RS6 Avant Shootout
RKM Motorsports vs
Lion's Den Performance
(A repost of a review I did in the RKM thread)
The Audi RS6 Avant
Fresh out of the Dealer: 554 HP, 2025 kg, 514 PP, Sports Hard Tires
(one run done with each car to ensure even break-in)
Best Lap Time: 1:39.250
Thoughts: With over 500 HP, the RS6 Avant is no slouch on the straights. However, with the mass of a small elephant, the big problems show up any time the track bends. It takes about a day and a half to slow down for a corner, and by time you get there, the tires are red and smoking. Corner speed is about as bad as one would expect. It is very stable on the gas, which is a combination of a high gearbox and enough weight to firmly plant the tires into the asphalt.
Notes before hitting the track: Both tuners went with a nearly full modification on their cars, leaving them equal in both power and weight, with both shops tuning for Sports Soft tires. However, both tuners chose to leave out a piece that make the cars very different. Rotary Junkie from RKM went with the stock transmission, while Lion's Den's Dragonistic left off the ugly but effective aerodynamic parts. The tuners seem to have gone in completely different directions to make this car go fast, with vastly different setups on the LSD, as well as in toe & camber. Both of these cars were among these two tune shop's early GT5 releases.
Ikeamobile from RKM Motorsports
Final after test completed: HP: 935 Wt: 1524 PP: 623
RS 6X Predator Edition from Lion's Den Performance
Final after test completed: HP: 935 Wt: 1524 PP: 615
5 lap first impression:
Ikeamobile Best Lap Time: 1:30.886
Thoughts: The RKM model had the disadvantage of going first in my test. Usually, that doesn't have too much of an effect, but this car takes so long to decellerate for a corner, I found myself losing a lot of time trying to figure out a good brake marker on the track. The cornering is fairly solid for a vehicle this heavy, and this car has plenty of power. At first run, I would say the glaring weakness is on braking and corner entry.
RS 6X Predator Edition Best Lap Time: 1:29.888
Thoughts: Thanks to the RKM test, I had a pretty good feel for my brake markers for this car, and that helped a lot. Braking is still a major weakness, obviously, you can't tune out the effect of high speed + heavy car. This car felt a little looser on corner exits, and almost acting like a FR car rather than a AWD platform. Hard throttle would get the back tires to spin a bit and almost put the car into a drift, and 2nd gear is to be avoided in pretty much any corner.
After a few more races:
Ikeamobile Best Lap Time: 1:28.907
RS 6X Predator Edition Best Lap Time: 1:28.628
Comparison:
Braking: Both cars were fairly even on braking. They both took forever to slow down thanks to the cars weight, and both liked to slide if pushed too deep. The Ikeamobile would have the edge in that the car seemed to recover better from the slide, thanks to a little more pull from the front tires.
Speed: Again, both cars were pretty even here. 2nd gear was fairly useless for either car, given that the torque and hp would easily spin the tires. Thankfully, the power-band is pretty wide, so 3rd gear had plenty of pull coming out of the 50-60 MpH corners.
Low-speed cornering: The Ikeamobile gets the edge here over the Predator. Driving these two tunes was like driving two different cars. The 4WD action of the Ikeamobile pulled the car out of the slow turns with the minimum of slip, while the Predator like to spin the rear tires and get the back end out. Although usually controllable, time and speed were lost on the exit. Mid-corner speeds were pretty similar for both cars.
High-speed cornering: LDP gets the advantage in high-speed corners for almost the same reason it loses in low-speed corners. The RKM tune had a bit of 4WD understeer on the fast turns, and slow transitions at speed, while the Predator pushed through the high speed turns a little faster, and seemed a bit more responsive on transitions.
Overall: LDP has put together a slightly faster car, with a price. It is a bit more difficult to handle, as it feels halfway between a 4WD and RWD, and as such, is difficult to be consistent. The line between fast and dirt is a pretty fine one in this car. The RKM tune is consistant, and easier to avoid mistakes in, but a bit slower overall.
It's interesting that these tunes make the car feel completely different, but my lap times in both were so close, it's hard for me to appoint a winner. If I had to choose a car for a fast, flat course, I'd take the Predator. For a course with more elevation changes and low-speed turns, I'll stick with the more stable Ikeamobile.
) and to have dampers as soft as possible.
Although yeah, it is annoying to start from scratch again with your drag settings. 
, gave me alot of victories on the ring online...
