First Drive Review
At the media drive event for its new A5 and S5 coupes, Audi repeatedly proclaimed the cars to be design icons, as if looking to imbue them with an ineffable status. When Ingolstadt trotted out the first A5 at the 2007 Geneva auto show, jaws quietly dropped. It was a subtle car; its sinew was suggested, rather than paraded. It was an undoubtedly lovely automobile. Fine to drive, too, especially in manual-transmission S5 form, where it took on the character of a quietly brutish hooligan, more back-of-the-pub rude boy than flamboyant Ted or greased-up rocker.
This new S5, though, is more overt, its aggressively furrowed hood pulled down over its squat shield grille. From the side, the original car’s fine character line has been exaggerated into an overly defined, wavy crease that pulls double duty as the hood’s shutline—it seems a more impressive manufacturing feat than an aesthetic one. In back, Audi makes a big deal of its “3D” LED taillights, which look to be victims of a kick to the rump. In short, it comes across as a study after a masterpiece, bereft of fresh ideas. Audi’s bold claims on the design’s behalf had us looking at the car with more scrutiny and, at least at first glance, seeing more a caricature of its predecessor than a new icon. This design may yet grow on us, but it certainly doesn’t create the slack-jawed reaction the first one did.
The Gap between Good and Great
Inside, similarly, the visuals seem to settle for good rather than stretching toward excellent. The silvery door and dash trim seems cribbed from Lexus, while the dash topper resembles decade-old BMW surplus. Tech-wise, the S5 features Audi’s trick TFT-screen instrument cluster, offers a 3D surround-sound system, and gives the occupants 4G LTE connectivity. These digital pleasures, however, no longer wow. With BMW and Mercedes-Benz’s improvements in the infotainment space, the Audi only roundly bests the Lexus RC, the Infiniti Q60, and the Cadillac ATS in terms of pixelated gimcrackery that’s readily usable by the driver. Yes, the new car has more modern features, but the interface no longer leads the pack.
From behind the wheel on the road, one would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the S5 and the S4 sedan; the changes to the coupe mirror those to the sedan. Gone is the old supercharged V-6; in its stead sits a 3.0-liter V-6 now wearing a single twin-scroll turbocharger in the valley between the cylinders. Audi claims this engine, which makes 354 horsepower and 369 lb-ft of torque, features 800 parts that differ from the previous powerplant. That’s not all the parts, mind you, but it does wear a new designation, EA839, and Audi likes to call it “all new.”
Despite output increases of 21 horsepower and 44 lb-ft, the engine feels much the same, although we found a slight dead spot at the bottom of the power band before the turbo spools up. The eight-speed automatic transmission fires off crisp, smooth shifts and generally chooses the right gear, and we managed to catch it out in corners only once or twice. It’s good, but it’s not as perfectly predictive as Porsche’s PDK programming, nor as engaging as the previous generation’s seven-speed dual-clutch S tronic unit. And, as is the way of the world, the old car’s six-speed manual has gone the way of the mastodon, sacrificed to the technical needs of the semi-autonomous cars of tomorrow.
Comfortable at Speed
The performance model’s front end feels more planted than that of the A4/A5; the S5 tracks well and is easy to drive fast, although it’s more autobahn-attuned than it is a back-road barnstormer. Roads with tight curves and elevation changes don’t exactly upset the S5, but neither do they beckon to it. Long, fast sweepers and extended hours in the saddle seem to be the mission here, and we found the sporty coupe an exceptionally comfortable place to while away hours covering miles.
So what to make of Audi’s repeated assertion that its new coupe wins instant status in the pantheon? If, in time, it stands out as a turning point in design, it could mark the moment when the once-infallible styling squad in Ingolstadt faltered. Those who agree with us on the superiority of the original A5 have a little time left, since it continues in “limited availability” until this new one comes to America early next year. Even then, four-ring loyalists might find themselves better served by the practicality and cleaner aesthetics of the S4 without giving up even a skosh of the coupe’s dynamic pleasures. If, however, you’re bent on style, might we point your eye toward the lovely new Mercedes-AMG C43 coupe, a star at the 2016 Geneva auto show?
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