2014 Audi RS5 vs 2014 Mercedes-Benz C63 507 Coupe! - Head 2 Head Ep. 51 - video Dailymotion

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On this episode of Head 2 Head

Transcript

00:00 Hi there, and welcome to a very powerful,

00:02 yet old school episode of Head to Head.

00:05 Now, I say old school because just like Ford and Chevy

00:09 and Dodge were doing in the 60s and 70s,

00:11 the Germans have been locked in an ever escalating

00:14 horsepower war for more than a decade.

00:17 I also say old school because both of these cars

00:20 feature naturally aspirated V8s.

00:23 If you don't know, sadly, naturally aspirated German V8s

00:27 are going the way of the drum brake, the bias ply tire,

00:30 and the manual transmission.

00:31 They're just not long for this world.

00:34 Thankfully, these two cars exist and they're right here.

00:38 On my left, from the fine folks at Mercedes-Benz

00:41 and the horsepower meisters from AMG,

00:44 we have the C63 507 Coupe.

00:47 And on my right, from Audi and those maniacs

00:50 at Quattro GmbH, the RS5.

00:54 Which one of these two hardcore German coupes is best?

00:59 That's what we're gonna find out.

01:01 (upbeat music)

01:03 (dramatic music)

01:08 (car engine revving)

01:12 Before we get started, I want you to know one thing.

01:17 Both of these cars are quicker in a straight line

01:20 than a Shelby Cobra.

01:21 In fact, both cars are quicker than a Porsche 959.

01:25 Using a combination of a fast shifting

01:29 dual clutch transmission and all wheel drive,

01:33 the Audi RS5 is able to hit 60 miles an hour

01:36 in 3.9 seconds.

01:38 It then beats up the quarter mile in 12.3 seconds

01:41 at 112.2 miles per hour.

01:50 The AMG 507 doesn't have any fancy technology,

01:53 it just has one hell of an engine.

01:55 So it can do 60 miles an hour in 3.8 seconds,

02:00 just clipping the Audi.

02:01 It also just catches the Audi in the quarter mile,

02:04 doing it in 12.2 seconds with a much higher

02:07 traffic speed of 117.4 miles an hour.

02:10 The Mercedes also outbrakes the Audi.

02:18 103 feet from 60 miles an hour.

02:20 It's hard to be good at road holding

02:32 when you're as tail happy as the 507 is.

02:35 And as a result, it pulls .91 G on our skid pad.

02:43 The Audi can nearly pull a G, .99 G's on our skid pad.

02:48 And it simply annihilates the figure eight,

02:51 running around it in 24.6 seconds.

02:54 The 507 can run around the motor trend figure eight

02:56 in 25.2 seconds.

02:59 A very good time, though nowhere near as quick as the Audi.

03:02 So, dynamically, the AMG is faster in a straight line

03:05 and brakes a little bit better.

03:07 However, the RS5 can go around corners better

03:09 and pull more G's with those monster wheels and tires.

03:12 However, which one do you want as your fantasy daily driver?

03:17 Let's go find out.

03:18 Because it is raining, and I'm not in the mood to die today,

03:33 I'm not pushing it quite as hard as I might normally

03:36 in dry conditions.

03:37 And so a lot of the understeer that we always

03:40 notice with Audis is absent.

03:42 Now, of course, we figure eighted it,

03:44 and there is plenty of push.

03:45 But right now, it feels pretty good.

03:47 And I think with both these cars,

03:57 you have to start with the looks,

03:59 because they're both kind of like evil, sinister looking,

04:02 mean coupes.

04:03 But as much as I like the way that 507 looks,

04:06 and I dig that kind of '80s graphic stripe down the side,

04:09 and I like the nostrils and the hood

04:11 straight off the black series, the best looking car here

04:14 is the Audi.

04:15 I mean, this thing just looks awesome.

04:18 It also, I'm very happy to report, drives well.

04:21 You know, it is raining, so you'd

04:34 think this is where the Audi shines.

04:37 And it totally does.

04:38 I mean, the all-wheel drive, the quattro system,

04:41 and these massive 21-inch wheels, so much grip.

04:45 It's not even a problem on this.

04:47 Like, you know, this is the first time it's rained in LA,

04:49 and I don't know how long.

04:50 Oil all over the place, no problem.

04:52 Just stick into the road.

04:53 Carlos Lago had an interesting point.

05:02 He was saying, you know, if you just drove around town,

05:05 if you actually never headed up to somewhere like here,

05:08 up in these crazy canyons above LA,

05:10 you would think the Audi RS5 is the greatest car in the world.

05:14 And he's totally right, because if you stay away

05:17 from the quote, unquote, "limit,"

05:18 if you stay away from where this car will go into terminal

05:21 understeer, it's absolutely brilliant.

05:23 What makes this an RS5, we've got those crazy wave pattern

05:27 brakes, which are right off of a MotoGP bike.

05:30 As we saw when we had the RS7 on the track,

05:33 they don't really work as well as advertised.

05:36 Some people think they look cool.

05:37 I think they look like flowers.

05:39 Then you've got the old, venerable German Iron Duke,

05:43 the 4.2 liter V8 lump of an engine,

05:46 which I've been in love with since I first drove it in the RS4.

05:49 Now it's pumping out 450 horsepower.

05:52 Pretty stout.

05:53 Huge red line, like 82.50 is the red line.

05:56 It just loves to scream.

06:01 The final piece of the RS5 puzzle

06:03 is, of course, the seven-speed dual-clutch transmission

06:06 that Audi calls their DSG.

06:09 It is so good.

06:10 As far as street cars go, pure street machines,

06:13 this is about as good as the transmission gets.

06:15 The shifts are instant.

06:17 The programming is totally intuitive.

06:19 Around town, it's an automatic.

06:20 And up here, if I start pulling the paddles,

06:24 it's just-- you have full control.

06:26 And man, I'm telling you, right now, in these conditions,

06:29 wet, rainy, and oily in this car,

06:33 that 507 has its hands full trying to beat it.

06:36 Let's talk about the 6.2 liter V8 under this hood.

06:52 I've dated women that have given me less satisfaction

06:54 than this engine has.

06:59 It is a work of art, a masterpiece.

07:02 I can't believe it's going out of production.

07:04 Sadly, it is.

07:07 Despite the 6.3 badges, this is a 6.2 liter naturally

07:11 aspirated V8, which makes 507 horsepower.

07:15 I mean, love this motor.

07:20 Cannot say enough good things about it.

07:22 Just so quick, so responsive.

07:24 Get on the gas, instant power, so much of it, so much torque.

07:28 Sounds so good.

07:30 I love this motor.

07:32 We should talk about the chassis a little bit.

07:34 I mean, it's so balanced.

07:35 It's so neutral.

07:36 It's pretty stiff.

07:37 It loves to rotate.

07:38 It just loves to dance down the road.

07:40 Oh, the brakes.

07:44 They're actually the exact same brakes off the Black Series,

07:48 the C63 Black, which, a couple of years ago,

07:51 best driver's car.

07:53 We all thought it had the best brakes of any car there.

07:55 And there's that old expression, a car

07:57 is only as good as its brakes.

07:59 Well, this car's really effing good, if that's the case.

08:02 This steering is so much better than the Audi's.

08:08 Audi's totally gets you around corners, not a problem.

08:11 But this car, the steering actually feels good.

08:15 And when you are going to spend close to $100,000

08:19 on a little two-door, you really want steering

08:22 that's going to feel good.

08:23 [ENGINE REVVING]

08:26 The 507 is one hell of a car.

08:32 What I don't love is the transmission.

08:35 [ENGINE REVVING]

08:38 It's kind of the same old AMG story,

08:40 but it's the seven-speed automatic, their MCT,

08:43 their wet clutch.

08:44 They need to replace that.

08:45 And I'm pretty sure they are with the next generation cars.

08:48 But for right now, that's kind of a missing link.

08:51 It's kind of the weak spots.

08:52 It's what's preventing this car from being a real classic.

08:56 Because the 507 is going to go down in history

08:58 as a very special AMG product, except for the transmission.

09:05 Well, friends, I have driven both cars.

09:08 And they're both just--

09:10 wow, I would love to have either one.

09:13 Adding it all up, OK, let's see.

09:15 We got the 507.

09:17 I like the engine a lot better.

09:18 I like the steering wheel a lot better and the steering itself.

09:21 I don't like the transmission as much.

09:24 The Audi has more grip because it's got bigger wheels,

09:26 so it doesn't necessarily ride as well.

09:28 This one drives better, but the Audi has all-wheel drive,

09:31 and I can push it harder in the rain.

09:33 The Audi looks better.

09:35 OK, you add all that up, and the winner of this head-to-head

09:38 is--

09:38 [ENGINE REVVING]

09:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]

09:45 The C63 AMG 507.

09:56 I'm sorry.

09:57 If you can find a better coupe, buy it,

10:00 as Lee Iacocca might have said.

10:02 This thing is just awesome, awesome, awesome.

10:06 And the Audi is only awesome, awesome.

10:08 So this car's definitely the winner.

10:10 [ENGINE REVVING]

10:13 Driven both cars.

10:19 Driven both cars.

10:20 Driven both--

10:21 Driven both--

10:21 Driven both cars.

10:23 Well, friends.

10:26 This one just feels so sexy.

10:28 You know what I mean?

10:29 Snakes down the road, and the Audi's sort of like--

10:32 [GRUNTING]

10:33 --like beats up the road.

10:36 I love this motor.

10:37 Love this motor.

10:38 I love this engine.

10:39 I love this engine.

10:42 I just love this engine.

10:44 [HUMMING]

10:46 So much torque, so much power.

10:49 I just love this engine.

10:51 And the steering wheel feels so good.

10:55 The final piece of the RS5 puddle.

2014 Audi RS5 vs 2014 Mercedes-Benz C63 507 Coupe! - Head 2 Head Ep. 51

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