Black and White and Red all Over: HS Motorsport Tunes Audi S5 to 375HP

Was Senner's velvety A5 Cabrio not powerful enough for you? HS Motorsport, located near BMW's home turf of Munich, has decided to help out consumers by amping-up the S5 Cabrio into a 375-horsepower 'vert. Power output aside, this white cabrio looks like a dog on the side of the road next to Senner's metallic brown goodness.

Though the S5 is a naturally handsome beast, HS Motorsport unfortunately decided to pass on any external modifications and concentrate on computer-tuning the car's supercharged 333-horspower V6. Wearing a Cargraphic exhaust setup and probably a new air filter, the car now puts down that aforementioned 375-horsepower and 525 Nm / 387 lb-ft of torque (stock: 440 Nm / 324 lb-ft).

Underneath the car is a Bilstein coilover kit, and a Brembo 380-mm, 6-piston front brake system is also available.

Other than a boosted top speed - now 290 km/h - and the higher output, there isn't much happening here. A poppin' red top, white car, and black 21-inch Cargraphic rims do not a show car make.

Besides, how and when did "tuning" (meaning a professional tuner, not your neighbor with a tuning hobby) become a process of just collecting a bunch of random name-brand off-the-shelf parts and putting them on a car? If that's the case, everyone should just go down to the chamber of commerce, register a company name, and call themselves tuners.

If a tuner is putting out a show car, I want it to be memorable. I don't need transparent hoods and Lamborghini doors, but at least do something a little different. Show me a show car with show.

By Phil Alex

Count Chocula, your ride is here: Senner's A5 Cabrio gets the RS look and 275HP 2.0 TSI

Senner Tuning, which recently tuned Audi's little diesel A1, has opted to showcase some of their A5 products in this gorgeous, 'chocolate' A5 Cabrio.

The car receives some new intake and ECU tuning to bring the turbocharged 2.0-liter's output to 275 horsepower and 430 Nm / 317 lb-ft of torque, while a Senner stainless steel exhaust system is there for aural pleasure and to get rid of those exhaust fumes. The car rides on KW's Inox coilovers, which slam it down hard on those 20-inch Varianza TIS alloys.

As you can see, the body gets an RS-style nose, tail, and mirrors, which only make a great-looking car even greater. Personally, I'd love to see the rear bumper insert in carbon fiber, but that would add to the already exorbitant price.

All told, the package seen here can be had for a hair under €20,000. While I'd pass on spending that much on such run-of-the-mill modifications, that shade of chocolaty goodness is definitely something to consider if picking a custom color for an Audi.

By Phil Alex

APS Sportec Builds 425HP Audi S5, as fast as RS5 in 0-62mph sprint

Last time we checked (as in a few minutes ago on the UK, US and German sites), the S5 Coupe continues to use Audi's venerable 4.2-liter V8 with 354HP, while the S5 Convertible comes with a 333HP 3.0-liter supercharged V6. Nevertheless, APS, the UK-based importer of the Swiss tuning brand Sportec, has released a performance upgrade for the S5 Coupe and Convertible with the... 3.0 TSI V6.

In any case, labeled "Stage One", the Swiss tuner's performance package for Audi's 3.0 TSI V6 consists of a free flowing air filter element and an ECU remap. While it doesn't sound like much, it manages to squeeze another 97-horsepower out of the S5's (convertible) 3.0-liter V6 unit, boosting total output from 328 bhp and 440 Nm (325 lb.ft) to an RS5-rivaling 425 bhp at 6,640 rpm and 520 Nm (379 lb.ft) at 4,250 rpm.

Sportec says the upgrade trims 0-62mph (100km/h) acceleration by 0.5 seconds to 4.6 seconds (same as RS5 Coupe) while top speed is electronically limited at 155 mph (250km/h).

The Stage One upgrade is available now in the UK from APS Sportec priced at £1,950 fitted including VAT.

Audi Confirms RS5 Coupe for U.S. in 2012, Announces Pricing on 2011 R8 V10 Spyder

First the good news; Audi has confirmed that the new RS5 Coupe is coming to America. Now for the bad; it's going to take another year and half or so for Ingolstadt's sports car to make it on this side of the Atlantic. Audi said details on equipment levels, pricing and fuel economy standards will be released at a later date.

We remind you that the all-wheel drive RS5 Coupe gets a high-revving, naturally aspirated 4.2-liter V8 with 450-horsepower that propels the car from 0-100km/h (62mph) in 4.6 seconds and on to an electronically-limited top speed of 250km/h (155mph).

As well as confirming U.S. availability on the RS5 Coupe, Audi also announced pricing on the 2011 R8 Spyder 5.2 quattro. The soft-top roadster with the 525HP V10 is offered in two flavors, with a 6-speed manual gearbox priced at $161,000, and with the firm's R-Tronic automated manual transmission set at $171,000. The above prices are subject to a $1,250 destination charge.