Audi A5 & S5: First Drive Impressions

It's been a couple of months since the media blitz around the 2008 Audi A5 and the 2008 Audi S5 started. In the time since, there have been numerous posts and reviews about the highly anticipated coupe from Audi. Just recently, the noise had died down from the media around the Audi TT launch. However, Motor Trend is back in the news with their First Drive impressions on the Audi A5 & Audi S5.



It's a great in-depth and review and worthy of a second look!

Here are a few excerpts:

The A5's direct-injected 3.2-liter FSI engine launches a novel new variable valve-lift system (see sidebar) to produce 265 horsepower with improved fuel efficiency. The S5's 4.2-liter FSI V-8 is derived from those in the RS4 and R8 and tuned for 353 horsepower. Chassis highlights include a new braking system, with automatic hill-holding and electronic parking-brake application, and a change to a front-mounted steering rack positioned near the height of the wheel centers for improved steering feel. An electronic novelty-the so-called Smart Key-stores vital information about the car every time it's used, including the odometer reading and any fault codes to expedite the service-writer's job at the dealership.....

.....Entry-level Euro A5 3.2s will get a Multitronic CVT driving the front wheels only, but for the U.S. market, all A5s and S5s will get quattro all-wheel drive mated to either a six-speed manual or "a fast-shifting automatic we're not prepared to discuss until fall." (Please be DSG!) We sampled both quattros with the six-speed stick and found the gearing well matched to the engines, but the somewhat clunky shifter occasionally snagged on the gate between first and third gears and generally felt a bit remote and disconnected from the mechanism it controls.....

.....Audi's coupes don't compete directly with rival BMW 3 Series and Mercedes CLK models. The horsepower ratings don't quite line up, and the Audis are considerably wider (by 2.8 to 4.5 inches), which gives them the visual heft of the larger 6 Series or CL-Class coupes. In a seemingly reversed launch strategy, the sporting S5 quattro six-speed manual will arrive this November. The mystery automatic arrives along with the A5 3.2 quattro in early 2008, and the RS5 and softtop convertible models are expected a year or more later. Base prices should span from around $40,000 for an A5 to $55,000 for the S5-a fair bit of scratch, but if you've got the itch.

[Source: Motor Trend]

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