Bringing an Audi RS5, albeit a Stage 3 one with 626 horsepower, to a rolling race contest such as Terminal Velocity is like using a sword to dig up a hole: it'll do the job, but you're not getting the best out of it because you're not using it for its intended purpose.
Everyone who's watched more than two drag races knows how important it is to have all-wheel-drive when launching, and how raw horsepower tends to prevail over anything else in a rolling race. A few cars such as the McLaren 720S may give off the wrong impression as they do equally well in both scenarios but as a rule of thumb, it's better to know your vehicle and not to ask more of it than it can actually deliver.
Jamie, the owner of the 626 hp (626.5, as he puts it), genuinely doesn't know that much about his car. That's because he's on that second honeymoon of owning a vehicle, after the one that comes when you first buy it, having just taken delivery of the RS5 with the latest mods installed.
In stock form, the RS5 Sportback does a very respectable 450 hp, though it uses a 2.9-liter V6 instead of the 2.5-liter straight-five the RS models below it get. With the Stage 3 upgrade, the car is now making a claimed 626 hp, meaning it pretty much feels like a completely new vehicle, hence the owner's excitement and desire to test out its performance.
Luckily for him (and us), there was quite a large and capable selection of opponents out on the track that day, so we get to see the RS5 both receiving and delivering a considerable gap, and also breaking the rules a little just so it could make interesting a race against a 920+ hp BMW M6 that would have otherwise destroyed it.
No, the Audi didn't jump the gun, but both drivers agreed to ignore the whole spirit of the competition and go for a standing start instead. To be fair, we're glad they did because this way, we got to see the car's entire potential, and even though we don't have any figures for its quarter mile time and it looked as though the M6 had some sort of problems, it still looked quick as hell. Knowing Jamie, we'll see more of the RS5 soon, though he did buy a 991.2 Turbo S recently, so he might shift his focus toward the newer and shinier toy: the Porsche.
The video would have been even longer if a nail hadn't decided to cut it short by puncturing the front left tire of the RS5. A quick punch repair kit meant Jamie could drive home safely, but there was no way he could do speeds of over 155 mph (250 km/h) with that hole in his tire. Still, beating a Lamborghini and a 920+ hp BMW M6 doesn't make for a bad highlights reel.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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