HemiSam

Very sporty small SUV. Hopefully the 2.5L AWD... HS

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HS One of my favorites... HS

HS A whole lotta win in this thread. Great idea. A little something from down South... HS

That's great, Dreadhead. I suggest you do your best to get the coolant out of the engine bay if the dealership did not. If you let it cool, wet the engine bay with the water hose at the house at lower pressure and apply Simple Green and let it sit a while, you'll be surprised how effective it can be. You can apply pressure with a rag or the like for tough spots if need be...watch the aluminum / metals and paint bits and if you have dark plastic valve cover(s). Once the coolant gets baked on, it's much more difficult to deal with (i.e. polishing compound type hard). Car looks great. Enjoy! HS

It will likely be a loose clamp, a bad thermostat ($20 part) or they overfilled it (unlikely). Can't imagine anything being clogged in a new vehicle. If I were local, I would help you with that short throw install. It is not a big deal. Hopefully they don't charge you more than 2 hours for labor. HS

RIP Keith. The hits just keep coming.... HS

Just be sure that coolant that hit the hot head, etc... is removed...it can stain aluminum and some other bits. They ought to do something nice for you like offer up a few detailing jobs...don't let them off too cheap if you keep it. HS

New car smell on the horizon....congrats! HS

Car looks great IMO. Very nice choice. If you can live with the torque steer, you'll be golden and keep peace at home. Comes in particularly handy during cold nights if I may say so myself... My first new car was a 1993 Ford Probe GT after a couple of years out of grad school. Tons of fun in the 5-speed format once I outfitted it with proper tires. That was my first torque steer experience. HS

RIP Mr. Martin... HS

I've driven in and out of Virginia on many an occasion. Some wonderful curvy roads but the police are ridiculous in their gray Chargers. Really awful and the detector fines add insult to injury... HS

No one knows how you'll use the car but you, Dreadhead. How long is your commute, how low does the RS sit relative to the driveways you'll cover, etc... If the chin spoiler is really low and juts out quite a bit, can you allow for that where you drive it and how you drive? Ingress and egress....basic stuff no one but you can figure. I'm sure you've thought through that stuff. My car is a bit of an extreme example so I'm not a good point to triangulate off of. I had a 2010 Dodge RAM crew cab with the 5.7L HEMI before the jeep as my daily. Great vehicle, especially for towing the hotrod, but that puppy is 19' long. Parking the jeep and hauling butt is soooo much better now. Have to use the wife's sequoia to tow, though...bummer. HS

It's not inexpensive making nice German cars go fast, but I bet your car is a hoot to drive and nice to look at. Your comment about the daily rings true with me, VPI. My hot rod is stupid fast, sits low and has a stiff suspension. Not at all practical for a daily. I got the jeep srt to keep me from going crazy after I holed a motor racing the hot rod and I initially thought about modifying the jeep. That would have been an error as the jeep has made me smile so much more than it would have had I made it faster. It's a hoot and is surprisingly practical as a daily especially with bad weather or roads which we have plenty of. HS

Interesting. I looked up the 2015 (that's what I get for using google...) and that's what I quoted. Audi's 2016 media rag says 4.9, but I expect you're seeing real world based on forum input, etc... which is more realistic. Love that you're putting that down to the rearwheel and getting sub 4's, VPI...bad ass. Quick in anybody's neighborhood. Did you get their with a calibration change or??? HS

4.7 sec's is definitely quick. Looks like the S4 4.9 sec's in the 3.0L trim, yes? AWD...it's a winner anyway you look at it for track times. HS

Ooooooohhhh. I like the white with blackout scheme. Exactly what I have on my jeep. HS

RIP Mr. Frank Currie... Hot rodder and designer / manufacturer of modular rear ends like the Ford 9". Made his mark and lived life well... http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2016/03/08/frank-currie-pioneer-of-the-modular-rear-end-passes-at-age-87/?refer=news HS

RIP, Chu Moy... HS

That's a shame, but I've heard of instances like that (can't say I've heard much about VW's). I believe I heard Audi can be the same, although there is an OEM supported aftermarket tuner. The programming on modern MOPAR's (Chrysler vehicles) became quite challenged since Daimler purchased and later sold Chrysler. Tuning on Fords and Chevy's is open platform for all practical purposes. You need a $10K piece of software and some serious knowhow to program the modern MOPAR's these days. HS

An aftermarket tune (aka calibration) can help with lag (i.e. fuel and timing curves that get the snail(s) spooling more quickly). Some brands are a bear to tune and some less so, but the aftermarket is generally pretty crafty. Voiding the warranty can be an issue so often folks will return the tunes to normal prior to returning to the dealership for maintenance and warranty work and often to pass emissions testing. HS

Coming from a guy that modifies his vehicles, the one thing I've learned is it is worth going with the higher end model than going with the lesser version (especially if brake and suspension upgrades and power and related technology are meaningful vs some sort of glamor package). This is in the context of someone that's looking to put the goodies to work. You end up nickel and diming yourself well past what you would have paid and often can void a warranty doing it otherwise. Further, the OEM upgrades have more engineering to them than what is done aftermarket more often than not. That's been my experience... HS

Sweet! If the looks of the STI work for you (the wing tends to be the challenge for many), I think it's a great choice. You can hurt some feelings with one on the twisties. HS

Salesmen at dealerships by and far do suck. I only deal with their "internet managers". No BS. The price is the price. Some folks used to refer to them as their "fleet managers". Alternatively, you seek out bids via a site like Edmonds (used to be easier to use)...and I never give them my phone number. Simply bids via email. HS