Audi S5 Coupe Review

Usually when a car distributor launches a car on the local New Zealand market it's the lower performance models that appear first, but we're lucky with the new Audi A5, because the first vehicles here are the high performance S5. The reason is that to launch the range in its entirety, European Motor Distributors would have to wait until next year, when the rest of the range begins to arrive.

Rather than wait though, EMD went with what was available, and it just so happens to be the 350 horsepower S5.

Audi's new coupe, which slots in between the A4 and the A6, looks good in natural light, and in S4 guise it looks fantastic, even if the black colour of the launch vehicles made it look as if we were a group of Gangsta rappers charging across the countryside.

And charge we did, because this is a driver's car, sticking to the road like glue and possessing enough grunt to accelerate from a standstill to 60mph in under 5.1 seconds. The V8 engine may be related to the one in the RS4, and it may have forty nine fewer kilowatts, but it's the torque that matters here, and while the RS4 V8 has a peak torque of 317lb ft at a stratospheric 5500rpm, the bent eight in the S5 is good for a bigger 325lb ft way down at 3500rpm.

This actually makes the car much easier to drive. In an RS4 you're always reaching for the gearlever, but in the S5 you can leave it in third on a particularly winding and undulating stretch of road and let the tsunami of torque propel you along at a surprisingly quick rate. Think of the S5 as the car for someone who wants to relax a little while demolishing the kilometres. The RS5 won't be like that though, as power outputs of 450 horsepower have been rumoured.

But back to the S5 - there's one Achilles heel in the otherwise impressive driving experience. The damping is fine, absorbing big dips and bumps in the road, but the springing is on the stiff side, so you're shaken by even small imperfections in the road.

Yes, this is a performance version of the A5 platform, and the other cars will no doubt be more softly sprung, but you get the feeling most of the suspension work was done on smooth roads somewhere in Germany.

That's borne out on the track, where the S5 proved to be the perfect weapon for attacking an apex. Thanks to the torque laden nature of the engine you can forget about gear changing and think more about cornering. As with all new Audi's the quattro system has a normal 40/60 front/rear torque split, which means that instead of power understeering out of a corner you get a nice balanced drift that feels entirely natural.

And without any bumps on the racetrack you can appreciate how smooth and stable the chassis is.

And while you don't really need to change gear, the gearchange feel itself is accurate and smooth, with no touch of harshness when you shift gears.

Of course all the stability controls you could ever want are there, with ABS braking, EBD, ESP, and Brake Assist but you have to push the car very hard indeed to get any warning lights come up on the dashboard, and even then the intervention from the systems is gentle.

Inside the car you get the usual S treatment, which includes supportive sports seats, nice grippy steering wheel, and plenty of S5 badging. The car is a four seater, but due to the front seats having thick backs there's not all that much leg room available. There is however, plenty of boot space, with 120 gallons ready to accommodate your golf clubs.

The spec level for the S5 is approximately high, with driver and passenger airbags, side airbags front and rear, and sideguard head airbag system, alarm with interior surveillance and vehicle immobiliser, alloy Wheels, headlight activation with rain sensor, Bi-Xenon Plus headlights, three zone air con,

CD changer for MMI, cruise control, electromechanical parking brake, heated front seats, height and reach adjustable steering wheel, leather upholstery, parking aid front and rear, and power operated S5 Sports Seats all being on the menu.

Jiggley suspension aside, the S5 is actually a very nice coupe to drive, especially with the 40/60 front rear torque split balancing the car as you blast out of another corner. But perhaps the best aspect of the car is that you don't really need to worry what gear you're in. The car will simply pile on the speed with an authentic V8 grumble. Turbos may be all well and good, but cubic inches still have a lot to offer.