Re the sidepipes.
Really loud and can set up a cruising resonance that can be tiring. Love them. Total audio holigan. Bigger issue is that they come out directly where you step when enter/exiting the car and they get hot. A couple of pairs of shoes and ankles have been damaged due to them over time !
The 4000~ rpm point where the variocam stuff kicks in the more aggressive profile can be quite fun in the wet. You can feel the additional surge which can break traction.
Comparing the "you asked for it" that the S2 Manual gives me to my previous AMG E63 is chalk and cheese. It had 575nhp but was often slower due to the electric-nanny taking my foot off the accelerator ! When you turned the nanny off the E63 was almost unmanageable due to the turbo induced surge. The power curve of the naturally aspirated V8 in the aero seems so rewarding.
As Peter comments the 4.8 auto in sports mode or manually shifted can give just as much fun when pushed. I nearly always drive it in manual mode to enjoy the higher rev performance.
