Healthy Car Diets

A debate which has gone on between car enthusiast since, the invention of the automobile, is the argument that lowering the curb weight on a car increase the engines horsepower. In terms of ratios, the most agreed upon number is 10:1, meaning that for every ten pounds of weight you shed off a car, the engine is now capable of generating one more horsepower. In my personal opinion, I do believe weight loss plays a pivotal role in giving your car the extra edge against other competition on the street. I have actually experimented with lowering the weight on a vehicle to see if there are any performance benefits.

I previously owned a 2008 Volkswagen R32 which produced 250 hp at the crank, accompanied by 236 torque. The first modification that was done to the vehicle was the replacement of the bulky stock wheels. The stock wheels weighed nearly 26.8 pounds each wheel, bringing the grand total to about 108 pounds for all four wheels. I decided to buy O.Z. Racing wheels as replacements for the stock wheels fro two reasons; they are a very strong design and weigh nearly 10 pounds lighter, per wheel, compared to the stock wheels. The O.Z.'s were the Ultraleggera model wheel which has a fork like design that uses a minimal amount or metal, reducing weight. Each Ultra weighed about 17.1 pounds, a significant amount less than each stock wheel. Just by replacing the wheels, I lowered the cars curb weight by about 40 pounds.


The second modification I did was replace the stock exhaust system with a lighter, less restrictive system made by MagnaFlow. MagnaFlow offered two types of cat-back exhaust systems for the MkV R32, one with a resonator (dampens exhaust noise) and one without a resonator; naturally I chose the one without the resonator. As compared to the stock exhaust, the MagnaFlow weight 11 pounds less! Now that eleven pounds doesn't sound like a lot but you must also remember that the exhaust added performance by being less restrictive. It was less restrictive in the sense that all of the piping was nearly and inch wider in diameter compared to the stock exhaust piping, the muffler was smaller, and the MagnaFlow was non-resonated.

Overall, I shed about 51 pounds of weight off the car which, in terms of the weight loss to horsepower gain ratio, gave the engine about 5 more horsepower. I never put the vehicle on a performance dyno before or after I installed the after market parts so I cannot technically say that there was any particular increase in horsepower. However, I can honestly say that I did notice a little more punch when stomping on the gas peddle, particularly when accelerating from a standstill. In conclusion, I am a firm believer in putting your car on a diet if you want to be able to compete on the streets or on the track. Pulling a little bit of weight away here and there wont ever hurt the car, in fact, it made mine look and sound like something truly special.

Audi RS 5

In the history of Audi, many of there most well known sports cars donned the "S" denotation before the numeral that represented the particular model vehicle (i.e. A3 - S3, A4 - S4). Because of the immense popularity of their S model vehicles, naturally Audi would come out with an S version of their newest and quite possibly, most beautiful car ever, the A5 - S5. The handsome coupe is available with either the 2.0 TFSI four-cylinder or the 3.2 FSI six-cylinder in the A5 model or a 4.2 FSI eight-cylinder in the S5 model. Now all of these different trim and performance levels will surely suite a wide range of enthusiasts, however, some will be needing deeper pockets than others. With all the success in A5 sales, and the popularity of the S5, many have been wondering if Audi will roll out an RS 5. Long have the Audi RS model vehicles been fan-favorites and only owned by few, due to the rarity of the models and limited production. The RS models take performance to a whole other level, far beyond that of a standard Audi model and even an S model.

Thus far, not much information has been leaked on the RS 5 for the exception of a few astonishing numbers. As compared to the Audi S5, which boasts a plentiful 354bhp, the RS 5 will be producing 450bhp! It will skip along 0-60 in about 4.6 seconds which, interestingly enough, is only about one tenth of a second faster than the S5. The RS 5 will use a 7-speed twin-clutch transmission, similar to VW's DSG design (Road&Track). Since it would appear that the extra 96bhp found in the RS 5 doesn't move the car any quicker than the S5, what is the real selling point? Audi has stiffened the shocks and thrown on a few sway bars to help the AWD coupe corner, and run the slalom, a hair quicker than its younger brother. One interesting added feature worth noting would be the deployable trunk spoiler on the RS 5. Once 75mph is reached the spoiler raises a few inches off of the trunk and then retracts when speeds are dropped down below 50. Don't get too excited because the spoiler is mainly for shock-and-awe purposes seeing that it's size helps to provide almost zero pounds of downforce even at 75mph.

Unfortunately, you will not see the RS 5 in America since Audi has decided to only keep it on the other side of the pond. I wouldn't fret too much since the car isn't that much more of a performance beast than the S5 and looks nearly identical. I also must not forget to mention that the RS 5 is nearly $45,000 more than the S5, topping out at around $105,000. So you are getting less performance than a BMW M3 but paying the price of a BMW 750i? Doesn't sound like anything Americans would be interested in; Europe can keep the gorgeous, overpriced, underpowered coupe.