The new Audi S5 Coupe. Come on now, get excited. It’s got a
turbocharged V6, all-wheel drive, eight gears and 349bhp. It’ll do 0-62mph
in 4.7 seconds. That’s about what a Ferrari F355 takes to do the same dash, if
you’re fond of duffing up old supercars.
How would I ever tell this is an Audi S5?
Versus a regular
A5? Four exhaust pipes, two silver door mirrors, and that full-width grille
section in the bumper. Forgot the badges. All the cool people spec the car
without those…
Inside, you get S-spec seats, which are usefully
comfortable, supportive, and adjustable (we still want to sit lower though,
please Audi), and a more dished steering wheel. Spec the Virtual Cockpit screen
and you can configure a central rev counter and feel like an R8 driver. Until
you start driving, at least.
You really liked the S4. Do you like the S5?
Since you mention the Audi S4, it’s worth hinging this review around what the S5
does better or worse than its four-door mate. First off, you can feel the
centre of gravity is lower in fast direction changes. The S4’s good at that
stuff – it’s just that the lower, lighter S5 (60kg lighter than the old car, of
which 14kg has come from the new engine) is a mite more agile.
On the other hand, from memory the S4 felt more rear-driven.
Audi specs its test cars with the optional sport differential, which actively
chucks more torque at the outside rear wheel when cornering (the everyday split
is 40% to the front, 60% to the rear), and in the S4, I really sensed it
working its magic, giving the car a really neutral feel as it hunkered down and
powered away from bends.
The S5 doesn’t do that so much. Perhaps it’s the slightly
less rearward weight distribution, or perhaps it found more purchase on soaking
Portuguese roads than the S4 did on soaked German ones. But it wasn’t as
playful, and getting more optimistic with the entry speed just invokes
uber understeer.
That’s strange…
You’d imagine it’d be the other way around, wouldn’t you?
The two-door is the sporty one, and the saloon (and infinitely cooler
wagon- sorry, Avant), is more sensible. But not on this first impression,
at least.
The powertrain’s seriously effective, but perhaps so smooth
as to be a bit unmemorable. You’ve got to appreciate how accessible, how
plug-in-and-play Audi has made 350bhp, in all weathers, on all roads, but it’s
at the expense of any real excitement in flipping the paddles or revving out
the V6. An AMG C43 has a fizzier, more characterful motor – and a slightly less
clever automatic gearbox.
Nope, the Benz is a lot firmer when you dial up the
suspension, and generally louder. It’s bigger inside and has inferior
materials, should that matter to you.
It feels like Audi has deliberately upped the S5’s GT
credentials (it’s very quiet, very supple, and just plain easy – plain, even –
to drive) and rowed back its aggression. Which makes sense, given that the new
RS5 will replace its singing V8 with another turbocharged V6, and it’d be
terribly awkward if it were outshone by its cheaper twin…
source: http://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/a5/first-drive-0
by Ollie Kew
htttp://www.boscheuropean.com
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