Audi A5/S5. The era of rebirth

 

Audi A5 Price: from $65,000 On sale: August 2007
Audi S5 Price: from $82,000 On sale: August 2007

How do German autobahns differ from Italian autostradas? Audi found its own answer to this question by adding a touch of Mediterranean charm to its touring coupe A5/S5.

Audi representatives have not paid this much attention to design in talks with the press for a long time. A special film was even made for journalists featuring the brand's chief stylist, Walter de Silva. The maestro spoke about the places where he spent his youth, how he was inspired by the great Italians of the Renaissance, and that the touring coupe A5 and its hot version S5 are perhaps the best cars he has ever created. When a company suddenly starts talking about design, it's worth being wary: it means they've saved on something more important.

Involuntarily, you start to scrutinize and sniff at everything. A shadow of suspicion spreads over every centimeter of the elegant body lines. Even the interior, which should have delighted with the famous Ingolstadt quality, seems too plain. Well, yes — they promised a mountain of things about the traditions of Italian Gran Turismo, associations with the aristocratic luxury of Maserati arise in your head, but you find yourself surrounded by dull gray plastic. Remember how it was with musketeer Porthos and his baldric? Luxurious in front, cheap in back. However, the seating position, range of seat and steering wheel adjustments, grip, tactile sensations, and visibility are still top-notch. The mirrors are huge — soon they will become standard on all European cars.

Of the test options offered — A5 2.7 TDI, 3.0 TDI, and 3.2 FSI — I immediately eyed the last one. But not because it's gasoline and the most powerful: in my practice, it has often happened that diesels suited the character of the tested car better than the most powerful gasoline engines. Although in this case, the variable valve lift system brings this engine closer to diesels in elasticity. The decisive factor for me was the continuously variable transmission multitronic, which the 3.2-liter unit was equipped with. This CVT has as many as eight fixed gear ratios. I really wanted to take part in the transmission race started by premium brands. From the start, Mercedes-Benz took the lead with its seven-speed hydromechanical 7G-tronic, then Lexus surged ahead with an eight-speed automatic, and now Audi. For those who like to show off the technical perfection of their car, I would advise betting on Audi.

A CVT by definition has an infinite number of gear ratios. So Audi just needs to let competitors get a little ahead and then simply reconfigure the software of the computer controlling the transmission, adding another fixed position of the drive and driven pulleys of the multitronic. So far, this works excellently. There's a quick response, no dips during acceleration in pseudo-manual mode, and — in automatic — adequate "logical support" of the driver's actions. As soon as you press the gas more energetically, the transmission switches to "minus one gear" mode, and the downshifted gear holds the engine at maximum revs for quite a long time during sustained acceleration on a mountain serpentine or when braking on a descent.

The 3.2 FSI multitronic variant is front-wheel drive, while the all-wheel drive 3.2 FSI quattro version is only available with a 6-speed manual gearbox. As for the variant with the traditional Tiptronic automatic, it is not yet in the production program. In conversations, company engineers repeatedly emphasized that the new model should not be seen as a reduced A6, so one should not expect the powertrains of the sixth family to automatically migrate to it.

The original transmission is the main highlight of the car. Heeding numerous complaints about the excessively heavy front end, the engineers decided... no, not to move back the main culprit of such behavior — the engine, but to at least try to move the final drive forward. It was literally squeezed between the oil pan and the clutch housing. The drive shaft of the final drive passes to the right of the gearbox at a slight angle and is enclosed in a common housing with it. The gain from moving the final drive forward amounted to a substantial 140 mm.

How does this manifest in driving? Of course, the front-wheel drive Audi A5 does not screw into corners like the mid-engine coupe R8, but understeer is less pronounced than in the similarly laid out and closest in size sedan A6. You no longer have to push the car into a bend with both hands. At the same time, the steering wheel retains full transparency of reactions, allowing you to drive the car intuitively and only slightly help with anticipatory actions to bring the wheels out of the extreme position when straightening the trajectory on mountain "hairpins".

The definition of Gran Turismo uttered in relation to the new model did not leave my head throughout the trip — that's probably what the organizers were counting on. In my understanding, to classify a new model as a touring coupe, it is not enough to achieve compliance with individual qualities. For example, achieving only acoustic comfort. Although in this regard, the creators of the car have surpassed themselves. It is also not enough to meet geometric parameters: trunk capacity, sufficient knee room for rear passengers.

It's about the attitude to details, like the ugly voice guidance of the navigation system. It's not even about annoying mistakes in route instructions. First, the system commands you to prepare for a maneuver, and then after a while it says something like: "Turn left... in two hundred meters!" You must admit, if you are first asked to be ready for something, and then given a command, you mechanically start to execute it, but it turns out you need to drive another 200 m. This sounds especially disconcerting when you are speeding along a divided highway. You must admit that even the most patient driver can be thrown off balance by this on a long journey.

I had already encountered such behavior of the navigation system on the Audi Q7. But in small Audis, the navigation is quite adequate. This topic only seems irrelevant for Russia at first glance: Audi with a Russian-speaking navigation system are already sold in our country.

I would still call the Audi S5 version truly touring. It is the one that, in its essence, is closest to the charismatic Italian models. Let's start at least with the roar coming from the quad exhaust pipes. By the way, the "S" is distinguished from the rear not only by this, but also by an additional aerodynamic spoiler in the bumper. Because of the differently shaped bumper, the car is slightly longer than the A5.

In addition, the Audi S5 can only be V8, only quattro, and only with a "stick" — and this is also a kind of tribute to uncompromisingness. When it comes to Gran Turismo, there should be no hesitation: to go or not to go. Of course, go.

And it goes, as they say, for all the money, you just have to keep up. Instant response, crisp as a bolt-action, gear lever operation, excellently balanced chassis. The nervous reaction to small road irregularities that appeared in the A5 has disappeared: having become stiffer, the suspension as a whole has become more harmonious. In corners, the car responds beautifully to the throttle, and this is due not only to the extra "newton-meters" under the hood, but also to the honest "manual" torsen center differential, which distributes 60% of the traction to the rear drive axle. A significant contribution to the change in the car's behavior was made by the tires — 245/40R18 versus 225/50R17 on the Audi A5. And, of course, if the eighth-generation ESP system is switched off, the car can deliver plenty of spine-tingling moments.

"Gran Turismo," believes Walter de Silva, "is a purely Italian invention." In this case, Mediterranean temperament combined with cold German calculation has produced an amazing combination. A model has appeared that is close not only to a German with his "autobahn" mindset. But is the Italian autostrada really so different from the German Autobahn?

Driving
Such a car should be taken in the quattro version. If, of course, you are going to drive it, not crawl in traffic jams. Then it's worth thinking about the continuously variable multitronic transmission as well.

Interior
The rear seats here fold down, and the meter-wide trunk opening turns this Gran Turismo coupe into a semblance of an aristocratic Shooting Brake, if such a need suddenly arises.

Comfort

Fourteen speakers of the Danish Bang & Olufsen audio system in the Audi S5 seem like an excess. It is much more proper to listen to how the engine sounds.

Safety

Body panels of varying thickness, made of high-strength steel, provide reliable protection in a collision. At the same time, this is the final verdict on the concept of aluminum Audi bodies.

Price

Cost is something that buyers of such cars remember last.

Dimensions, mm	4625 (4635)/1854/1372 (1369)
Engine	FSI, V6 (V8), 3197 cm3 (4163 cm3), 265 hp (354 hp)
Transmission	manual, 6-speed
0-100 km/h acceleration, s	6.6 (5.1)
Top speed, km/h	250
Competitors	BMW 3-series coupe, MB CLK, Infiniti G35 Coupe

Advantages and disadvantages

+ Precise handling, CVT tuning, visibility, cabin and trunk capacity. - Plain interior plastic, too German appearance for a Gran Turismo car.

Our opinion

The signature feature of all Audis — noticeable understeer at corner entry — is almost completely eliminated in this car. Under the hood of the S5 there is enough thrust to confidently point the car's nose into a turn. When pressing the gas, the Torsen differential transfers up to 85% of torque to the rear axle. At the same time, the car's behavior does not cease to be front-wheel-drive in character.