Careful eye is required to distinguish the S5 from an A5 S line.
A month ago this writer stated that the Audi A5 Coupe could do with a few extra horses to match its sporty appearance. His wish was instantly granted with the arrival of the Audi S5 Coupe at The Citizen’s offices.
While there might hardly be any exterior distinction between the A5 S line and S5 besides the badge, the upgrades underneath make the world of difference to this ride.
For starters, the two-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine in the A5 is replaced by the accomplished 3.0-litre V6 turbocharged petrol powerplant. This unit produces 260 kW of power and 500 Nm of torque compared to the 140kW/320Nm in the A5.
As far as transmission goes, the seven-speed S tronic gearbox in the A5 makes way for the eight-speed Tiptronic in the S5.
The third major upgrade to the S5 sees the power being channelled to all four wheels via Audi’s quattro system, where the A5 is front-wheel driven, something that didn’t go down too well during its stay with us.
Subtle exterior tweaks continue at the rear
The biggest difference in performance is of course that the S5 is faster than the A5. Much faster in fact, as the claimed 0 to 100 km/h acceleration time of 4.7 sec compared to the A5’s 7.4 sec would suggest. But straight-line speed does not tell the full story.
Where the A5’s front-wheel-drive understeer made the drive rather lifeless through corners, the S5’s all-wheel-drive system delivers superb balance through the twisties. It remains planted and handles like a proper driver’s car should, when pushed a tad harder than on your average daily school run.
Similar to its A5 sibling, the S5 is a very niche car, but the additional oomph and driveability makes it a niche car with purpose. Now the bite matches the bark in what is no doubt a very attractive car.
RELATED: A5 Coupe shows there’s an Audi for every taste.
Like the A5 though, the S5 is not the easiest car to get in and out of. The width is also not the most practical in our undersized parking spaces, and passengers in the rear won’t be the most comfortable. But at least now the driver gets to enjoy his selfishness with some vooma, where the A5 is almost purely for the show.
S5’s interior
The S5 does come at a premium. A R268 000 premium to be exact, as the A5 S line starts at R826 000 and the S5 at R1 094 000. But to be fair, a quarter of a million rand is easily what you could end up paying in optional extras on an A5 anyway. The A5 we had on test was equipped with all of R205 000 worth of extras.
Sacrificing a bit of tech and bling for decent performance shouldn’t present too big a headache for anyone looking to get the most out of his Audi.
While Audi might not sell serious volumes of these cars, we reckon the S5 will easily outsell its siblings. In our book we can only recommend one “5” and that 5 is preceded by an S.
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