just used to power at this point so the perception of it feeling powerful is less impressive than when you first bought it?

Slanty

Test it’s 0-100kph time. That will give you an indication of its performance.

guyinkk

ah... that is indeed something I've asked myself. So this might be subjective

but I do think that at the limit when you're flooring it the umph isn't there any more.

Interested in hearing from others on wither this might indeed be in my head or wither there might be a technical issue that could be addressed here.

biko

It's in your head, until you have some actual numbers.

tossy

Get someone else to drive it while you sit in the passenger seat that'll re affirm it for you, i've had a few fast cars and they all fell slow after a while, it's just you becoming used to the power.

failing that map it

guyinkk

I was pretty sure when I filled it 97ron fuel from the local circle k that it felt like it had more poke at the top end of the rev range. I'm not feeling this now.

Thanks to all who replied... I'll see if I can get some (socially distanced :-)) performance figures to substantiate this feeling or not.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

i have never had a car I didnt think this about after a few weeks. Get a draggy and test it. It is a little warmer so turbocharged cars are a tiny bit less efficient, but really that should not make an appreciable difference. Try resetting the learned gearbox adaptations (google it usually some paddle pulling and pedal combo on a ZF)....

Skatedude

You could get it dyno tested(might have to wait a bit.)
I was surprised that my 22 year old car still had the same power rating as from the factory, thought it should have lost a few ponies over the years

MetzgerMeister

As others have said, it might be that you're getting used to it. Don't go down the route of Terraclean until you know for a fact that the car would benefit from it otherwise it's a waste of money.

mickdw

I wouldnt be so sure its in the head.
There is plenty that could be taking the edge off the power and plenty that wouldnt throw a code or be noticeable to a service guy.

bazz26

guyinkk wrote: »

I was pretty sure when I filled it 97ron fuel from the local circle k that it felt like it had more poke at the top end of the rev range. I'm not feeling this now.

Thanks to all who replied... I'll see if I can get some (socially distanced :-)) performance figures to substantiate this feeling or not.

97 ron? I though all our fuel sold here was 95 ron.

biko

For a 2 year old car to lose power isn't likely.
Any issues will throw on a light on the dash.

You can throw some fuel system cleaner into it but I don't think it will help much as you sound like a driver that like to let it "stretch its legs"

Waterson

This is an interesting one. Hard to disprove or prove anything, as has been mentioned, the perception of speed and power is fairly subjective.
One thing I'll throw out there to consider would be the learned driving profile of the engine computer. Both the engine computer and transmission in the case of the DSG perform learning cycles based on driver demand. This is why when battery voltage drops low, the volatile memory, or the learned settings of the computers, needs to be relearned; basic settings performed.
Say Driver A only ever cruises in his car, never puts the foot down. The computer will never learn how to respond to wide-open throttle driver demands.
Driver B on the other hand opens drives the rag out of the engine every chance she gets. The computers learn the optimum fuelling and ignition timing to give that driver the most optimum performance.
One day Driver A decides to perform a high speed overtaking manouevre, one that he wouldn't usually do. He puts the foot down to pass by the truck...and the engine jerks and hesitates rather than overtaking smoothly. Why? because the computer never learned how to optimise the fuelling/ignition timing to perform that particular manouever.
Its probably not the case here but certainly something to consider.

Wailin

I would 100% say it's just you getting desensitized to the power of the car as others have already said. I know I have experienced that for sure. A remap will reinvigorate it...for awhile until you get used to that too!

Download Drag Racer app and test your 0-100. Obviously in a quiet deserted and safe area after lockdown before the do gooders pounce on me Compare it to the manufacturers figures and see how they match up. I've found it very accurate once the GPS accuracy is good.

tossy

Let the mickey waving commense :P

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Wailin wrote: »

I would 100% say it's just you getting desensitized to the power of the car as others have already said. I know I have experienced that for sure. A remap will reinvigorate it...for awhile until you get used to that too!

Download Drag Racer app and test your 0-100. Obviously in a quiet deserted and safe area after lockdown before the do gooders pounce on me Compare it to the manufacturers figures and see how they match up. I've found it very accurate once the GPS accuracy is good.

Problem with phone is the GPS poling rate is very low, often 1 second (1 Hz), for drag times you need something with a much better GPS module like a draggy at 10 Hz, if not is all a bit of a guess, (temperature and slope are important too) and I would not trust times at all. Did someone say Micky waving..ok then...... although I am on bit of a slope.

pinktoe

bazz26 wrote: »

97 ron? I though all our fuel sold here was 95 ron.

Maxol E5 is supposed to be 99 Ron.

Wailin

Oakley Substantial Zen wrote: »

Problem with phone is the GPS poling rate is very low, often 1 second (1 Hz), for drag times you need something with a much better GPS module like a draggy at 10 Hz, if not is all a bit of a guess, (temperature and slope are important too) and I would not trust times at all]

The Tesla is stupid quick. Did you get dragy figures with the M4 fitz? I know BMW figures tend to be conservative.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Wailin wrote: »

The Tesla is stupid quick. Did you get dragy figures with the M4 fitz? I know BMW figures tend to be conservative.

I didn't, I only purchased the Dragy because like the OP here, I felt the tesla was slow after a software update. Tested with the Dragy and its doing around 3.2, 3.3 with a rollout just like it should. Its amazing how quickly you get used to it. M4 would have a hard time breaking the 4 second honestly, totally traction limited, and loves to dump in power in big destabilising lumps. The S5 is a much smoother drive-train.

Philb76

pinktoe wrote: »

Maxol E5 is supposed to be 99 Ron.

Would e5 not be 95 ron??

AndyBoBandy

Oakley Substantial Zen wrote: »

Its amazing how quickly you get used to it.

This^^
I've only an SR+, and the first 2 weeks or so, it felt absolutely lightening quick, like nothing I'd ever driven before.

now almost 6 weeks on, yeah, it's quick, but doesn't feel as quick as it did the first few times I floored it... and It's just me being used to it at this stage...

now to start thinking about a P :cool:

un5byh7sqpd2x0

Philb76 wrote: »

Would e5 not be 95 ron??

E5 means it's 5% Ethanol, but it's supposed to be 99.2 RON

TheBoyConor

guyinkk wrote: »

I was pretty sure when I filled it 97ron fuel from the local circle k that it felt like it had more poke at the top end of the rev range. I'm not feeling this now.

Well I can tell you that that is absolutely all 100% in your head.

A good friend is an engineer working in an oil refiniery that supplies a great portion of the fuels for all of Ireland. He wouldn't go inte specifics about whether they have different blends of petrol being made but he said that they don't have separate tanks for Texaco, or Circle K or Top or whatever. The implication is that all retailers are supplied from a common stock and that all the retailers claims for "moremiles" or other similar premium branded fuels are just marketing spoof. All petrol is the same.

Capra

guyinkk wrote: »

I was pretty sure when I filled it 97ron fuel from the local circle k that it felt like it had more poke at the top end of the rev range. I'm not feeling this now.

Thanks to all who replied... I'll see if I can get some (socially distanced :-)) performance figures to substantiate this feeling or not.

Isn't RON only a measure of the anti knock capacity of the petrol? Higher octane fuels don't necessarily make more power, it's just that cars designed for running on higher octane fuels can run at their optimum performance. Otherwise they have to adapt the fuel/air mix so as not to cause engine knock...

So if your car is designed to run on 95 octane it isn't going to make more power on 97. Or maybe I'm wrong but that's my understanding of it.

MetzgerMeister

Capra wrote: »

Isn't RON only a measure of the anti knock capacity of the petrol? Higher octane fuels don't necessarily make more power, it's just that cars designed for running on higher octane fuels can run at their optimum performance. Otherwise they have to adapt the fuel/air mix so as not to cause engine knock...

So if your car is designed to run on 95 octane it isn't going to make more power on 97. Or maybe I'm wrong but that's my understanding of it.

I think you're right. It's the other way around that affects performance. For instance my 335i had a sticker on the fuel filler door stating "98 RON" but I was filling it with normal 95 as 98 was very very hard to get. No doubt it decreased the performance but would it be noticeable? I don't know.