A5 2.0T Quattro..... owww my back hurts!
Discussion
Had one of these for a few days now while my S4 is having a new starter motor and I have never driven a more uncomfortable car...
God it's awful, the seats are hard unergonomic and have no support, getting a decent driving position is impossible, the pedals are all wrong and the giant wheels ruin any comfort.
My back, knees and shoulders are ruined after an hour in it, compare that to being able to drive for 12 hous straight in my S4 with no noticeable uncomfort.
What the f
k are Audi on at the moment? The last three courtesy cars I have had were all horrible, the interiors are now shocking... tacky plastic rubbish badly laid out and pointlessly complicated.
I was thinking of trading the S4 for an A6 Tdi or something later in the year but not now.
My mate summed up the A5 perfectly today with the comment, "it's like a TT but for fat idiots and Americans"
FYI I'm not saying all this because I dislike Audi's as I love them but they have done a great job of ruining their cars and putting me off buying another.
God it's awful, the seats are hard unergonomic and have no support, getting a decent driving position is impossible, the pedals are all wrong and the giant wheels ruin any comfort.
My back, knees and shoulders are ruined after an hour in it, compare that to being able to drive for 12 hous straight in my S4 with no noticeable uncomfort.
What the f
k are Audi on at the moment? The last three courtesy cars I have had were all horrible, the interiors are now shocking... tacky plastic rubbish badly laid out and pointlessly complicated.I was thinking of trading the S4 for an A6 Tdi or something later in the year but not now.
My mate summed up the A5 perfectly today with the comment, "it's like a TT but for fat idiots and Americans"
FYI I'm not saying all this because I dislike Audi's as I love them but they have done a great job of ruining their cars and putting me off buying another.
I've got an S5, and its the complete reverse and I dont think I'm a fat American!! 
Its really comfortable, albeit it has S5 specific seats, and it just wafts along. The driving position is also really adjustable and I think the interior is fantastic. It did take me a while to get used to every toy on it, but now it all seems second nature!
I havent driven any other varient of A5 but I can easily do 4-500 miles in a day in the S and feel fine, although somewhat lighter in the wallet area!!!! lol!
Its really comfortable, albeit it has S5 specific seats, and it just wafts along. The driving position is also really adjustable and I think the interior is fantastic. It did take me a while to get used to every toy on it, but now it all seems second nature!
I havent driven any other varient of A5 but I can easily do 4-500 miles in a day in the S and feel fine, although somewhat lighter in the wallet area!!!! lol!
Edited by Twit on Wednesday 27th January 21:39
Edited by Twit on Wednesday 27th January 21:40
You think the interior is good? Are you stark raving mental?
It's fecking hideous, the plastics are awful, it's layed out worse than a 1980's 911 and the whole thing is 10x more complicated than it needs to be. Truly truly terrible work from Audi.
I conceed that maybe the seats are better in the S5 I have the Recaros in my S4 and if the S5 seats are as good as them then fine. The standard seats are crap though, far too hard and far too wide, I'm overweight and the seats were still at least 6" too wide for me and nowhere near enough adjustment.
I took it out for a thrash tonight and it's a long time since I have been scared to push a car, the massive wheels (255/??/R19) have elimitnated all feedback and feeling, you don't know you're sliding until the front/back end is heading in the wrong direction.
Add that to the fact that it's a ridiculous poser car and I just can't comprehend the awfulness.
What the hell are Audi doing? Actually I know what they are doing, thay are building cars for Americans.
It's fecking hideous, the plastics are awful, it's layed out worse than a 1980's 911 and the whole thing is 10x more complicated than it needs to be. Truly truly terrible work from Audi.
I conceed that maybe the seats are better in the S5 I have the Recaros in my S4 and if the S5 seats are as good as them then fine. The standard seats are crap though, far too hard and far too wide, I'm overweight and the seats were still at least 6" too wide for me and nowhere near enough adjustment.
I took it out for a thrash tonight and it's a long time since I have been scared to push a car, the massive wheels (255/??/R19) have elimitnated all feedback and feeling, you don't know you're sliding until the front/back end is heading in the wrong direction.
Add that to the fact that it's a ridiculous poser car and I just can't comprehend the awfulness.
What the hell are Audi doing? Actually I know what they are doing, thay are building cars for Americans.
One thing I find with Audis is that getting that sweet spot with the seat adjustment takes ages... weeks in my case... they have tilt, up and down, lumbar, forward and back... I have had my current one for less than two weeks and I still can't get it right... but I will get there...
My mate has a 3.0 TDI Q A5 which I think is an excellent car... But some of the new generation models (such as the latest A4) do seem to have taken on a flimsey plastic interior and lost that general sense of German solidity...
My mate has a 3.0 TDI Q A5 which I think is an excellent car... But some of the new generation models (such as the latest A4) do seem to have taken on a flimsey plastic interior and lost that general sense of German solidity...
I have the same issue as the OP to a degree, my own A4 has electric Recaros with fantastic support and near infinitescimal adjustment so slightly dodgy back never bothers me.
Was driving an A3 back from Fleet to Iver yesterday and was near as dammit back before I got the seat where I wanted it
Dash quality and layout in the new models? I wouldn't say they've lost any feeling of solidarity, if anything I'd say it's improved as the 18 and 19" wheels no longer crash and thump in the way older models would do sending a shimmy through the car.
As for quality of materials, again, I don't see this. The grey, rubberised finish is a lot less prevalent but if you sit in a B6/7 chassis A4 then dive straight into a B8 with a few toys the older car shows its age quite obviously. Layout is definitely better and once you've played with the very basics of MMI everything is easy to find. When I'm doing handovers it rarely takes me more than 5 minutes to have someone happily navigating MMI as if they'd been doing it for years. The usual comment from former BMW owners is something along the lines of how well laid out it is versus I-drive.
They're not without fault, the footrest in manual A5s is too close and too tall compared to the clutch pedal so when wearing certain shoes it makes you feel like you have to twist your foot to press the clutch all the way to the floor. The MMI dial with the gloss black finish seems to scratch off far too easily if you brush it with a ring or keys. Auto handbrake feels a bit strange at times with a manual, almost like it changes its mind on exactly when it wants to disengage each time you use it - particularly irritating in the S5 for some reason. Doubtless I'll find some more to whinge about once they're a few years old
Was driving an A3 back from Fleet to Iver yesterday and was near as dammit back before I got the seat where I wanted it
Dash quality and layout in the new models? I wouldn't say they've lost any feeling of solidarity, if anything I'd say it's improved as the 18 and 19" wheels no longer crash and thump in the way older models would do sending a shimmy through the car.
As for quality of materials, again, I don't see this. The grey, rubberised finish is a lot less prevalent but if you sit in a B6/7 chassis A4 then dive straight into a B8 with a few toys the older car shows its age quite obviously. Layout is definitely better and once you've played with the very basics of MMI everything is easy to find. When I'm doing handovers it rarely takes me more than 5 minutes to have someone happily navigating MMI as if they'd been doing it for years. The usual comment from former BMW owners is something along the lines of how well laid out it is versus I-drive.
They're not without fault, the footrest in manual A5s is too close and too tall compared to the clutch pedal so when wearing certain shoes it makes you feel like you have to twist your foot to press the clutch all the way to the floor. The MMI dial with the gloss black finish seems to scratch off far too easily if you brush it with a ring or keys. Auto handbrake feels a bit strange at times with a manual, almost like it changes its mind on exactly when it wants to disengage each time you use it - particularly irritating in the S5 for some reason. Doubtless I'll find some more to whinge about once they're a few years old
Yeah that clutch pedal footrest is retarded, was stuck in traffic this morning and it really started to hurt my ankle as it twisted my ankle everytime I depresssed the clutch.
Also what the fk have they done to the dials? were they designed by an 8 year old?
A 2.0T does not need a 180mph speedo! The needle never fking gets out of the 1st 1/3rd of the dial, absolutely fking ridiculous.
No wonder the Jag interior engineers were laughing at it when I was at the benchmarking meeting a year ago.
And don't get me started on the throttle response...
The more I drove it the more I hated it, I was meant to pick my car up tomorrow but I ended up leaving work early today and driving from Bristol to Stratford so I don't have to drive it tonight or tomorrow.
Also what the f
k have they done to the dials? were they designed by an 8 year old?A 2.0T does not need a 180mph speedo! The needle never f
king gets out of the 1st 1/3rd of the dial, absolutely fking ridiculous.No wonder the Jag interior engineers were laughing at it when I was at the benchmarking meeting a year ago.
And don't get me started on the throttle response...
The more I drove it the more I hated it, I was meant to pick my car up tomorrow but I ended up leaving work early today and driving from Bristol to Stratford so I don't have to drive it tonight or tomorrow.
I think the pedal offset is something to do with the tunnel for the gearbox..... maybe compromised for quattro models?? Not sure...
The dials are totally wrong though... The speedo is great... if you only want to look at speeds above 40 or 50... but impossible to see on lower speeds... like it's been rotated a third or something like that...
The dials are totally wrong though... The speedo is great... if you only want to look at speeds above 40 or 50... but impossible to see on lower speeds... like it's been rotated a third or something like that...
OliPolo said:
bit aggressive, i read what pops up on here, no need for the aggression though mate. Also its quite hard to know if i like something before i read it, hope you understand my problem there.
ta'ra
You come accross as one of the self appointed 'good comment only police' making sarky comments everytime someone voices an opinion that they don't like.ta'ra
Edited by OliPolo on Thursday 28th January 22:54
No problem with you reading it, that was the point, to provoke debate and see what other people thought, you just seemed to have nothing to add so you made a pointless snide comment.
I 100% agree with the OP.
I've only been a passenger in an A5 (3.0TDi Sport) and it left me a back sore for literally days. Your head bobs about like jelly and the ride is painfully jarring, it seems to crash into every surface of road. Even though it has sports suspension it is unacceptable! It didnt even have huge alloys (18"s with thick rubber), i would hate too be in one with 19"s.
I too have alway liked Audis but agree the latest interiors have taken a dive, its not bad, but too many plastics looking cheap and shiny sort of defeats the purpose of an Audi IMO.
Just thinking about that ride again makes my back twitch!!
I've only been a passenger in an A5 (3.0TDi Sport) and it left me a back sore for literally days. Your head bobs about like jelly and the ride is painfully jarring, it seems to crash into every surface of road. Even though it has sports suspension it is unacceptable! It didnt even have huge alloys (18"s with thick rubber), i would hate too be in one with 19"s.
I too have alway liked Audis but agree the latest interiors have taken a dive, its not bad, but too many plastics looking cheap and shiny sort of defeats the purpose of an Audi IMO.
Just thinking about that ride again makes my back twitch!!
I was going to start a new thread on my inability to find a decent driving position in my current ( 58 plate) A4, but this post seems to cover many of the problems I am having . Even started to consider investing in an aftermarket Recaro or some such seat , as I plan to keep the car for 3 - 4 years, but at the moment, the driving position is simply shocking - just cannot get a comfy position, seem to be forever adjusting my stance within the seat , several times during a journey. I have had many Audi's but have never encountered this problem, but thinking about it , the last few have had either sports seats, or Recaro's, and the adjustment seemed much better. These are standard SE seats, which seem to lift up and tilt forward at the same time, leaving you with a sensation of sliding forward half the time. Shame really, cos the rest of the car suits my needs 100%. I am not sure I can afford a recaro to cure the problem !! I was going to ask if anyone else had encountered this - seems that many of you have !
The electric Recaros in my S4 (that are the most comfy seat in the world) appear to be a standard Recaro item as I have seen them in Mondeo ST220's and other cars.
Maybe you could buy one from Recaro (expensive) or find out what cars they were fitted to (like Mondeos etc) and search for one in breakers yards or on ebay.
They are bound to fit on the same mount as the A4's all come off the same production line but with different seats.
ETA this is similar to the S4 Recaros I have:
http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductDeta...
Maybe you could buy one from Recaro (expensive) or find out what cars they were fitted to (like Mondeos etc) and search for one in breakers yards or on ebay.
They are bound to fit on the same mount as the A4's all come off the same production line but with different seats.
ETA this is similar to the S4 Recaros I have:
http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductDeta...
Edited by T89 Callan on Friday 29th January 21:57
Freddie328 said:
T89 Callan said:
My mate summed up the A5 perfectly today with the comment, "it's like a TT but for fat idiots and Americans"
Well everyone is entitled to their own opinion but we have a 3.0 TDI Tiptronic and are neither fat, idiotic or American! I think it's a great car.Although didnt really notice an issue with the seats and i,m 6ft 4 inches and 15 stone!!!!
Freddie328 said:
T89 Callan said:
My mate summed up the A5 perfectly today with the comment, "it's like a TT but for fat idiots and Americans"
Well everyone is entitled to their own opinion but we have a 3.0 TDI Tiptronic and are neither fat, idiotic or American! I think it's a great car.It's only point is to shout:
"Look at me! I have spent more money on a less usefel car! Look at me!"
Thus it's a TT for people who can't fit into a TT.
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