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- Derek
Last Friday, my friend's new Audi S5 arrived at the dealership, but unfortunately he was busy that day, so he asked me if I can help him out. Being a good friend 
, I told him I will pick it up from the dealership and drive it back to his place. It was a win win situation for both of us. I have driven a few Audi in the past and they were all fairly average, but the A5 was built on Audi's new platform so I was pretty keen to know if the driving experience has been improved.
Driving impression:
Steering
The steering is extremely light at low speed, but you can still feel the connection between the steering and the front wheels. The weight of the steering increases noticeably as the speed rises, which caught me by surprise.
The steering is accurate, and the ratio is just right, it is very easy to place the car at the exact location you want with minimal movement from your hand. I am also impressed by the smoothness of the steering action. There isn't much self centering from the steering so you will have bring the wheel back once you have exit the corner.
Brakes
For once the brakes are not over assisted. The pedal has a tiny amount of dead travel but the brakes are very easy to modulate.
Engine
The engine only has 44 km on it so it is a bit tight and a little reluctant to rev, but this isn't an issue because the engine has a lot of torque at low rpm. I don't need to rev pass 3000 rpm to get the car moving. The V8 rumble is heavenly, you can clearly hear it at idle, and it brings a smile to my face when I give it a bit of throttle. For a sports oriented car, the throttle response isn't as sharp as I expected, perhaps it is a good thing because it makes the daily driving experience a bit more relaxing. Things should improve once the engine is nicely worn in.
I reckon Audi should keep this engine just for the engine note it makes because it really adds to the driving experience.
Ride and handling
The suspension reacts sharply over bumps at low speed, but once you are traveling at medium speed (50km/h and above) the ride is generally comfortable.
I didn't have the chance to push the car, nor did I want to do it in my friend's car. I don't really know how to accurately describe it , but the car felt solid, a bit heavy, at the same time it responded quickly to directional changes. Body roll was kept to minimal at medium speed corners. (I was looking ahead rather than looking at the speedo)
Exterior
I was never really that attracted to the shape of the A5, I am still not convinced by the slightly angular shape of the side window, but what strikes me was how muscular the car looked up close in real life. Audi’s designers really put in some effort into designing the details of the front and rear lights.
On my way back I saw a new E coupe avant gard in black. I gave the driver the thumbs up and he returned the same gesture. The new E coupe managed to look sharp and elegant, I think I prefer the look of it over the S5.
Interior
The first thing I noticed was the nappa leather seats, they are silky smooth with very fine leather texture. The second thing I noticed was the realism of the carbon mesh trim, it is the best imitation carbon fiber trim I have ever seen.
The presentation of the dashboard and the instruments are typically Audi, stylish but understated. The assembly of the interior is faultless. However the same cannot be said for the actual quality of the material. The silver trims around the instruments are painted plastic. The transmission tunnel is covered in solid but hard plastic. The MMI is not as straight forward to use, it will take some time to be accustom to it. The control interface is a button fest and needlessly complicated, you will need to remember the location of the buttons if you want to change some settings quickly. I still think the COMMAND system from Mercedes is easier to use.
Dealership
This dealership is the brand new flagship Audi dealership in Australia, it is suppose to be the largest Audi dealership in the world. So I was expecting the best service possible.
It started off well. They placed the S5 in their simple but elegant delivery room. The walls are white and the floor is covered by matt gray tiles.
The S5 was sitting there by itself like a piece of art work being displayed inside a museum. This is the one and only positive thing I can say about this dealership.
The service and attitude from 'our' salesman was appalling. I have an impression that the guy wanted to rush things through, and didn’t really answer my questions directly. He also forgot about our request for a personalized number plate and offered no help to fix this for us. He also failed to organize the insurance for the car. He did not bother to guide us to the person responsible for organizing the car insurance. So we have to search and asked around before we finally found the person responsible.
This is totally unacceptable, especially from Audi’s flagship dealership in Australia. When someone is spending a reasonable amount of money on a car, you do have a certain level of expectation of the service offered from the dealership. The delivery process for our Mercedes was a lot better, the sales person took care of everything for us and he took is time to answer our questions.
Conclusion:
I am not a big fan of the S5 in the beginning but now I do see the attractiveness of the car. It is fast, fast enough to satisfy your daily need for speed, it is refined, comfortable and its handling ability is good enough to provide the occasional thrill when you are in the mood. If you want something a bit more exotic than a 3 series cope, something faster than a E350 coupe, but aren't prepared to pay for the E500, then the S5 is for you. It is priced pretty much in between the two so I reckon Audi has found itself a nice little market for the S5. Personally, I would have spend the money on the C63 AMG, it doesn't have the attractive 2 door coupe body, but with a 6.2 L 336 Kw V8, I couldn't care less.
, I told him I will pick it up from the dealership and drive it back to his place. It was a win win situation for both of us. I have driven a few Audi in the past and they were all fairly average, but the A5 was built on Audi's new platform so I was pretty keen to know if the driving experience has been improved. Driving impression:
Steering
The steering is extremely light at low speed, but you can still feel the connection between the steering and the front wheels. The weight of the steering increases noticeably as the speed rises, which caught me by surprise.
The steering is accurate, and the ratio is just right, it is very easy to place the car at the exact location you want with minimal movement from your hand. I am also impressed by the smoothness of the steering action. There isn't much self centering from the steering so you will have bring the wheel back once you have exit the corner.
Brakes
For once the brakes are not over assisted. The pedal has a tiny amount of dead travel but the brakes are very easy to modulate.
Engine
The engine only has 44 km on it so it is a bit tight and a little reluctant to rev, but this isn't an issue because the engine has a lot of torque at low rpm. I don't need to rev pass 3000 rpm to get the car moving. The V8 rumble is heavenly, you can clearly hear it at idle, and it brings a smile to my face when I give it a bit of throttle. For a sports oriented car, the throttle response isn't as sharp as I expected, perhaps it is a good thing because it makes the daily driving experience a bit more relaxing. Things should improve once the engine is nicely worn in.
I reckon Audi should keep this engine just for the engine note it makes because it really adds to the driving experience.
Ride and handling
The suspension reacts sharply over bumps at low speed, but once you are traveling at medium speed (50km/h and above) the ride is generally comfortable.
I didn't have the chance to push the car, nor did I want to do it in my friend's car. I don't really know how to accurately describe it , but the car felt solid, a bit heavy, at the same time it responded quickly to directional changes. Body roll was kept to minimal at medium speed corners. (I was looking ahead rather than looking at the speedo)
Exterior
I was never really that attracted to the shape of the A5, I am still not convinced by the slightly angular shape of the side window, but what strikes me was how muscular the car looked up close in real life. Audi’s designers really put in some effort into designing the details of the front and rear lights.
On my way back I saw a new E coupe avant gard in black. I gave the driver the thumbs up and he returned the same gesture. The new E coupe managed to look sharp and elegant, I think I prefer the look of it over the S5.
Interior
The first thing I noticed was the nappa leather seats, they are silky smooth with very fine leather texture. The second thing I noticed was the realism of the carbon mesh trim, it is the best imitation carbon fiber trim I have ever seen.
The presentation of the dashboard and the instruments are typically Audi, stylish but understated. The assembly of the interior is faultless. However the same cannot be said for the actual quality of the material. The silver trims around the instruments are painted plastic. The transmission tunnel is covered in solid but hard plastic. The MMI is not as straight forward to use, it will take some time to be accustom to it. The control interface is a button fest and needlessly complicated, you will need to remember the location of the buttons if you want to change some settings quickly. I still think the COMMAND system from Mercedes is easier to use.
Dealership
This dealership is the brand new flagship Audi dealership in Australia, it is suppose to be the largest Audi dealership in the world. So I was expecting the best service possible.
It started off well. They placed the S5 in their simple but elegant delivery room. The walls are white and the floor is covered by matt gray tiles.
The S5 was sitting there by itself like a piece of art work being displayed inside a museum. This is the one and only positive thing I can say about this dealership.
The service and attitude from 'our' salesman was appalling. I have an impression that the guy wanted to rush things through, and didn’t really answer my questions directly. He also forgot about our request for a personalized number plate and offered no help to fix this for us. He also failed to organize the insurance for the car. He did not bother to guide us to the person responsible for organizing the car insurance. So we have to search and asked around before we finally found the person responsible.
This is totally unacceptable, especially from Audi’s flagship dealership in Australia. When someone is spending a reasonable amount of money on a car, you do have a certain level of expectation of the service offered from the dealership. The delivery process for our Mercedes was a lot better, the sales person took care of everything for us and he took is time to answer our questions.
Conclusion:
I am not a big fan of the S5 in the beginning but now I do see the attractiveness of the car. It is fast, fast enough to satisfy your daily need for speed, it is refined, comfortable and its handling ability is good enough to provide the occasional thrill when you are in the mood. If you want something a bit more exotic than a 3 series cope, something faster than a E350 coupe, but aren't prepared to pay for the E500, then the S5 is for you. It is priced pretty much in between the two so I reckon Audi has found itself a nice little market for the S5. Personally, I would have spend the money on the C63 AMG, it doesn't have the attractive 2 door coupe body, but with a 6.2 L 336 Kw V8, I couldn't care less.
