First Drive: 2008 Audi A5 and S5

Previews

Audi’s slinky new coupes are beautiful every way you slice ’em.

By now, you’ve no doubt seen numerous pictures of Audi’s scrumptious new A5 and S5 coupes. Nice to look at, sure, but the question is whether Audi’s slinky sexpots are the kind of girls you want to have kids with, or the type that you’re better off just, um, you know.

Well, after sampling the pair for a day along the perilously twisty mountain roads of northern Italy, we’re making plans to expand the nursery, because these are the marrying types. They are not only splendid to behold but also bestowed with quite a dowry of luxury features and genuine talent on the road.

A Two-Door Coupe—What a Concept

Built on the next-generation A4 platform, dubbed B8, the A5 and S5 are long and wide, with a coupelike roofline and—what’s this?—a coupelike door count! Thank you, Audi, for reminding us of something that Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and certain others seem to have forgotten: coupes are cars with only two doors, period. As such, “duoportes” such as the A5 appeal only to specific types of people whose lifestyles do not include carpooling and who do not slog such things as other peoples’ kids, slobbering St. Bernards, or corn-fed colleagues. Coupes are for one person or one pair, and seldom more. They are personal and intimate; a reward, not an appliance.

A5: Stylish First

Emotional creatures that they are, coupes tend to be stylish first, and the A5 is no exception. It is breathtaking in pictures, but even more so on the road. Walter de’Silva’s talented team has tastefully advanced Audi’s passenger-car design beyond the current level that most already consider as tasteful and advanced as any in the automotive world. Gone is the semicircular roofline we’ve come to expect for the past decade, replaced by one with a more formal treatment for the rear-quarter glass (necessary to accommodate the heads of the rearmost pair of the A5’s infrequent quartet of passengers). The design departure on the roofline is somewhat of a surprise. That it is so gracefully applied is not.

The new nose—complete with soon-to-be-ubiquitous LED running lamps—is blunt and broad yet as sultry as Angelina Jolie 30 seconds after her wake-up call. On the A5, Audi’s single-frame grille finally seems natural, either because we’ve become accustomed to it, or because Audi’s other new coupes, the 2008 R8 and the 2008 TT, have made it look so good. The S5, of course, is a bit snootier in appearance with its egg-crate detailing and squared-off air intakes.

All that said, what is most distinctive on the new coupes is the character line that rises over the fenders to accentuate the big wheels, which measure 18 inches on the A5, 19 on the S5. The longer wheelbase and the longitudinal engine mounting allow for proportions nearly as correct as, say, those of the new Jaguar XK, only with tidy, BMW 3-series–like dimensions. And its unexpected width—something also likely to characterize the next A4—is quite evident from behind, where horizontal lamps and wide-set tailpipes accentuate the car’s girth. From every angle, it works. Very, very well.

Performance and Interior

A Driver’s Car Second

Now, to say the A5 is stylish first and a driver’s car second is no insult. It’s hard for any engine to outshine the sheer sex appeal of that luscious bod, and we knew this would be the case since we ran our first A5 spy shots months ago. But just how close the performance of the A5 and S5 comes to matching their beauty was a real surprise, with nearly faultless road manners and strong acceleration from the A5 and its 3.2-liter FSI (direct-injection) V-6, which is tuned to produce 265 horsepower in U.S. trim. Life is even better, of course, with the S5, which comes to the party with a 354-horse version of Audi’s versatile 4.2-liter FSI V-8. Torque comes in at 243 pound-feet between 3000 and 5000 rpm for the A5 and 325 pound-feet at 3500 for the S5.

On our brief drive of the A5 and S5, both with manual transmissions, we were thrilled. Audi’s 0-to-60-mph acceleration claims of 6.1 seconds for the A5 and 5.1 for the S5 are more than believable. Adding to the fun was the S5’s exhaust note, which was alarmingly (and addictively) loud, bellowing its song at a volume no one would expect from a car so well dressed (maybe it could teach the RS 4 to sing).

Even better, the engine’s longitudinal orientation and relocation farther back in the chassis optimize weight distribution, resulting in markedly better behavior than offered by the current nose-heavy A4/S4 sedans. Interestingly, however, in spite of its stickier tires and larger wheels, the heavier S5 seems to push a touch more in corners. Moreover, the standard-fare A5 surprised us with a more satisfying steering effort than provided by its more powerful brother, which is somewhat lighter than we’d like at any given speed. Brakes, as expected in any car of this caliber, are entirely competent and exhibited not a trace of fade along northern Italy’s twisty declines, where many an ancient Alfa (or lumbering livestock) might be asserting its God-given right to park itself in the middle of the road around any given bend.

Perfect Driving Position

As expected, the interior is a fabulous place to spend time while you discover what new things Audi has learned from BMW in terms of handling. The sport seats hold the driver firmly in place regardless of whether you are in the A5’s luxury-oriented leather chairs or the S5’s standard Recaros. Mucho aluminum trim has been smattered about, and we’re particularly fond of the A5’s take on Audi’s “teardrop” gauges. As with most of its competitors, the A5 won’t be a prom-night enabler on account of its snug (although ergonomically correct) back seat. Helping matters somewhat is the vast amount of light allowed through its tilting (but not sliding) optional glass sunroof.

An electronic parking brake and a push-button ignition system are standard equipment. The A5 also becomes the second model to offer the audio stimulation of a Bang & Olufsen speaker system (sans the cool pop-up tweeters of the S8). And, of course, the capable but complex MMI is there to serve and confuse.


Model Availability

The first to go on sale will be the S5, which arrives this fall with a six-speed manual transmission. The S5 will get a six-speed automatic with paddle shifters in the second quarter of 2008, at which point the A5 will join in with both transmissions. Audi’s latest iteration of Quattro all-wheel drive will come standard on all with a 40/60 front-to-rear torque split.

Even when pressed, Audi reps are still vague as to when the A4 cabriolet might defer to a convertible version of the A5, although it seems inevitable. There’s even talk of a five-door A5 “spaceback” model sometime thereafter. We also wouldn’t be surprised if an RS 5 appeared sometime during the 2009 model year with the RS 4’s direct-injected 4.2-liter V-8 with 420 horsepower.

The A5 will be priced around $45,000, plus options, when it lands next year. If you absolutely have to have one by the end of the year, prepare to shell out well over $50,000 for an S5, which, frankly, is a bargain for such a high-level combination of speed, style, luxury, and sex appeal. Get your ass in line. Behind us.

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