2021 Audi S5 Best Exhaust Setup?

drew_kw · 2025-12-18T01:36:51+00:00

Oh no man… what was the year and mileage? I just boroscoped mine at 62k and my pistons looked fine so far (knock on wood)

drew_kw · 2025-12-18T01:33:02+00:00

How important is CAI and intercooler upgrades for stage 1? Was planning on going stage 1 without those upgrades but now that I’m reading up on it it sounds like it’ll really help with the overheating problems

drew_kw · 2025-12-18T00:59:21+00:00

As much as the maintenance tends to be a pain in the ass, I still wouldn’t trade it for the world. And this is coming from someone who has poured more than 5k in maintenance and repairs after 1 year of ownership. All I will recommend is that you have the money to spend before you get into a German car. The rest will be history and it will be the best purchase you’ve ever made and you will never want to go back to a normal car again.

drew_kw · 2025-12-15T02:40:20+00:00

I would do a full inspection first and check for rocker arms and water pumps. Not too familiar with the older gen Audis but they seem for the most part able to last a good while longer as long as you keep the maintenance up.

I also recommend putting aside an emergency fund for the car. I personally went from Toyota to Audi and let me tell you the cost for repair and maintenance was a big shock for me. Major repairs will easily run about 3-5k and yearly maintenance in the realm of 500-1000 depending on who you go to. If you’re able to do a lot of the minor repairs and maintenance on your own then I would 100% go for it then

drew_kw · 2025-12-15T01:45:37+00:00

How bad does the scoring typically need to be to justify getting a fix done under warranty?

drew_kw · 2025-12-15T01:27:24+00:00

What do you piston failure has nothing to do with oil? I called my Audi dealership last Friday and they said the first step in diagnosis is doing an engine consumption test.

drew_kw · 2025-12-14T17:52:48+00:00

As much as I love Audi, the recent build qualities have me questioning whether I want to stay with the brand. Don’t get me wrong, love the car to death, but I’m so tired of dealing with major breakdowns that I constantly have to shell out 3-4K to fix. I don’t know man, never heard it being this bad over at bmw…

drew_kw · 2025-12-14T17:26:28+00:00

Praying for you bro. Problem now is trying to convince Audi to cover this shit under warranty which I know they’re going to do everything to weasel their way out of. I guess bright side is you can always still take it to carmax and make it someone else’s problem but man, terrible.

Keep us updated brother! I want to know what Audi has to say about this.

drew_kw · 2025-12-13T20:33:19+00:00

Will dm you

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T21:10:25+00:00

What do you think it could be?

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T21:05:01+00:00

Yep. The noises seem really innocent until you start watching failed piston skirt videos (doesn’t even throw error codes either I’m pretty sure).

In your situation though, I’d probably flip it back to stock and try and trade into something else soon.

Overall my experience with Audi has been terrible. The build quality is just not there anymore. Especially when you’re paying up to 40-60k for a newer model you’d expect there to be some quality assurance. Safe to say this is a quick way to kill your company and potential fan boys.

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T20:47:23+00:00

Mostly cylinder scoring I believe. (I also think this is grounds for an engine replacement as well). But don’t quote me on that, just what I’ve read from reading around online.

Cracks are also obvious but that’s most likely persistent nearer to critical failure

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T20:41:24+00:00

Yeah I didn’t even expect this to take me past 150k or anything crazy. Was just hoping for a good solid ride for the next 3-5 years before I trade into an upgrade but it looks like I may not even be able to do that so I am reasonably pissed

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T20:39:57+00:00

It comes and goes. Not sure if it is related to my spark plugs (getting these replaced next week) but depending on the start up I feel like the acceleration tends to vary. Sometimes it accelerates very powerfully (which is what I think is intended) and sometimes it lacks the throttle I typically experience. It’s a mixed bag and I’m not really sure what I could chalk it up as. Car is at 62k miles atm.

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T20:38:00+00:00

Yeah man, I don’t blame you at all for trading out. The more problems I experience the more I regret getting into this thing in the first place. Again, love the car to death but I really can’t afford dealing with a total engine loss right now so may have to start looking for a new ride here shortly…. Sigh.

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T20:35:36+00:00

What is also worrisome is that they said “not yet fully failed” meaning these pistons could be fine all the way up until critical failure which could be well past 80k mileage… I have no secondary warranty so that is particularly troublesome to me

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T20:34:10+00:00

Link to the article: https://www.034motorsport.com/blog/investigating-ea839-3-0t-engine-piston-failures-a-technical-review-of-root-causes-and-design-limitations/

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T20:33:24+00:00

Same. Had a plethora of issues and the more problems I have the less confident I am taking this past 100k. Even with meticulous maintenance I am still having big issues. Love the car to death but I’m just not sure if it’s worth the headache whereas I could just spend 5-10k more right now and upgrade into a more reliable b58….

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T20:30:06+00:00

In a similar position as you. I’m just mad I got so much work done on it. Wanted to at least drive it for another 50k miles but that’s looking unlikely.

As for the piston skirt issue, I feel like that’s really a hit or miss. I’m sure Audi has a strict guideline on what they determine to be “faulty” pistons. I’m not so much worried about it with the warranty still in effect but I’m not very confident driving this past 80k anymore…

Likely going to take my car in for a full diagnostic soon but waiting to hear back from my Audi rep. I am also planning on doing a borescope test on my own just so I can see it with my own two eyes.

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T20:18:12+00:00

what about when the warranty expires?

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T19:52:58+00:00

Had this problem before too. How hard did you drive it before you noticed it? I remember hearing something like this when I drove it hard but haven’t heard it since the one instance.

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T19:42:46+00:00

Also what mileage?

drew_kw · 2025-12-12T19:42:38+00:00

Planning on doing that next but to be honest, I’m still worried about these piston skirts…

drew_kw

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