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      05-21-2020, 12:29 PM   #1
astefanidis1
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M550 Underperforming?

Hey guys! Just wanted to open something up for discussion and see if anyone might be able to help me understand this better.

2016 Audi RS7
560 HP
516 TQ
4453 Pounds
1/4 Mile 11.6 @ 120 MPH

2020 BMW M550i xDrive
523 HP
553 TQ
4372 Pounds
1/4 Mile 12.3 @ 115 MPH

The BMW has 37 less horsepower, 37 more torque, weighs almost one hundred pounds less, but has a significantly slower 1/4 mile time and trap speed.

Now if you look at an M5 Competition Package, torque is the same, weight roughly the same, horsepower almost 100 more, but the results are out of this world.

Is it really the transmission? They're all AWD so its not like wheelspin is the issue or anything. Aerodynamics are fairly equal id say. I just don't get how the difference in 1/4 mile results can be that drastic.

With the potent engine the 2020 M550 has, I would expect a quarter mile of 11.5ish, trap speed 119ish. Is the transmission the reason for the big difference?

Genuinely asking, not trying to start any arguments lol. I love all of these cars, just want to understand this better.

Theoretically, if you dropped the M5's transmission into an M550, would that M550 perform roughly the same as the RS7?

Or is it something else entirely thats causing the poorer than expected results.

Thanks!
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      05-21-2020, 01:13 PM   #2
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The M550 is not designed to be a direct competitor to the RS7. Or, put differently, the RS7 is designed as a competitor to the M5 and the M8.

My guess, and it is only that, is that there are gearing differences in the transmission and the differential.
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      05-21-2020, 01:18 PM   #3
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where do those figures come from by the way, I thought most magazine didn't bother to re do test for the 2020 550
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      05-21-2020, 02:15 PM   #4
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Those are the 2018-2019 m550i times. The 2020 is faster for sure.
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      05-21-2020, 11:10 PM   #5
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It's actually the other way round. A user recently did a couple dragy runs for 1/4 mile and the 2020 ran 11.46 @ 121. Lower power and killing the rs7, not bad. And yes, the 12.3 is a stock 18 car, even though my stock car did 11.9 @ 116

Here's the link to the 2020 M550i dragy runs
https://g30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1712248
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      05-22-2020, 08:28 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by budjames View Post
Just wait until you have to replace the rotors and brake pads on the Audi RS7 and get a bill for $4,500! Hopefully, the same on an M550i is less costly.

Regards,
Bud James
The very reason I sold my e63. Brakes/rotors and tires were ridiculous.
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      05-22-2020, 03:15 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by astefanidis1 View Post
Hey guys! Just wanted to open something up for discussion and see if anyone might be able to help me understand this better.

2016 Audi RS7
560 HP
516 TQ
4453 Pounds
1/4 Mile 11.6 @ 120 MPH

2020 BMW M550i xDrive
523 HP
553 TQ
4372 Pounds
1/4 Mile 12.3 @ 115 MPH

The BMW has 37 less horsepower, 37 more torque, weighs almost one hundred pounds less, but has a significantly slower 1/4 mile time and trap speed.

Now if you look at an M5 Competition Package, torque is the same, weight roughly the same, horsepower almost 100 more, but the results are out of this world.

Is it really the transmission? They're all AWD so its not like wheelspin is the issue or anything. Aerodynamics are fairly equal id say. I just don't get how the difference in 1/4 mile results can be that drastic.

With the potent engine the 2020 M550 has, I would expect a quarter mile of 11.5ish, trap speed 119ish. Is the transmission the reason for the big difference?

Genuinely asking, not trying to start any arguments lol. I love all of these cars, just want to understand this better.

Theoretically, if you dropped the M5's transmission into an M550, would that M550 perform roughly the same as the RS7?

Or is it something else entirely thats causing the poorer than expected results.

Thanks!
Pie in the sky type of arguments.
Not much into paper stats and brogadoccio numbers.

Ultimately to me is how a car feels to me down in the seat.
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      05-24-2020, 03:53 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SteveinArizona View Post
The M550 is not designed to be a direct competitor to the RS7. Or, put differently, the RS7 is designed as a competitor to the M5 and the M8.

My guess, and it is only that, is that there are gearing differences in the transmission and the differential.
Yeah I know, M550 technically would be a competitor with an Audi S6 or like a Merc E53. So I understand that purpose wise, the M550 shouldn't even be compared to an RS7 because they're in different leagues. But what doesn't make sense to me is that, even though they're on different "levels", the 2020 M550 has the HP, Torque, and Weight similar to an RS7. So in a drag race (theoretically, same conditions and drivers etc) they should be fairly close, but the 1/4 mile results I found tell a different story
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      05-24-2020, 03:54 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clee1982 View Post
where do those figures come from by the way, I thought most magazine didn't bother to re do test for the 2020 550
I believe I found them from Car and Driver? Not positive, ill have to look it up again and see. The RS7's i found from various sources since its old enough to have been plenty documented
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      05-24-2020, 03:55 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Superjackson View Post
Those are the 2018-2019 m550i times. The 2020 is faster for sure.
OHHHH... oh. I'm an idiot 😂 didn't even realize I found times for a 2019 instead of 2020, and that there was such a power increase for the 2020 model
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      05-24-2020, 03:56 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheharyar_rr View Post
It's actually the other way round. A user recently did a couple dragy runs for 1/4 mile and the 2020 ran 11.46 @ 121. Lower power and killing the rs7, not bad. And yes, the 12.3 is a stock 18 car, even though my stock car did 11.9 @ 116

Here's the link to the 2020 M550i dragy runs
https://g30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1712248
Holy s#$! 11.46 @ 121?! See, that makes wayyyy more sense than 12.3 @ 115. I knew 12.3 didn't make any sense haha. I didn't realize those stats were for the 2019 model. Well I did but I think I thought that the hp and tq was the same for previous years, not much less than they are now. Wow 11.46 @ 121 is very impressive!
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      05-24-2020, 03:57 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by budjames View Post
Just wait until you have to replace the rotors and brake pads on the Audi RS7 and get a bill for $4,500! Hopefully, the same on an M550i is less costly.

Regards,
Bud James
hahahaha true!
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      05-24-2020, 04:00 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 530iDriver View Post
Pie in the sky type of arguments.
Not much into paper stats and brogadoccio numbers.

Ultimately to me is how a car feels to me down in the seat.
Oh trust me I agree with you, I'm way more into the feel of the drive rather than what numbers it actually is putting down. In that sense, I honestly don't even care what the M550 would run at a drag strip. The reason I made this post was honestly just because I was so confused, mathematically speaking, 12.3 @ 115 mph from a brand new all wheel drive BMW with that much horsepower, torque, and that weight, just didn't add up. Like not even close. So I wanted to see what others thought about it, and now I know I was looking at the 2019 model's performance results, and that the 2020 would be much faster, right around where I'd expect them to be
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      05-24-2020, 04:01 PM   #14
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Looks like I'm going to have to take a trip to my local drag strip once all this coronavirus stuff ends so I can see the results with my own eyes 😉
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      05-29-2020, 09:36 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by astefanidis1 View Post
Looks like I'm going to have to take a trip to my local drag strip once all this coronavirus stuff ends so I can see the results with my own eyes 😉
The quoted post from @Sheharyar_rr w the 11.46@121 was my car,trust me when I say the '20 M550 is a beast.

Food for thought,you can't really trust magazine 1/4mi #'s as they don't post track conditions,weather conditions,track altitude,DA,etc which all play a major role. Back in '07 when Mercedes replaced the monster W211 E55 AMG(S/C) w the W211 E63 AMG(N/A) the forums where blasting the underwhelming 1/4mi numbers of the E63 saying it was a failure and a step backwards from the E55. Magazines were printing 1/4mi times from 12.3-12.6 for the E63.

I had to replace my '05 E55(drunk driver hit my wife at a red light and totaled it) w a new '07 E63. First thing I did after break-in was run it at a private track rental. Boom. 11.95@118. 100% stock. Multiple 11.9X@117-118mph all day. I think I was responsible for a spike in E63 sales immediately afterwards once I posted vids/slips on the forums that evening lol.
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      05-30-2020, 10:51 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldgixxer View Post
The quoted post from @Sheharyar_rr w the 11.46@121 was my car,trust me when I say the '20 M550 is a beast.

Food for thought,you can't really trust magazine 1/4mi #'s as they don't post track conditions,weather conditions,track altitude,DA,etc which all play a major role. Back in '07 when Mercedes replaced the monster W211 E55 AMG(S/C) w the W211 E63 AMG(N/A) the forums where blasting the underwhelming 1/4mi numbers of the E63 saying it was a failure and a step backwards from the E55. Magazines were printing 1/4mi times from 12.3-12.6 for the E63.

I had to replace my '05 E55(drunk driver hit my wife at a red light and totaled it) w a new '07 E63. First thing I did after break-in was run it at a private track rental. Boom. 11.95@118. 100% stock. Multiple 11.9X@117-118mph all day. I think I was responsible for a spike in E63 sales immediately afterwards once I posted vids/slips on the forums that evening lol.
Wow thats crazy!

Honestly I trust you, and i hope its true. The 2020 M550 we have is my parents car, and so I want to take it to the drag strip on a good day someday and test it out.

I actually just today got to experience a ride in a 2016 audi rs7 for the first time ever, and... I'm so confused.

The 2020 M550i feels fast. Really fast. And it definitely is fast theres no debating that.

But the 2016 RS7, idk. It just feels so much faster.

Hp and torque and weight between the two cars are almost identical. Both are all wheel drive and similar cars in size and stuff. But, the audi feels so much faster (straight line performance im talking about). How can that be?

Like if no one told me any performance numbers or anything, and I had to guess a 1/4 mile time from just the gut feeling of riding in these two cars, I'd guess 11.5ish for the audi and 12.0ish for the BMW. The fact that the BMW runs 11.46 @ 121 mph makes sense on paper when you consider the hp and torque and weight etc. But the feeling, idk. 11.46 is FAST. The rs7 feels FAST. The m550 feels fast. I know I sound like an idiot right now haha but hopefully you know what I mean.

I cant wait to take both my buddies rs7 and my parents m550 to the strip and run them to see how it goes. I'll post a link here when I do!
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      06-01-2020, 02:51 PM   #17
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The gearing could make a difference. Compared to other cars, the M550i has very tall gearing. I'd have to do the full calcs on the RS7 but it very well could have shorter gearing and feel faster. Or it could simply be a flat, rising torque curve of the M550i vs a possible peaky one in the RS7. An abrupt increase in torque can make a car feel faster than a smooth torque increase.

EDIT: I confirmed by checking specs, The RS7 has shorter gearing in all gears except 2nd.
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      06-03-2020, 08:17 PM   #18
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M550i = S6
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      06-03-2020, 11:30 PM   #19
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The previous gen RS7 does 0-60 in 3.2 and 11.3@125 according to C&D which does post faster times but this car is fast regardless.

Definitely faster than the 2020 M550i so it makes sense as to why it felt faster...because it is.

The 2020 M550i however will have no issues even with the newest gen S6, heck I'm even sure a stock 18/19 M550i can beat the new S6.

Audi is really toothless unless it's the RS model imo.
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      07-17-2021, 07:13 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by astefanidis1 View Post
Hey guys! Just wanted to open something up for discussion and see if anyone might be able to help me understand this better.

2016 Audi RS7
560 HP
516 TQ
4453 Pounds
1/4 Mile 11.6 @ 120 MPH

2020 BMW M550i xDrive
523 HP
553 TQ
4372 Pounds
1/4 Mile 12.3 @ 115 MPH

The BMW has 37 less horsepower, 37 more torque, weighs almost one hundred pounds less, but has a significantly slower 1/4 mile time and trap speed.

Now if you look at an M5 Competition Package, torque is the same, weight roughly the same, horsepower almost 100 more, but the results are out of this world.

Is it really the transmission? They're all AWD so its not like wheelspin is the issue or anything. Aerodynamics are fairly equal id say. I just don't get how the difference in 1/4 mile results can be that drastic.

With the potent engine the 2020 M550 has, I would expect a quarter mile of 11.5ish, trap speed 119ish. Is the transmission the reason for the big difference?

Genuinely asking, not trying to start any arguments lol. I love all of these cars, just want to understand this better.

Theoretically, if you dropped the M5's transmission into an M550, would that M550 perform roughly the same as the RS7?

Or is it something else entirely thats causing the poorer than expected results.

Thanks!
I have a 2020 m550i and I actually just raced a new rs7 on the highway the other day and we were side by side. The 100-200kmh are the same from what I’ve read online but I’ve also seen car wow do 11.7 1/4 12.3 seems like a bad run
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      07-17-2021, 09:37 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sreinhardt9 View Post
I have a 2020 m550i and I actually just raced a new rs7 on the highway the other day and we were side by side. The 100-200kmh are the same from what I’ve read online but I’ve also seen car wow do 11.7 1/4 12.3 seems like a bad run
Those weren’t 2020 numbers, at that point they did not test the 2020 and those are just the 18/19 numbers.
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