I’ve been posting about my transition from the B8.5 S4 to the C7.5 RS7 in a few other threads for a while now and was asked to separate that out in to a new thread about my upgrade progress and track experiences through the various phases of modification. My transition to the RS started when I got impatient waiting for the APR UC upgrade to drop last year, I then decided to pursue my dream car which was the RS7. The car, as many have already seen, is a 2016 RS7 Prestige (meaning a 560hp rated non-Performance model) the original owner had for 10 months, color is Daytona Gray Pearl with Carbon Optics Pkg, Sport Exhaust, B&O, Driver Assist, Soft Touch doors etc… so overall a decently optioned car.
http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/137064657.jpg
About 2 months after purchase I made my first track visit, the car all stock except the Rohana RF2 wheels and 275/35/20 MPSS tires. I was a little shocked when the car made 2 11.2X passes, 11.23 @122 & 11.28 @ 123 mph as I was expecting to run the 11.50/60’s I’d usually seen on the forums. I went back 2 more times and in total made 11 passes, 8 of which were 11.20-11.28 all at between 121-123 mph in DA’s between +200 and +1700 (it didn’t seem that the DA made much of a difference in performance either, at least not at those levels.).
http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/371556996.jpg
Within the first month of ownership I also added a CETE Adjustable Suspension Control module, this allows me to preset 3 drive select settings each with its own ride height, front and rear being separate. I have varied these settings at the track and will talk about that later in my thread.
After about 3 months of ownership I decided on going with APR for my software upgrade. I deliberated about possibly using Unitronic since they’re the only other tuner active in the RS 4.0TT arena but after a friend beta tested a revised 1+ file with poor results I locked in on APR as the only tried and true option for the car. I wanted to make some pump file passes on the car first and then progress to race gas so I could document the improvements but due to poor weather in April and early May delayed my track outings I just decided to get the good stuff, GT260+, and go for it. I went back to the track late May for a new to my track evening TnT- on 104, in +1500 DA the car went 10.66 at 132.04 and 10.58 @ 130.51- this with mediocre track prep & a very busy night where the wait between passes was an hour or more.
http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/883210763.jpg
I recently purchased a Gtech meter so I could log 0-60 runs, which there seems to be a lot of interest in on other forums and on FB so here is what that resulted in from a run I made this past Saturday, temp about 80 and estimated DA around 2150.
http://audirevolution.net/addons/albums/images/460320615.jpg
All in all I couldn’t be happier with the car, it looks/rides great and is shockingly fast. When I tell people what it’s run I don’t think they can fully comprehend a 4600 lb luxury hatchback being that fast. When I go to the track, I get a lot of walk bys and interest, especially after the last outing and 2 mid 10 sec passes at 130/132 MPH, that opened some eyes for sure. Stage 2 is likely coming next month but I want to get out before that to see if I can get in the 10.4X’s on a Stage 1 file as I’ve yet to see one from a verified source just yet- I’ll update as my progress continues.