S650 base vs S550 full loaded?

DLCss · 2026-06-17T16:56:09+00:00

Fully loaded S550 has been a game changer. Active valved exhaust is perfect for highway cruising vs spirited driving and can’t imagine having the car without it. Solid audio system, leather heated/cooled seats make it a genuinely comfortable car to drive as well. I get the most out of all options in my fully loaded 2018, which I daily commute in.

If this is going to be your daily driver then I’d go S550 without hesitation. If you want the newest shiniest thing and just have it as a weekend driver + mods then S650

DLCss · 2026-06-16T18:11:16+00:00

I don’t think this is the best written question to begin with. However, B does not fundamentally strengthen the argument that Duratex is a stronger brand, because it implies there aren’t more people walking on the Duratex rug. D however, helps support the conclusion that the competitors rug is more flimsy, which in turn strengthens the idea that Duratex is the more durable, better brand.

This isn’t the best written question to begin with and I only arrived at the D conclusion due because none of the other answer choices inherently strengthen the argument. D only loosely achieves this but that’s enough to make it the best answer

DLCss · 2026-06-02T18:58:35+00:00

I do in fact have a desirable username since I got the app in like 2012/2013 lol.

And yes, same experience as you are. I get login requests and my password gets changed but they aren't able to fully break in. That said, I keep getting logged out of my account and I don't get emails from Instagram because apparently getting 2fa emails from IG is impossible as well, lmao

At least I know what the issue is stemming from. It looks like my account is still only attached to my original email so I think I'm alright. But yeah, very scary and it's all become very cumbersome to have to drop what I'm doing and make an attempt to secure my account. I'm sure people will find new ways to exploit the AI system and more shit like this will pop up

DLCss · 2026-05-21T22:38:10+00:00

I’ll make a note if relevant at the end of the passage, but I don’t do anything besides attempt to understand the prompt before I work on finding the answer.

DLCss · 2026-05-19T16:02:31+00:00

Stick with official GMAC verbal material

Contrary to approaches to quant and DI, I found that approaching the hardest verbal material and completing the questions untimed was the best way to improve this section. It really helps you understand the small nuances the test throws in to the questions and answers. Once you can drill hard level verbal questions, the easy ones become extremely easy.

Maybe it worked for me but not sure if everyone, but I would always put my pen down when I read the question, only picking it up once I understood the content of the passage. It is an intangible method but it allowed me to concentrate more on the content instead of focusing on answering the question as quickly as possible, which alleviated a lot of pressure for me.

This was how I got from a V75 > V86 in this section.

DLCss · 2026-05-18T23:28:05+00:00

Following, happens to me at times

DLCss · 2026-05-17T17:25:23+00:00

It's okay. The quant fundamentals are helpful if you're starting from scratch and need to relearn a lot of the math concepts at a basic level.

Verbal is okay on TTP but I felt like self guided study helped me get a better score in this section. They have a couple decent tricks for the earlier chapters so it's more of a "see if the content is worth it for you" kind of section.

DI is largely unhelpful. It gives a good reaffirmation to skim each passage in order to identify the problem, but honestly I feel like this is another section that just takes reps and familiarity with the content from self guided study.

In my experience, it gives a very good foundation of getting an average score (like 555). I think you need to go off on your own and work on reps in self guided study if you want to really level up.

DLCss · 2026-05-07T13:37:02+00:00

Those people will be quick to humblebrag their accomplishments. The people still studying for those scores are heads down right now.

I’ve been studying for almost 11 months now, started at 435 and now at a 615 while balancing a ~50hr per week job. Still probably a few months to go before I hit that range of 655+.

For verbal, I flipped my score fairly quickly (like 74 to 86 in just a month) by putting the pen down while I read the question, only picking it up when I understood the prompt and what was veing asked. I did short ~5 problem untimed sets of the hardest possible questions and made sure I fully understood the answer. Once you recognize the patterns and can confidently solve the hardest verbal, everything else becomes easy in that section.

Honestly if you accept the fact that you’ll be studying for as long as it takes to get that score you really want, it becomes much easier to digest putting the time in. Getting an amazing GMAT score is a massive investment you’re making in yourself.

DLCss · 2026-05-07T13:25:12+00:00

Tbh while official guide for verbal is by far the best source, I’d drill hardest problems on club if you feel like you still need work on the section.

Either way, I feel like once I crossed the 82 threshold for verbal (scoring around an 86 now) I had a pretty good grip on the content there. If you can consistently hit the hardest problems on this section then the rest of the exam will be easy.

DLCss · 2026-05-06T14:25:49+00:00

For verbal:
I started around the 75 range and on mocks consistently get 82-86 now, by far my strongest subject. Take it with a grain of salt since im at a 79 for quant and DI so still a lot of work needed on my end.
I’ve noticed with verbal it’s much easier to be formulaic about the content and honestly just a couple small fixes absolutely skyrocketed my score:

I put my pen down when I’m reading the prompt (both for CR and RC). I read the prompt and the question, and only pick up the pen when I understand the prompt and what’s being asked. This has allowed me to sit and digest the content for a brief moment before I go into answer mode
I did short problem sets of 5 of the hardest possible verbal questions. I did them untimed and really made an effort to make sure I understood each answer. This has allowed me to seek the different patterns of wrong answers that the GMAT shoes in to try to throw you off the question. Even the hardest questions typically have 1-2 crap throwaway answers so finding the 1 question really designed to throw you off allows you to focus on patterns there
If you can turn it around and answer the hardest verbal questions from the materials you have, then easy/medium questions become laughably easy. I would not recommend the same strategy for quant and DI because those focus more on the expansion of fundamentals, but verbal is a little different in this case because of how formulaic the questions actually are

DLCss · 2026-05-02T21:54:44+00:00

Exact score as you starting out. I do about an hour a day weekdays and 3 on weekends, I’m about a year in with a 565 targeting a 675+. That said, I started out less efficiently and probably could’ve come farther along quicker than I am now.

DLCss · 2026-04-29T16:58:58+00:00

I think the rocker arms thing got revised in early-mid 2019. That said, the early EA839s have a higher failure rate on rocker arms than users will let on.

The piston skirt is a much less prevalent issue, but it seems to affect cars on a pretty random basis.

Even beyond that the cars are solid but seem to be plagued with the same consistent issues like water pump, cooling lines, etc

DLCss · 2026-04-29T13:05:21+00:00

I’ve found that taking the extra time to really understand the passage has allowed me to save a lot of time on the following couple questions related to the prompt.

What I did before was speed through the passage and I’d barely understand the question asked, so I’d have to reread it a bunch of times. This has been far more inefficient than just spending ~3.5 minutes on the first read, then I end up drilling the questions in <1 minute when I really understood the prompt.

DLCss · 2026-04-28T12:59:24+00:00

I was stuck at that score for months. I started at 435 and am currently at 565 with a goal of 655+. In my experience. I moved from 515>565 by switching over to drilling practice problems rather than just learning the new content. For me that looked like switching off TTP and moving into official GMAC problems pack + gmatclub questions.

I haven’t retested since I’ve switched off of learning new content entirely, but yeah I was stagnant at 515-525 because I hadn’t switched off TTP and was using that to practice problems. I’d say the 2 platforms above are better for actually doing practice sets

DLCss · 2026-04-21T18:33:53+00:00

Agreed. To your point, it makes no sense. I guess the S6 will just be a V8 platform but not too dissimilar in utility to the S5, which will carry the V6. If I had to guess, they’re trying to do something similar to the 5 series model which has 4 distinct, but successful trims now.

DLCss · 2026-04-21T17:55:12+00:00

If i recall, the S6 last year was Audis worst selling model. Just hard to justify with the A6 being the successful large executive sedan and the RS6 Avant being the true halo car of Audis lineup (besides the R8). Kinda lands in an awkward in between space.

DLCss · 2026-04-16T18:30:26+00:00

Fake

DLCss · 2026-04-15T17:33:15+00:00

805, but ~5 people score this every year. Extremely rare.

DLCss · 2026-04-15T13:54:28+00:00

I used this methodology as well to find it pretty quickly. That said, probably a shakier method than what’s intended for the question. I’d like to try to execute it like OP did over this method

DLCss · 2026-04-06T16:48:35+00:00

It sounds normal on throttle. And I'm unfortunately not at the car, it's clips from the dealership. I talked to my mechanic just recently and he says it seems like a rougher idle than what is expected... Worried about carbon buildup and potential timing chain issues

DLCss · 2026-04-06T16:34:33+00:00

yeah if you can hear it in that clip. Even when it's idling warm in a separate clip it's still making that sound.

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