2008 Audi S5 Reviews

The S4 and S5 line-up is arguably the sweetest balance between serious performance and everyday comfort Audi produces, and all five bodystyles have been treated to an update for 2021.

When you think 'family car', a hot red convertible is not the first thing that comes to mind.

A four-seat convertible isn't the obvious first choice when it comes to appropriate family cars. But when that drop-top is as fast and fun as Audi's S5 Cabriolet, we're willing to give it a try anyway

Turning a purpose-built sedan or coupe into a cabriolet can be as risky as turning yourself into a headless human, so has Audi achieved enough reward for the risk? And is it worth the extra cash?

Many is the time a hot hatch full of yoofs has rolled up beside what they thought was Audi's pretty-but-slow 1.8-litre CVT equipped A5 Sportback, thinking they had the traffic light race won.

Family cars are designed to handle all the boring but important stuff. They’re safe, reliable and practical enough to ferry the family. But wouldn't it be nice if they were fun, too?

It's hard to imagine a better place to enjoy the hard-charging antics of Audi's stunning S5 Coupe than the sublime twists and turns of Tasmania's perfect blacktop... and we went there to do just that.

Arguably the best looker in Audi's inventory, the S5 Coupe is a bit of a sleeper in the range because there's such a wide choice of appealing models. There's also the question of the price at $135,900 plus options that could add a lot more to the bottom line.The S5 Coupe is one of about 15 A5 variants that include a bunch of four door sportbacks (four door coupes), cabriolets and two door coupes. Audi doesn't really have a direct competitor for its `5' range of cars and they are carving a tidy niche with buyers wanting more style than the average Audi.That's a big ask but well addressed in this athletic and swoopy looking two door with the best front daytime running lights and possibly the best frontal look in the business.UNDER THE BONNETIt has recently scored the generic 3.0-litre, supercharged, petrol V6 engine featured in a number of other Audis and also gains a seven speed, dual clutch, S-tronic manumatic transmission.The direct injection engine passes EU5 emissions regs and is good for 245kW/440Nm output while sipping fuel at an impressively low 8.1-litres/100km. That's despite being capable of putting away a 0-100kmh sprint in 5.8 seconds.Power goes to all four wheels via Audi's quattro drive and it rolls on meaty 18-inch rubber with chunky five spoke alloys. Regenerative braking aids engine efficiency as does switchable engine stop/start which we found a little tardy on the start-up.INSIDEThe car is superbly equipped and beautifully styled inside complete with multiple fascia materials and two tone Nappa leather sports seats. The audio is brilliant and the multi media interface system with navigation is handy and easy to use.Drive select offers a number of dynamic choices including comfort, auto and...dynamic. It has a push button start with proximity key and a driver information system.ON THE ROADPerformance is never lacking thanks to the torquey V6 capably harnessed by that slick- shifting dual-clutch transmission. It has a delightful exhaust pop on upchanges and fairly hammers off the line right up to high speed. Mid range roll on is strident and it even sounds good for a V6. We set the Drive Select to auto which covered all bases. A stint in Dynamic proved wearing after the corners were done.We really like the S5's steering which offers super quick response at low speed and plenty of feel. The brakes are sensitive and take some getting used to. left foot braking is not recommended because it shuts down the engine. It's no lightweight at 1675kg  but can easily transport four adults and their luggage in GT luxury style.VERDICTLoved driving this car because it's such a handsome beast that goes so well. Access to the rear seats is relatively easy and you are cocooned in luxury that even smells good. It rampages along when you dial it up and can behave like a luxury cruiser at the other end of the spectrum. Fuel economy is impressive for a big-ish car with this amount of performance.Audi S5 Coupe 3.0 TFSiPrice: $135,900Warranty: 3 years roadsideSafety Equipment: seven airbags, ABS, EBD, EBA, TC.Crash rating: N/AEngine: 245kW/400Nm, V6, 3.0 Litre petrolBody: 2 Door CoupeDimensions: 4640mm (L); 1854mm (W); 1369mm (H); 2751mm (WB)Weight: 1675kgTransmission: Sports Automatic Dual Clutch, Four Wheel DriveEconomy: 8.1 / 100Km, 190g/km CO2

Another piece of the Audi's performance puzzle has slotted into its ever-growing ranks. The German carmaker's S5 Sportback has arrived to join the S4 and S5 Cabriolet. The sports-tuned road rocket shares the same supercharged 3.0-litre V6 as the S4 and S5 cabrio and is mated to Audi's quattro all-wheel drive system.PRICING AND MARKETAt $129,300, it has the Mercedes-Benz CLS and BMW 5-Series GT firmly in its sights. Not surprisingly, Audi Australia managing director, Uwe Hagen, reckons the newest S5 is a great addition to the range."It is not only practical enough for daily use, it is also sporty and fun to drive," he says. Customers are always looking for a benchmark experience, he says. "And we intend to fulfil this with emotional, technologically-advanced products," he says.The S5 is the latest in a long line of new models - 42 in all - destined to hit the roads by 2015. With a projected 10 sales a month, Audi believes S5 Sportback sales will make up a third of S5 sales locally and around 10 per cent of all Sportbacks. It joins the S3, S4 and S5 cabrio as an exclusive niche performance car.FIT-OUT AND EQUIPMENTLike the rest of the Sportback range, the S5 gets a coupe-like silhouette and four frameless doors. Inside, there are electric S-design sport seats covered in Silk Nappa leather, the choice of black or silver roof lining and brushed aluminium inlays.The pointers in the instrument cluster are illuminated white and the ‘S5’ logo flashes up on the dashboard when the car is started.Xenon-plus headlights and LED daytime driving lights are standard, along with the usual S markings like the alloy exterior mirrors, sports steering wheel with paddle shifters, tyre-pressure warning system, 18-inch alloys, quad exhausts and discrete S5 badging. The front mudguards are also light-weight aluminium.Buyers get a a comprehensive safety kit, high-grade navigation system with voice control, keyless entry and start, parking sensors and a premium stereo along with Bluetooth and the multi-media plug ins.DRIVETRAINThe potent 3.0 TFSI engine packs 245kW/440Nm and is mated to a seven-speed DSG gearbox. It will hit 100km/h in 5.4 seconds and has a top speed of 250km/h. The V6 consumes 9.4 litres/100km and emits 219g/km of CO2.DRIVINGThe A5 Sportback has finally found its mojo. The car had the looks but now its performance matches those looks, courtesy of the sweet-revving supercharged V6. Although we miss the brutal sound of the 4.2-litre V8 of previous S models, the V6 is muscular enough to keep things interesting.In place of the burbling V8 is a linear, slightly mechanical whine of the V6. It is efficient and reasonably frugal but without the manic urgency of the V8. If you do select the S5 quattro we'd also tick the options box for either the $2800 active dampers or the top-end Drive Select system, which costs $6900.In the S5 Sportback it adds an active suspension, dynamic steering and sports differential, which may not sound much but it's how it works that impresses. Working in conjunction with the all-wheel drive, which splits drive 40/60 front to rear, Drive Select makes the S5 more precise and a more enthusiastic point-to-point drive.In slippery conditions or hard driving, the all-wheel drive system can push as much as 85 per cent of the drive to the rear wheels. Throw in the sports differential, which works on the rear axle to shift torque across the axle, it helps reduce understeer and oversteer. Think of it as a sophisticated limited slip differential.We drove an S5 Sportback without the system and would suggest that if you're planning to spend $129,300 on the car, an extra few thousand will deliver a far better driver's car. The supercharged V6 has plenty of punch low down and the seven-speed gearbox is lightning quick but Drive Select transforms the car.The S5 also deserves more communicative and slightly meatier steering, but that's a problem with most Audis. However, the S5 treatment of the Sportback is a perfect fit.AUDI S5 SPORTBACKEngine: 3.0-litre supercharged V6Price: $129,300Power: 245kW at 7000 revsTorque: 440 from 2900 to 5300 revsEconomy: 9.4 litres/100km0-100km/h: 5.4 seconds

Why is it all show and no go? Why can't we have both? And why do we keep asking questions of Audi? Or at least this Audi, the A5 FSI, the first of several similar versions of the coupe to arrive on our fatal (to ride-quality) shore.In recent times the four ring brand has given us the RS4, TT and most of all; the borderline supercar R8.These have all to varying degrees transcended what people who are paid to write about cars regard as Audi's most maddening traits.That's to say a harsh ride unmitigated by dynamic dividends, a propensity to nose-heavy understeer unredeemed by quattro all-wheel-drive and bantam-weight steering.There comes a point, however, when you have to consider the numbers of people who pay to drive them.That Audi is Europe's rising star in the prestige badge stakes is reflected in this country, where up until November 30 just shy of 7000 Audis had been driven out of dealerships.That's getting close to double the number sold here in the entirety of 2004, when Audi was speeding up the cul-de-sac to irrelevance.So when we conclude that the main problem with the newest version of Audi's dead cool coupe is that it's inferior to the other A5s en route, then maybe we're asking the wrong questions. All right, the first of several derivations of the same shape designed by Walter da Silva to arrive in Australia after the range-topping S5 (with it's inspiring V8 note) just doesn't get near the dynamics and performance the forthcomers offer.The 3-litre V6 diesel is arguably the best of the lot, with its stunning 450Nm. Another has exactly the same 191kW/330Nm 3.2-litre petrol V6 as the A5 here under discussion.But, like the diesel and unlike the one in our garage, it uses the latest version of Audi's rear-biased Torsen quattro to get the most out of the marque's new modular platform, which also underpins the next generation A4 sedan due here soon.This set-up, while unable to match the pure rear-wheel-drive of BMW or Mercedes, provides an appreciable if incremental dynamic bonus.But our A5 is not so blessed. Running a continuously variable transmission through a Multitronic transmission, its front wheels have to do both the driving and steering.So any overt deployment is compromised by inherent nose heavy understeer and under hard acceleration; with all the power and torque going to the pointy end, there's no negligible degree of tugging through the power-assisted rack and pinion steering, which now at least has some feel. And so what?Converts from the other German brands who fancy themselves as drivers are going to go with the quattro and be pleased with their choice in most circumstances.Those who take this model are unlikely even to make much use of the Lexus-matching eight manual settings that can be accessed through the paddle shifters, or the sport mode.No, they'll be luxuriating in a cabin that's typically Audi, which is to say the best in business. If the slightly overt exterior suggests Herr Muscle Car (it's unmissable with those LED daytime running lights) the inside story is perfect for the grown up TT and grand tourer that the A5 is.At 4.6m in length, the A5 is only centimetres longer than the 3 Series Coupe, but at almost 1.9m is 72mm wider, a comfortable margin appreciated by rear seat passengers whose leg room is merely adequate.We first tested the S5/A5 family earlier this year through the mountain roads near Verona in northern Italy and around Sydney; a city of roads that while further from Rome geographically are closer in quality to those of Mr J.Caesar's time.No doubt the usual softies will whine about about a harsh ride, but while in no danger of being mistaken for a Lexus, the A5 FSI rides vastly better than the sports-suspended, bigger-tyred and 100kg heavier S5 V8.While mashing down the go pedal to get off the mark provokes a yelp from the tyres and a firm intervention from the traction control, moderate throttle openings are answered with gratifying promptness. Audi posts a 0-100km/h time of 6.6 seconds, which seems to be mildly optimistic.You can be certain that the thing will pull up promptly. Thankfully, though, the brakes pedal has been imbued with progression as opposed to abruptly over-servoed nature that has pervaded the marque's stoppers.The lack of a weight-adding quattro benefits the A5, which tips the scales at just 1500kg unladen and makes for acceptable urban fuel consumption of just under 13 litres per 100km.That will be bettered by yet another forthcoming model with the new 1.8 direct-injection turbo petrol.Actually, if you don't mind paying prestige marque money for a front-wheel-drive, that entry-level model might be the one to wait for.Indeed, if you are of that mind, it won't matter much that the go doesn't match the show.  A dynamic also ran without quattro, but do you really care?