Why would they laugh? I’m in the middle.
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/01/08/mu8y2yde.jpg
I actually never ran 13.49, my brother did, I hot-lapped and did 7-10 runs IIRC and did 13.5-13.7. it was night time and cooler but I think low-13s stock is normal.
My car is fully optioned with ADS, etc and heavy 19" peeler wheels and RE-11 tires, it’s decently over 4000 lbs. The only change I did for 12.08 was stage II and pulley. The tank was full of 110, I remember driving Vitaliy and his wife and friends home 2 hours after his master cylinder crapped out, we didn’t fill up until his place (didn’t really have to either, but he wanted to cover costs).
You’re correct they show 500 whp already with the A8 4.0T on 100 octane, but I’d agree they are playing it safe, consider this 2x a 2.0T and imagine telling anyone with a K04 and 280-300 whp that their rods and pistons won’t handle it. I agree with you on 600 whp being a reasonably safe limit.
Anyway why haven’t we seen the RS7 times yet? And where is that skydome full of 10 second tune-only Benzes you promised?