Check out the video below.
The Audi S5 is often called the German Mustang, though with the stock exhaust in place, you’d be hard pressed to figure out that it’s a V8 powered musclecar until it has an exhaust (Note: we should mention some S5’s are sixes, just to make things confusing)- something we’d previously remedied with an AWE Tuning Exhaust. This S5 has been to the shop before for a few modifications, but today customer Cesar O. came to see Mod Expert Sean to pick up his eagerly-awaited set of Forgestar Wheels.
Forgestar F14 19×9.5 Gloss Black / Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires / KW V2 Coilovers
As we mentioned before, Cesar’s had the S5 in a few times already, taking care of things like eliminating the excess wheelgap by lowering the S5 Suspension with a set of KW Variant 2 Coilovers for B8 S5.
Forgestar F14 19×9.5 Gloss Black / Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires / KW V2 Coilovers
Here’s a look at the side profile.
It’s been raining in SoCal the past few days, the day of the install included, so unfortunately everything’s a bit dirty. Nevertheless, the oversize AWE Exhaust tips fill out the openings in the valance beautifully for a much more aggressive look than the OEM tips.
Sean had recommended Cesar go with an AWE Tuning Touring Cat-Back Exhaust for V8 S5 for his purposes, optioned with the non-resonated connecting pipes. This exhaust system gives the V8 that musclecar growl you expect a V8 engined car to have, making the character of the car a lot more fun, but with the touring exhaust, it doesn’t take away from the comfortable cruising the car offers. The exhaust yields a tidy 18hp / 12tq gain at the crank, and paired with the AWE Tuning CCB Intake for V8 Audi S5 for another 11hp / 9tq, these AWE upgrades wake the car up a good bit.
A few weeks back, Cesar had ordered a set of Forgestar F14 19×9.5 Wheels for Audi, powdercoated Gloss Black to give his deep blue S5 a more aggressive look than the stock wheels. Since the factory wheels were 19’s and his tires were in great shape, we transferred the Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires onto the Forgestar wheels.
To ensure a smooth ride, we balance every wheel and tire combo that comes into the shop or ships out using a super-accurate, state of the art Hunter Road Force Balancer.
The Road Force Balancer utilizes a hydraulic roller as the wheel spins on the balancer to apply around 1000lbs of force to the tire as it spins, accurately simulating the weight of a car and how the tire deforms under load on a real car rolling down the road. In addition, the machine can also detect if a wheel is out of round and tells the tech exactly what to do to get the wheel perfectly balanced.
As we also mentioned earlier, the ride height on this S5 is lower than stock, having eliminated the excess wheelgap – that’s because we’ve fitted it with a set of KW V2 Coilovers for B8 Audi S5 models to bring down the B8 S5 suspension.
Forgestar F14 19×9.5 Gloss Black / Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires / KW V2 Coilovers
With the Forgestar wheels mounted securely, it was time to take the car outside and check out the end result, but even still on the lift, we can already discern a massive improvement.
Forgestar F14 19×9.5 Gloss Black / Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires / KW V2 Coilovers
The side profile of the car is much more aggressive, the car altogether looks meaner.
Forgestar F14 19×9.5 Gloss Black / Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires / KW V2 Coilovers
The slight concavity of the F14 works well with the S5’s curved sharp lines.
Forgestar F14 19×9.5 Gloss Black / Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires / KW V2 Coilovers
With the addition of the gloss black Forgestar wheels, the S5 looks as good as it sounds. Thanks for joining us, we hope you enjoyed the photos.
If you’d like to learn more about modifying your S5, check out our guide to the Best Mods for B8 Audi S5 here.
Talk our team of Mod Experts like Sean, give us a call at 714-582-3330 (x8009 for Sean), chat live at ModBargains.com or just stop by the ModAuto showroom (which is also our install facility) in La Habra, CA on Lambert Rd at Harbor Blvd Monday thru Saturday, 8am – 5pm PST.
Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next time!
Story & All Original Photos by Nick Gregson