Got an Audi S5?

Author
Discussion

razbox

Original Poster:

905 posts

218 months

Sunday 13th January 2008
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Just researching these at the moment - does anyone here own one and if so, what's the verdict?

thanks

steebo888

784 posts

197 months

Monday 14th January 2008
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looks okay but not rated as that fast and is big on understeer. also very heavy

im waiting to see the rs5

NP100

542 posts

205 months

Monday 14th January 2008
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There was an S5 on an Audi track day last year,seemed to handle very well,and wasn't slow ill tell you that much.

treacle

194 posts

216 months

Monday 14th January 2008
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another guy on this forum has one (do a search), he had both positive and negative views on it.

Car looks great in my opinion. More of a cruiser than out and out animal.

steebo888

784 posts

197 months

Monday 14th January 2008
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yer it is more of a cruiser and probably fast in a straight line but not so good on bends with the understeer

nicktowe

35,574 posts

223 months

Monday 14th January 2008
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Friend of mine has had one for a couple of months now. He prefers it to his S4, but it is definately more of a cruiser that an animal like the RS4. It is quick though, but doesn't really feel quick, if that makes sense. Iguess it depends what you want, for me if I wanted an sports car I'd buy a cayman, if I wanted a GT then the S5 is very good.

razbox

Original Poster:

905 posts

218 months

Monday 14th January 2008
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nicktowe said:
Friend of mine has had one for a couple of months now. He prefers it to his S4, but it is definately more of a cruiser that an animal like the RS4. It is quick though, but doesn't really feel quick, if that makes sense. Iguess it depends what you want, for me if I wanted an sports car I'd buy a cayman, if I wanted a GT then the S5 is very good.
I'm looking for a GT so I will give it a test drive. Thanks all for your comments.

MBW

9 posts

204 months

Monday 14th January 2008
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I agree with the above about being more of a GT than a sports cars. It's far too big and heavy to be considered a sports car.
That said it is devistatingly quick point to point. Infact you must be careful with the speed, as how fast you are travelling can be hidden quiet well.

The only niggles thus far are -
Steering is light with little feed back;
Electronic handbrake I dislike, give me a proper handbrake that I have full control over;
There's a strange dead spot in the power when you pull off in first;
The MMI is far too complex for on the move use(I've never tried an BMW I-drive so can't compare);
20 mpg.

On the plus side -
It looks fantastic inside and out;
Engine goes well and sounds great.

Understeer; haven't had an issue with it! Mind you haven't been on track with it yet. Once you tune in to the steering it's light but precise. Considering the size, weight and type of car I think it handles very well.

Depends upon what you want from the car. At the moment there's nothing else in the class that I'd be tempted to switch for.
Hope that helps!

Mark

razbox

Original Poster:

905 posts

218 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
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MBW said:
Depends upon what you want from the car. At the moment there's nothing else in the class that I'd be tempted to switch for.
Hope that helps!Mark
Thanks. I'm switching from a Vantage V8 and need something a bit less expensive that's fast but a little less hard for long distance driving.

stimmers

2,312 posts

202 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
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Yep, i've had one for 6 months. You can see pics in this thread

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Had an E46 M3 Convertable and actually went to buy an RS4. But decided i didn't want an car as raw as that for what i would be using it for, so ordered an S5. The car is fabulous, its very quick, someone has already said sometimes you don't really know how quick your going. My M3 (and the RS4) would be much more fun, especially on a track and in the dry, but this S5 is just superb in all weather conditions.

Steering and handling is spot on
The gear box is wonderful, coming from an SMG i have had no problems at all moving back into a manual
the looks are superb - turns as many heads as my 360
the cabin is such a nice place to be and everything works - i totally disagree with one poster, i think the sat nav, radio etc whole thing on the Audi is 10 times better than the BMW. Everything on the Audi is where you expect it to be. The build quality is top notch.
Its very good in all situations. I live in London and its fine driving around town and comes into its own on a blast to Paris!

Ok, bad points
My av MPG is 15.4 after 3000 miles. Ok thats a lot of London driving and i tend to drive quite quickly, but that still isn't great.
You do get a bit of roll in corners and you do get a bit of understeer - but in both cases something only a very technical or fussy driver would be concerned about.


kith

562 posts

244 months

Tuesday 15th January 2008
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This MSN review has just appeared which is a bit scathing....

http://cars.uk.msn.com/Research/article.aspx?cp-do...

EdJ

1,284 posts

194 months

Wednesday 16th January 2008
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I love the look of the S5, but am not sure how well values are going to hold up. With a decent spec, the car is nearing £50k and I can just imagine the reviews of the RS5 (when it arrives) will be very positive, further damaging the used values.

I'm especially wary of this since looking at a Z4M Coupe last year - am so glad I didn't take the plunge as values of that car have fallen off a cliff.

treacle

194 posts

216 months

Wednesday 16th January 2008
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EdJ said:
I'm especially wary of this since looking at a Z4M Coupe last year - am so glad I didn't take the plunge as values of that car have fallen off a cliff.
But now they make a great used bargain. I must admit i half looked at them a while back but concluded they might make a better 2nd hand buy after a huge chunk of depreication has been knocked off.

stimmers

2,312 posts

202 months

Wednesday 16th January 2008
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EdJ said:
With a decent spec, the car is nearing £50k .
How did you come to that figure. My S5 is very well spec'd and comes in £5k under that

stimmers

2,312 posts

202 months

Wednesday 16th January 2008
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kith said:
This MSN review has just appeared which is a bit scathing....

http://cars.uk.msn.com/Research/article.aspx?cp-do...
Ah, MSN, the last world on all things automotive.

Plenty of good reviews out there if thats your bag.

I say drive one and own one and then you'll see how good it is. You cannot review this car properly unless you spend a least a few weeks with the car.

EdJ

1,284 posts

194 months

Wednesday 16th January 2008
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stimmers said:
EdJ said:
With a decent spec, the car is nearing £50k .
How did you come to that figure. My S5 is very well spec'd and comes in £5k under that
OK, sorry, I was just playing around with the Audi config and it seemed to be getting close, if not actually that close.

I'd actually be interested in a DSG equipped S5 but I can't see any likelihood of it being released. Now that would come close to £50k....

Adam B

27,142 posts

253 months

Tuesday 22nd January 2008
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lovely looking thing and was tempted to wait for it but so disappointed about write ups saying they compromised the handling rather than go down the rear-biased much-improved RS4/R8 route

Stuck with the RS4 and don't regret it - if its £5k more that is £5k damn well spent IMHO (my high spec RS4 cost £51k new)


stimmers

2,312 posts

202 months

Wednesday 23rd January 2008
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Adam B said:
lovely looking thing and was tempted to wait for it but so disappointed about write ups saying they compromised the handling rather than go down the rear-biased much-improved RS4/R8 route

Stuck with the RS4 and don't regret it - if its £5k more that is £5k damn well spent IMHO (my high spec RS4 cost £51k new)
I test drove the RS4 and didn't enjoy it as much as my E46 M3. On a car like that im not a fan of the 4 wheel drive system, takes a lot of the fun factor out for me.

For me, the S5 is the better car for what i wanted and the RS4 is only better in the bends. It aint much quicker on a straight. But im not that bothered about straight line speed. The S5 is such a nice comfortable pace to be and it looks better than anything in Audi's range by a mile, with the exception of the R8

Glad i went for the right car

Cupramax

10,469 posts

251 months

Friday 24th February 2017
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IJB1959 said:
razbox said:
Just researching these at the moment - does anyone here own one and if so, what's the verdict?

thanks
Had many 'fast' cars in the past, but the S5 is a strange one and the best so far. Yes, it is actually blisteringly fast but you just don't realise it. Glance at the speedo when you are just generally driving around and it’s an ‘OMG better slow down’ scenario. It is not a sports car and does not really handle like one, but it will easily see off most other sports cars on the road in a straight line. I would agree with other comments that the S5 is more of a GT cruiser which is very comfortable on long journeys, and also the build quality is outstanding inside and out. I think this car is aimed at people who like a well equipped discrete (not loud) luxury performance car, and who are not interested in track days or throwing it around on bendy roads, otherwise the BMW M2, 3 or 4 is the one for you. What pi***s me off is all the BMW biased reviews you see who compare it with the likes of the 335i & 440i. They might be the same size and price range, & engine size, but that’s about it. Otherwise, the S5 is completely different in all other areas of it's intended market.
I doubt he's interested any more seeing as the thread is from 2008 laugh definitely worthy of a...

IJB1959

2,139 posts

85 months

Saturday 25th February 2017
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Cupramax said:
I doubt he's interested any more seeing as the thread is from 2008 laugh definitely worthy of a...
Probably not, and it is an old thread like many, but others might be on searching this subject.....calm down.