Another great in depth look at both the Audi A5 and the Audi S5. We are sure to continue to see the article come as the momentum builds into the launch. This time the article is coming out of the UK.
Here are a few excerpts:
There will be more FSI petrol and TDI turbodiesel versions later but, for openers, we get the 237bhp (240PS) turbodiesel-powered A5 3.0 TDI quattro, priced from £33,340, and the more performance-focused S5, with a 350bhp (354PS) version of Audi's rather fine 4.2-litre petrol V8 and prices starting at £39,825. As night follows day, there will surely be a turbocharged V8 RS5 version, RS4-style, to take on the car that Audi's new coupé has to live up to - the latest-generation BMW M3 coupé (to be reviewed in these pages soon).....[Source: Telegraph.co.uk]
.....The A5 and S5 certainly do much to separate the two, and with engineering basics, not just Walter's felt-tip. For starters, they don't sit on the current A4 platform but on a new generation, aimed at real dynamic changes. The wheelbase is the longest ever for a B-segment Audi. Changing the final drive position has moved the front axle line forwards, shortened the front overhang, and reduced forward weight bias, in theory to sharpen steering feel and response.....
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Style or substance?
Last Updated: 12:01am BST 16/06/2007
Audi A5 [tech/spec]
The new A5 is Audi's first proper coupé for almost 20 years, but Brian Laban thinks it misses the mark
More images of the Audi A5
Last week's R8 test drive
Audi calls it an "avalanche" of new model launches. Between 1997 and the latter part of this year, its range will have gone from 10 models to 25. And that includes much first-time niche-filling, not least by the mid-engined R8, the Porsche 911-chaser featured on the front of Telegraph Motoring last week, and Audi's first dip into the big SUV market with last year's Q7. But, to date, there has remained one awkward gap, and it's a surprising one given Audi's inclination towards style, sportiness and sharp-edge technology.
The great pretender: the Audi A5 is not as sporty as it thinks it is
Audi hasn't sold a coupé since the late 1980s, when a line going back more than 50 years ended just as the marque approached a spectacular period of growth. Way back in 1953 (when the badge still said Auto Union), there was the F91 Coupé, and four years later the 1000 SP Coupé. Still with the Auto Union badge, 1963 brought the 1000 S Coupé de Luxe, and by 1971 it finally said "Audi" on the 100 Coupé S. Best known was the 1980 Coupé GT, the first Quattro shape, but there hasn't been another coupé since the 80-based model - the Coupé - of 1989.
At this point you may ask "what about the TT coupé?" but Audi made no reference to that very successful model at the launch of the A5; the hard-top TT's coupé moniker merely distinguishes it from the convertible, and Audi considers it a sports car. Which is logical enough, if a coupé is properly and literally defined as a cut-down (and thus sportier) derivative of a four-door saloon.
In today's market, such a coupé-shaped hole in the brand doughnut simply doesn't fit anymore, so here is the next Audi niche-filler, the A5 (and S5) coupé - Ingolstadt's overdue tilt at a market dominated by BMW's 3-series coupé and Mercedes' CLK, and potentially a Nice Little Earner.
It's a picky market, even for a company that seems close to being able to walk on water, so this is far more than just another model on the niche tick-list. There have been clues in the air since the 2003 Geneva motor show, when Audi showed the Nuvolari "design study" that it now describes as the inspiration for the A5 and S5, UK deliveries of which start in July.
There will be more FSI petrol and TDI turbodiesel versions later but, for openers, we get the 237bhp (240PS) turbodiesel-powered A5 3.0 TDI quattro, priced from £33,340, and the more performance-focused S5, with a 350bhp (354PS) version of Audi's rather fine 4.2-litre petrol V8 and prices starting at £39,825. As night follows day, there will surely be a turbocharged V8 RS5 version, RS4-style, to take on the car that Audi's new coupé has to live up to - the latest-generation BMW M3 coupé (to be reviewed in these pages soon).
So these are the next elements of Audi's aim of taking premium segment leadership in the UK by 2012. That's why the A5 is significantly more than a two-door A4 with a pretty new suit. How pretty is in the eye of the beholder, but in coupé-world, getting the look right is way up there near the top of the list. Walter da Silva, who styled it, goes as far as to say that he rates it as the most beautiful car he has ever created, and this from a man with some exceptional Alfas to his name.
You may agree, but for what it's worth, I think Walter is selling himself slightly short. The A5 is good but it's not special, and it certainly doesn't move the game on in any way. You could say it plays safe - short overhangs and a chunky stance, a touch boxy from some angles and, from others, a bit too much like the enemy - but that's how they've played it. Whether Walter's notion of "beautiful" outweighs the nagging thoughts of "conservative" will be down to the market.
The same goes for the dynamics, and of what makes a coupé a coupé, and not just a two-door saloon with a swoopy top.
The A5 and S5 certainly do much to separate the two, and with engineering basics, not just Walter's felt-tip. For starters, they don't sit on the current A4 platform but on a new generation, aimed at real dynamic changes. The wheelbase is the longest ever for a B-segment Audi. Changing the final drive position has moved the front axle line forwards, shortened the front overhang, and reduced forward weight bias, in theory to sharpen steering feel and response.
There's also a new five-link front suspension and revised trapezoidal-link rear, while the steering rack is re-positioned ahead of the front axle, again aiming for better responses, which has long been the Achilles heel of front- and four-wheel-drive Audis when pitched against the rear-drive opposition. Alongside the looks becomes the defining element of the coupé question - is it or isn't it?
You may not be surprised to learn that this is unclouded by considerations of quality or interior design, which both ooze the very best of modern Audi-ness. There are no issues of space or practicality: it's strictly a 2+2, but with reasonable rear-seat room, fairly easy access and good boot space, with split-fold seats.
An engine for all seasons: the V6 turbodiesel has huge flexibility
Which leaves the driving, and whether the A5 (or S5) is as sporty as Audi thinks it is. Up to a point. The numbers are good: 155mph and 5.1 seconds to 62mph for the supposedly hotter S5, but while Audi says 155mph and 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds for the six-speed manual A5 3.0 TDI quattro, this is the one that feels quicker more often, with its 368lb ft (500Nm) of torque from 1,500 to 3,000rpm (the S5 offers 324lb ft at 3,500rpm) and the equally huge out-of-corner traction of all-wheel drive.
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