Bigserve134's S5 build and review

A5/S5/RS5
#21

I’d say they’re pretty well priced. Having the O2 sensor recessed saves you another $50-$100 bucks form buying O2 spacers. And you’ve got madrel bends in 2.5" piping with some fairly complex bends (well more so precise bends since you don’t have flex pipes).

The first DP’s that came to the B6/7 market were twice that if I recall. As time goes on, someone will copy them with slightly less quality and offer for a coup0le hundred bucks less.

But either way, you’ll always be able to sell these for a good chunk back later on if you ever need to.

Also, I’d imagine with proper tune, you’d get around emissions. The visual will never catch these with how recessed the catalytic converter is in stock location. So as long as you’re not throwing a code, you should be good.

#22

I see, good point on the resell value. I think I will keep the S5 indefinitely and just add to my garage in the future; I love this car too much!

I wonder if JHM can special order/create these in 2.75" sizing.

Jake any idea?

#23

I think you mean rasp. Resonators may cause you more drone believe it or not.

#24

very true…they would eliminate rasp but would make it miserable in the cabin.

anyways, i loved the rasp of my old car. the popping and burbling was intoxicating.

Bigserve…car looks great. I love the satin red!

#25

Definitely meant drone, resonance inside the car that is like a hum! Even my center light console with the sun glass holder vibrates and shakes. Bluetooth phone calls piss people off so much that certain family refuse to talk while im in my car.

I wouldn’t mind rasp but it only seems to happen when the car is cold, during the first few minutes of drving

If my non-res really has less drone than the res then im glad, because I would have like gone back to stock if the drone would have been even worse!

Thanks 91gl! Are you back in the Audi scene?

#26

Very nice post Big. I’ve been thinking more and more about replacing the S4 with an S5. I’d love to see the car in person one of these days. And as we’ve talked about before, it would be fun to do some pulls and see NA vs SC at Utah altitude.

I also have FI exhaust and the JHM stage IV clutch and FW. You could take a drive in my car and see first hand the sound and lack of chatter.

#27

Hopefully JHM puts a supercharger on their in house S5 soon. That would be cool.

#28

Thanks! Definitely, I would like to do some pulls since the RMR is closed for the winter. Do you have any test results for you current set up? I am still very busy, however, studying for boards and job hunting right now so Im more flexible to meet up. Shoot me a text when you have some time

Im sure it is in the works :slight_smile:

#29

Been a while since I last updated.

About ten days ago when I got into my car to start it as I depressed my clutch I heard a quick sharp pop. The car started fine but clutch did not return, and that’s when I immediately thought “OH SHIT! FUCK ME!” Car would not go in gear, although I could easily physically bring the clutch back to no avail it was flopping around like a fish out of water.

I had to get it towed the next morning out of my work’s parking garage. Flat bed truck could not get it, so I grabbed my intern and we pushed it out. It goes to the local shop I have exclusively used for the last 7 years. It sits…I visit the shop the next day and I get the “your car is next after we free up this lift from our race car”. It continues to sit, no phone calls…5 days later I had enough get it towed to another shop that has frequent R8, and supercharged R8s etc…

Within 3 hours they find my brake fluid like tar which has corroded the rubber line between the master and slave cylinder bursting the line. $700 later the car is functional, but the clutch is still hard to depress the final 2 inches of travel (this has been a growing issue for the past 6 months). They bleed the lines some more hoping it is just air. Still difficult to depress.

Turns out there is a fork piece, pilot bearing, and another part that needs to be replaced. I also elected to go stage 3 clutch, which what is in all the supercharged R8s and 600+ ft/lbs of torque cars they do.

The flywheel drops me 4lbs of rotating weight.

Finally I said since its right there lets just slap on some JHM test pipes too. But I just realized the AWE track exhaust + downpipes are narrower than the 2.5" test pipes…I hope this doesnt cause some awkward air flow dynamics and sound…

I’ll update this once I have the car back

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10704025_715716281847323_3417827798675443684_n.jpg?oh=2cb16821d60c37e97a0c1cdaf484ba29&oe=54C33213&gda=1421992875_d0482566ee22ae27428887d2cff549f5

Those are Renn Motorsport 20 lb wheels! Forgestar are no longer

#30

How’s the wrap holding up?

Also, what clutch did you get?

#31

Wow smaller then 2.5" that sucks. Those jhm pipes should help wake the car up. How big is the awe exhaust. You would have to think they know better then to do the 2.25 thing. Cool update.

#32

Contact JHM or Fast Intentions and see if they will get you a true 2.5 inch exhaust. There is a local guy to me that has a FI exhaust and it sounds great. AWE necks the pipes down to reuse the stock clamps from the end of the downpipes and the beginning of the catback.

#33

Fixed!

#34

They are not going for performance. They are trying to make exhausts so that people can buy them in sections and sell more parts to make more money.

#35

I would really try contacting jhm they have a in house S5. I’m sure they have a performance exhaust for it

#36

Thanks for the good advice guys!

Unfortunately, I purchased the AWE exhaust 4 years ago when they were first to the market, so now I will have to upgrade the entire thing once again with the JHM/FI version (if it exists?) I’m having the test pipes put in for now, which should be a nice addition.

The wrap is holding up great! The best part about it is that I have not got any rock chips on the front of my hood. There were a couple larger rocks that have hit the hood and bumper leaving small 1/2 inch tears in the dip but even through high pressure self spray washes those spots haven’t worsened! Still very easy to wash and clean.
The one drawback / negative with the dip is where my wife and I get into the car our feet have rubbed against the side skirts a few times which has caused the area to begin pealing up. I don’t enough dip was applied in this area. I’m contemplating changing up the color and theme of the car again too :wink:

I ended up going with the southbend stage 3 endurance clutch $3k. I really wanted to do the JHM clutch and flywheel as that yields an additional 3-6 lbs less than the southbend flywheel. But the shop swears by southbend, running it in all of their supercharged R8 builds, stage 4+ big turbo, and previous S5/RS4s. He assured me that there it is the way I want to go since that’s all southbend does all day is clutches…

I questioned him regarding Arin’s situation when he put the 1740 on his S4 and melted the southbend clutch…he said all clutches are consumable and lifespan depend on the driver. He mentioned the JHM product is excellent but they have seen a few cars come back to be opened up again even though JHM has replaced the parts the car still came back…

I questioned him on what discount he will give me for southbend feeling him out for potential commission that he is getting in return for selling the clutch, but that didn’t get me anywhere.

There is not much left for me to do after this…JHM flywheel, update the exhaust, sell the APR charger for the JHM one when it comes out???

#37

Dude, have they done the work yet? I ask because if not then I would call them to tell them to not install the Southbend clutch kit and order the JHM kit.

I have installed a few Southbend clutch kits and some of their flywheels too. Everyone of them has not lived up to expectations, so much so that I will not install them for any one local to me any more. Here is a link to a thread that I started about the clutch job that I did on a buddy’s B8 S4 in late 2012.

http://audirevolution.net/forum/index.php?topic=1339.0

That Southbend clutch kit is a modified clutch disc with a stock pressure plate that they changed the small springs in. It is basically a stock setup with a more aggressive disc. After looking at what Southbend offers for your S5 it looks like the stage 3 kit has a full face Kevlar/probably ceramic disc with a non-SAC pressure plate. So you are paying over $300 more for a heavier flywheel and a non-SAC pressure plate that probably will not last.

I don’t know about the B8 Southbend flywheel because I have never seen it because when I did the clutch work on my buddy’s B8 S4, he replaced the flywheel with another stock one. But I have installed a Southbend steel flywheel on a B7 A4 and that thing chattered more than my JHM LWFW in my S4. It was terrible! That experience always makes me chuckle whenever FlyingTomotoes or his group advises getting a steel flywheel.

The vast majority of problems that people have with the JHM flywheels and clutches come from people not installing them correctly. As long as they take their time and do it right then you will be fine. Locktite is a must!

I can’t blame you for the AWE exhaust. They do release their stuff right away to get the early market share.

Do like the wrap too. Even though I am partial to blue.

#38

Well shit!

Maybe the shop doesn’t install the JHM ones right? Locktite to be applied where ? is it included within their kit?

I know my clutch arrives on friday so maybe JHM can overnight theres and I can get it done.

Also one thing that concerned me is that the shop owner mentioned the JHM flywheel was too light, leading to increased force down on the drivetrain which will likely lead to premature failure of other parts…??? This scared me…I dunno I need to dorp pharmacy and become a fucking audi mechanic

Im going to call JHM now hopefully they answer

Thanks J-bones!

#39

On hold…5min now…zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Another thing that concerned me that held a good amount of reason is that JHM parts are all in house and depending on what tech is making them leads to the quality.

I experienced this first hand when I received front and rear light weight rotors from them a while ago. They came all PITTED with small HOLES straight through them. JHM asked for pictures and replaced them without any issues

But I need my car, every day on this loaner adds up, and I can’t wait for parts to keep being shipped back and fourth in case they are not of the highest standard!

#40

It amazes me how many shops mess up the install. They need to actually read the instructions. Below is what is on the JHM website.

The part about the Locktite is bolded. But in general the bolts that hold the pressure plate to the flywheel need Red Locktite and it is also a good idea to clean them with brake clean and a rag before applying the Red Locktite.

I do not see Locktite included in the kit but any decent shop should have it. For example, I use so much Blue and Red Locktite on cars here that the local parts place guys had to get me a better price because I am usually buying such large quantities of the stuff.

[quote=“JHM’s website”]INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS AND TORQUE NOTES: These are NOTES ONLY are not a substitute for factory installation manuals or technical expertise. They are to be used a supplemental guideline only. We always recommend that an experienced technician perform ALL clutch and flywheel installations. For shops or individuals who have access to factory manuals but not factory tools, here are some tips and guidelines we have used to complete this job without the factory tools:

  • The JHM Lightweight Flywheel installs in the same manner as the OEM Flywheel. Follow the OEM installation and torque procedures.
  • Aligning the clutch disc, pressure plate, flywheel assembly: Install the throwout bearing/sleeve onto the transmission. For alignment of the clutch disc it is easiest to put the flywheel face-up, place and align the disc splines on center with the center bearing in the flywheel, put the pressure plate on top, visually check that the disc is still on center, and begin to tighten and torque the pressure plate. The pressure plate bolts need to be secured with red, high-strength Loctite. Make sure the pressure plate bolts are tightened in a star pattern at multiple torque intervals. This is to make sure that the pressure plate diaphragm or fingers are not distorted upon installation. Once the pressure plate is fully torqued to the flywheel with red Loctite to factory specifications (18 ft-lbs, in intervals), the clutch, pressure plate, and flywheel combination can now be slid onto the transmission as you would a torque converter on an Automatic Transmission. If the assembly will not slip on the transmission, this is most likely due to the fact that the disc is not on center. Remove the pressure plate and attempt to re-align the disc. **NOTE: We’ve successfully aligned the assembly by following the above procedure. It is not that difficult to “eyeball” the alignment.
  • Once the clutch and flywheel combo are installed in the transmission, the half-shaft can be re-installed (this prevents the clutch and flywheel from falling out of the transmission while attempting re-installation). Install and bolt the transmission to the engine. Install the JHM supplied bolts for attaching the flywheel to the flexplate. Torque the flyweel to flexplate bolts to factory specifications. This is done in a similar fashion to torquing down a torque converter to a flexplate on an Automatic Transmission.
    [/quote]
    I personally think that what the shop owner told you about the lightweight flywheel is a crock of shit. If anything that APR 1320 supercharger that you have puts a much bigger strain on the rest of the drivetrain. Did he ever think that maybe the supercharger plus you actually enjoying the car was what wore out the clutch in the first place?