JohnEnglish

The Canadian order guide says this:

3cat

Maybe it's only in the US CCB are not available in the rear? Very strange.

3cat

Although this is true who want's to have different brakes front and rear? If for nothing other than cosmetics it is a horrible idea. Plus in my experience CCBs produce minimal brake dust.

plat27265

I believe this is a mistake on behalf of Audi Canada. I just went to the Audi UK and Audi Germany website and both offer the RS5's Ceramic Brake Option that only includes ceramic brake in front. Front calipers are labelled 'Audi Ceramic'. The rear calipers have RS labelling. Both calipers are colored grey.

Just a side comment on its pricing: Ceramic brake option lists for GBP 6,000 and Euros 6,000 in the UK and Germany, respectively. The Dynamic Plus Pack that includes the Ceramic Brakes as well as Carbon Fiber Engine Cover and other bits for just US$6,000 add-on, which is already a good deal. In Canada, the Carbon Ceramic Brakes are just CAN$6,000 option, even cheaper!

superswiss

That's always been like this. While the RS are becoming more mainstream they are still not volume sellers and will never be. RS basically have always just come in Prestige trim in the US and have had few options. I remember the B7 RS4 had only one option, the premium package, so you either ordered it base or with the premium package. Since then the option list has gotten a bit longer. Also this is the first model year, so the option list tends to be shorter and will get expanded later on. As somebody else mentioned there is always Audi Exclusive. The additional cost of an exclusive interior or paint percentage wise on a $90k car if fully loaded isn't gonna make as much of a difference as on a $50k A5. It's all relative. One way for Audi to keep the prices lower compared to the rest of the world is to minimize the different variations, keeping the production cost down.

As for the ceramic brakes, they don't make ceramics for the rear. Was the same for the last RS5. Some who have retrofitted the ceramic brakes have put on the rear ceramics from the EU S7. They were a direct fit for the rear hub on the previous RS5. Not sure if that's gonna be possible with the new one.

farmerjones

It's ridiculous RS cars don't have more interior color options. I mean come on.....they use the same identical seats from other models, and those models already offer other color choices. The TTS offers 6 different color choices, and is the IDENTICAL seat to the RS5....wouldn't cost them a dime more to offer those choices as well. It's just Audi being lazy, trying to cram all-black interiors onto everyone. Its ridiculous. Look at the leather choices in a BWM M car or and MB AMG.....solids and two tone choices, browns, blacks, greys, reds.....CHOICES!

As for the brakes, you'll note the C-class AMG cars also are carbon on the front only (and receiving a lot of flack). TT RS and RS3 are front-only as well. I'm guessing from a performance stand point, due to weight distribution, ceramic on the back would have little improvement on performance. The problem is perception....it's sounds and looks cheap on what is supposed to be your halo cars.

superswiss

It helps to consult audi.de to see what the master list of options are and see if AoA limits our choices. As far as interior colors go, we get everything there is. Black with red stitching is about the most colorful interior offered for the RS5. While the seats visually look the same they are not. At least in the past the RS seats were firmer than the S seats and I'm guessing that's still the case and different logo, so again the RS not being a volume seller they probably don't want to manage as many seat SKUs.

On the ceramic brakes front, that's also a cost question for the consumer. The front is a $6000 option. The other parts of the Dynamic Plus package are essentially freebies. The ceramic brakes were $6000 last time as well. So adding rears would at least add another $2000 if not $3000 to the price. BMW puts them front and back as far as I know at a whopping cost of $8500. AMG's front only are $5400, so as I said, rears add around another $3000.

farmerjones

[QUOTE=superswiss;25123940]While the seats visually look the same they are not. At least in the past the RS seats were firmer than the S seats and I'm guessing that's still the case and different logo, so again the RS not being a volume seller they probably don't want to manage as many seat SKUs./QUOTE]

Not the case this time.....seat cushion foam part numbers all sub forward to identical number. Other colored leather already exists that fit these seats. But what does it matter?!?!? You really are telling me Audi spends all this money to develop RS models, but then there budget is too LIMITED to offer a few interior colors on the HALO cars?!? Come on.....if Audi is so hard-up for money they can't offer RS buyers a few color choices maybe they should drop the TT, the car that they sell 1000 per year in total and yet manage to offer FIFTEEN different interior seat upholsteries!. 15 different choices.....on the TT!!!!!! And what do we get on the RS?!?!?!? Think about that!!!

It has everting to do about saving money in a lame way and not give customers what they want. I'm sorry, that's just ludicrous. It's lazy and out of of touch with what consumers want, and this is a common problem with Audi and their interior choices....it's echoed in virtually every forum. I literally had to skip buying an S model over the limited interior choices. The last brand I had driven for over a decade a left....because the only interior color choice on my model was all-black. This stuff really matters, but Audi doesn't get it. Look at the competition....they get it, customers want choices.

Rant over.

Chris

My current S4 has magma/black seats. I like how they used to do them with the bolsters, sides, and headrest in black and only the center portion in magma. I think it's too much red now, and am looking for something a bit classier after 8 1/2 years.

I'm quite happy with the options that Audi made available on this iteration of the RS5. Having said that, it would be nice of certain things were available a la carte. For example, I'd like the adaptive cruise control, but I'm not interested in the rest of the DAP. Direct TPMS would be cool, too ... but not bundled with the expensive/generally unnecessary CCBs.

Anyhow, IMHO, I'm looking forward to getting mine.

plat27265

Again, if RS5 buyers want different interior colors other than the standard offering, just go for Audi Exclusive and spare this forum from repeated rants about lacking interior or exterior color choices. If one is wealthy enough to afford an RS5, going AE on the exterior or interior won't matter a whole lot. I agree with Superswiss when he said that Audi is limiting the amount of SKU's for this limited production model to keep the price down so people like you or me (if I were in the market for an RS car) to be able to still afford it. It makes total sense from a production point of view. Like any publicly traded corporation, profits comes first. Now, you may rant and rave about corporate greed all you want but if your butt is on one of the executive seats in a corporation such as the VW Group and the investors are clamoring for profits, I bet you'll be the first one to crack the whip and demand that Audi make a bigger profit next year. Stop thinking about yourself and try to put yourself in the shoes of people trying to run a business.

It is not only car manufacturers that are doing this thing. Take the airlines as another example. Ever wonder why they no longer serve passengers free sandwiches on short to medium haul flights? They no longer even give you a bag of nuts. It's either pretzels or biscuits. You want more, you pay money to get more. More food. More legroom. More seat space.