Audi A5 Tuning

"Making the A5 go as well as it looks"

The A5 is arguably one of the best looking cars to come from Audi in recent times and was launched in 2007. The last coupe made by Audi was the 80 so it's nice to see another sporty coupe released.

It is a very sporty looking coupe with some beautiful sweeping lines. The interior is as impressive as the exterior in an Audi kind of way.

Rear leg room is rather cramped though for a car of this size but that is not a priority for your typical A5 purchaser.

There is a lot of boot space and the car looks stunning.

See our video which covers all the principles of tuning your Audi A5.

We got to drive the A5 2.0 TFSI 220bhp Auto Quattro and was impressed by the handling and performance showing just what this car is capable of in the right tuners hands.

A simple tune/remap would have given us another 50bhp or so without any other mods being needed!

An S5 Cabriolet was announced in 2009 with a stunning RS5 scheduled for a 2010 launch. This means that A5 owners can choose to use the S5 and RS5 performance parts on their cars as upgrades.

A5 Power Increasing Mods.

Please watch our video which covers the 5 principles of tuning your A5. Be sure to keep up with our latest YouTube content and subscribe.

Best mods for your A5

1. A5 Suspension Upgrades - Fitting a more sporty Suspension kit greatly enhances your A5 road holding and cornering. Poly Bushes and Coilovers are typically fitted to achieve this
2. Upgrades to turbochargers and superchargers - A New Turbo is the most dramatic method to increase air supply, this means you are able to use more fuel and make more power. Typically one of the most complex upgrades it offers big gains.
3. Tunes - A Remapped A5 ECU gives the most advantage with respect to your investment, replacement ECUs, and piggyback ECUs are all alternatives.
4. Fast road cams are are often the best upgrade for an engine, but we recommend they be fitted by someone who knows what they are doing and you might struggle to find one but we are sure you'l; find a local firm to regrind a stock cam .
5. Low mass flywheel - a lighter flywheel will improve the engines free revving nature. But not always not a great upgrade for all A5 engines.
6. Internal engine mods - crank, pistons, conrods & compression ratio including balancing and blueprinting
7. Brake Upgrades - Stopping your A5 should be near the top of your Mods list.
8. Air Induction kits and Performance Exhausts - Note that on their own these mods will NOT ADD PERFORMANCE in most cases, but they permit you to release power after other modifications by losing a restriction.

A5 Tuning Stages

Typical stage 1 mods often include: Lighter flywheel, Suspension upgrade (drop ), Panel air filter, Sports exhaust, Engine Tunes/Remapping, Alloy wheels.

Typical stage 2 mods often include: Fast road cam, high flow fuel injector, fuel pump upgrades, Power/Sport clutch, Ported and polished head.

Typical stage 3 mods often include: Adding or upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Competition cam, Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Sports gearbox, Engine balancing.

A5 Handling/Suspension upgrades

Improving the handling for lots of DIY modders first priority in your A5 tuning project.

We suggest that you fit modified suspension and lower the car by 23 - 35 Larger drops require arch work - especially on models already equipped with motorsport suspension.

Adjusting the handling is often the first step in using the A5.Adjusting the A5's handling is often the first step in modding it.

Handling mods are often the initial step for the A5.

We would choose a set of Good Quality coilovers that enable lower or raise the car to set the cars handling to your preference

Is there anything I should bear in mind while deciding on suspension mods for my A5?

Uprated Bushes

What factors should you consider when setting up and selecting your bushes if your A5 is also used as a daily driver?

Bushes, which are rubber mounts, allow the A5's suspension components to be connected with the car's chassis. The rubber ones will deteriorate as they age.

Brand New OEM rubber bushes may have a major impact on the performance of your vehicle.

Because polyurethane bushings are stiffer, the ride may be less forgiving, but the bushings will last longer and maintain the car's handling over a longer time.

Worn bushings may also accelerate the stress of other suspension components due to the increased vibration and play.

A new set of polyeyurothane bushings may be able to minimize the excessive play that comes with rubber bushes.

Some poly bushings are hard to locate, but most will find the primary mounts readily available in their local stores Often, custom A5 poly bushings may be manufactured to your requirements.

How low should you go on the A5?

TorqueCars research and testing indicate that the maximum "OPTIMUM" suspension drop for most road going A5's is 23 - 35 millimetres, whereas the ptimum suspension drop for cars that are factory fitted with lowered springs (s line) is 19 millimetres.

Larger drops seem to hamper cornering and overall grip due to excessive bounce and angle deflection due to lower stances.

Tolerances may be greatly diminished by altering the diameter of the wheels. Lowering a vehicle, even with 17-inch wheels and stock suspension, will create several issues.

Stability may be improved by lowering the A5, but the ultimate goal should always be to enhance handling. It is critical to use the right shocks when employing lower springs.

Adding some negative camber at the front wheels and around 1 to 1.7 degrees of toe (in for better stability or out to improve cornering), will usually improve your A5 in handling and cornering.

A5 Brake Upgrades

For dramatically enhanced stopping you should get better performance pads and mate this with larger brake discs.

We should point out that motorsport pads can grind and will need to be hot before they start to work.

In every day driving the brakes are only applied now and then and will not be effective so select brake pads which have a low working temperature.

Which A5 Engine?

If you want to make your A5 into the supercar it should be follow our tuning tips.

Your engine choices are much along the A4 line with the 1.8 and 2.0 TFSi. There is also an interesting choice of V6 TDI's and 2.0 TDi and 4.2 V8 Fsi and 3.2 V6 FSi to choose from. All models have the 6 speed box and there is also the Tiptronic auto available which is highly recommended.

Engine swaps are quite popular mods for this model, here are engine guides to all the VAG engines we've covered.

• 1.4 1.5 TFSi tuning
• 1.4 TSi/TFSi/Twincharge tuning
• 1.8T engine Tuning
• 1.8 & 2.0 TFSi (mk1) Tuning
• 1.8 2.0 TFSi (ea888) Tuning
• 2.0 TFSi carbon issue & care guide
• 2.5tfsi tuning
• 3.0 V6 24v TFSI Tuning
• 2.8 V6 30 valve, 24 valve 3.0 V6 30v and 3.2 VR6 Tuning
• 3.6 VR6 Tuning
• 1.6 TDi tuning
• 1.9 TDi tuning
• 2.0 TDI 140-170 tuning
• 2.0 TDI tuning (EA188)
• 2.5 TDI tuning
• 2.7 & 3.0 TDI tuning
• 2.5 Tdi R5
• 3.0 Tdi EA897

The best power gains usually come from larger engine sizes but we cannot dismiss the relative ease of engine tuning/remapping the Turbo models and power gains on offer.

Diesels reward the tuner with ridiculous levels of extra Torque and better economy (especially the CR engines).

The more you start with the bigger the return on investment so engine swaps are good value mods if you have the 1.8 TFsi and want to drop in a 2.0 TFSi block.

Audi A5 Tuning modifications.

Your aim when tuning should be a nice flat torque curve and a wide power band. We would strongly recommend that you start with a Turbo engine, even the Diesel has lots of potential.

Audi A5 Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Derestricting the airflow into the engine is the primary part of tuning so get a better flowing air filter.

Induction kits sound great but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not add noticeable power and actually rob you of power.

Sports exhausts balance the flow of air throughout the engine. But if your exhaust is too large, you will lose a lot of the flow rate and lose power on most engines.

DPF filters are a pain but removal is illegal now in a growing number of countries. The 140 TDI engines without the DPF are in our opinion better when tuned/remapped with a larger turbo than the 170's and give far fewer headaches.

Gas flowing the head will allow you to maximize your air/fuel charge. TorqueCars suggest you leave this to a professional though, with a proper flow bench and machine tools When you start tuning your A5 you will find that the standard clutch starts to complain at around 300bhp so get an uprated clutch if this applies to you.

NA (naturally aspirated) engines do not achieve big power gains if you tune/remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications like cams and head work.

With turbocharged engines (including the diesel) this is another story. A tuned/remapped turbo will give phenomenal power gains and take full advantage of the strength of the block. We have seen power gains of over 50bhp on the A5 from a tune/remap and the standard V6 diesel block can be pushed to around 300bhp without issues.

The diesels will offer up a further 30 - 50 BHP with a tune/remap and still offer loads of Torque and retain a lot of the economy you bought it for!

Larger gains are around if you go with a big turbo conversion. TorqueCars recommend a ball bearing based turbo and if you just want a simple drop in replacement then hybrid turbos are your best option.

Audi A5 Wheel modifications.

It is worth noting that although they can look cool on the A5 big alloys will actually decrease your performance. Firstly they increase your unsprung weight. Also you need to look at the gearing.

The larger you go the lower you top speed will be due to the change in your effective final drive ratio.

Although some people have gone larger we would stick to a lighter 18 inch rim size as the maximum but the 19's do look very nice and will work ok.

If you would like to know more, or just get some friendly advice on Tuning your car please join us in our car forums where you can discuss A5 options in more detail with our A5 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Audi tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification we have outlined in this article.

Please Check out my YouTube channel, we're regularly adding new content...

Click to accept YouTube Cookies & Play.

This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Audi. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

If you liked this page please share it with your friends, drop a link to it in your favourite forum or use the bookmarking options to save it to your social media profile.