Hi everyone, I've been trolling around for a few days now, and I must say I'm impressed with how tight-knit this community is, with that said I'm hopeful you might be able to give a current Avant owner some tips on what it's like to own these cars.
Generally, I'm trying to decide between an E39 or a C5 RS6. Essentially the turning point comes at the decision whether the RS6 would turn into a money pit and if it's going to be as special to drive as the E39.
There are a few factors that complicate this question however. Foremost being that my VAG wrenching experience is vast.. I've owned a B5 A4/S4 and currently own a C5 Avant.
needless to say, The RS6 would likely prove to provide little difficulity (other than working around a twin turbo V8) for me in repairing/diagnosing.
The second being that I swore I wouldn't buy another automatic 'fun' car again, and we'll.. the RS6 doesn't fit that bill from the get-go and the M5 does. It's true I would be using this as my DD, and I did like the auto V better in that respect, and I also like the paddles on the RS6 (being that they're *real* paddles and not after-thoughts like on the V).. However.. as I'm sure you'll agree, there's simply no replacement for a clutch pedal.
So the questions;
a) generally, I'd like to figure out if my 99 2.8 Avant is somewhat similar to what it's like to drive a C5.
I find the Pedal extremely soft, and it doesn't seem to really have a hard stopping point, it's possible something's wrong with my car but I've also seen the old reviews indicate the 8 pots have a soft initial travel. Note that my car has fresh pads and fresh fluid.
I find the steering to be fairly dead, and it's very boosted, there's *some* feedback, but currently owning a 2012 CTS-V, there's oobviously little comparison. I know the RS6 has aluminum uprights (and possibly a different rack?) so I'd like to know if this is any different.
Also, I've always found that the understeer point on this generation of quattro is fairly early.. and it sort of spoils the fun. How much of a difference will some swaybars and suspension help in correcting this?
Lastly, how's the power delivery with the 4.2? The most thing I loved about my APB was that it was visceral and kicked you in the pants, it felt a lot faster than it was. By comparison, my CTSV has 506whp.. and it's so smooth It's hard to get excited rowing through the gears.
b) The goal of the car is essentially to go autocrossing and maybe some controlled HPDE's.. nothing professional or even ameature , purely recreational. Still.. I'd like you to keep this in mind for the following;
As far as cost of ownership is for this car, is it going to kill me? As stated prior, the work I can do myself, but parts costs will be a concern, and the major parts that get stressed for stuff like this are also the weakest, and seem to cost the most. Don't get me wrong, I like wrenching on my car, even if it's to fix something, but when I see people with 4,5,6 or 9K in repairs for the trans multiple times, it concerns me. At that point I might as well garage it until I can swap an 01E, and if it's garaged I'm not enjoying the car..
Eventually, I'd like to covert it to an 01E anyway..I saw the thread where someone is offering a conversion set for $2100 but I haven't found an acutal swap thread, fab work is not my strong suite. Is this something I can bolt on with a6 drivetrain with someone to tune the ABS/ESP back in or will it require some custom work? I would think it would be considering what I know about the powertrain, but you never know until you do the deed..
C) do you generally have any regrets of ownership? Which would you personally choose?
I've gone over the pros and cons of both, including the rarity of this vehicle, which means the nearly non-existiant aftermarket and the fact that there's a lot of 'OEM' modifications I could do that could easily buy me a supercharged E39 by itself.
it also means insurance will be high, and It may become an abyss of cash by shear fact that there's so much expensive stuff I would want to do with it (recaro seats, RNS-E, brake upgrades, upgraded turbos, things of that nature.. aside from the $8K 01E swap..)
Generally, I'd like to know, compared to the other vehicle's you own how 'special' the RS6 makes you feel. I have a tingle right now, the idea of owning something more rare than the Gallardo at cars and coffee, of a twin turbo V8, and wrenching on a VAG again, but I've made impulse buy's on what I 'Thought' I was buying and then I acutally had to live with it for a year. My only real car love was a B5 S4.. it was visceral, it was small and tossable and it made me feel good.
If the RS6 drives like the S4 I'd be hooked. If It doesn't though, I don't think I'll be able to made the move based on the 'idea' of the car again and I'd pick the safer E39..it's already well established to be 'the defacto' super sedan.
Thank you for your time!
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...nuf said...puts a hurt on the E60, steering is more responsive too...
Originally Posted by blmlozz
