[gnasher]

I am due to take delivery of my A5 next week. Unfortunately it will be devoid of my desired extras as I had enough trouble finding one in a short space of time. (thankfully it has the 19" wheels)

It is replacing a 2006 A4 2.0tfsi S-line Special Edition (220bhp). Prior to this car I had a run of 4 BMW's, 6 if I include my wifes! My last BM was a 3.0CD M Sport. I have to say how pleasantly surprised I was by my change of brand.

The engine in my current car has been fantastic with the amount of power/torque making it a very relaxing car to drive both on the motorway and in a spirited fashion down twisting A/B roads. Fuel economy has also been impressive. The only negative things about the car are:
1. it has started to drink a bit too much oil
2. wheelspins when trying to make a swift exit from a junction
3. overly light steering (something I have got used to)
4. the nose heavy understeer/feedback when pushing on, especially in the wet

I have only tested the 3.0TDI A5 and was impressed with the vehicle (lovely mid-range by the way, a real back lane hooligan!) so am interested to see the difference in my FWD car, and how the revised 2.0 engine compares to my A4. I am also hoping that the shift in engine position in relation to the front wheels will be noticeably better with regard to handling, improving two of the criticisms with my current car.

No doubt I will be coming back to give a full report on the findings.

 

[TXcarguy]

Welcome! And congrats on soon becoming an A5 owner! Looking forward to your report after you take delivery.

 

[savo]

I'll be looking forward to reading your review too. I have one on order. Its being built at the end of Nov, should be here mid Dec so ill wait until January to register it an 09. I only drove the 3.0Tdi too (and a 2.0 TT to get a feel for the engine) so im curious as how the car is too.

 

[Macca77]

congrats, i have had the same car for coming up on 2 months now - and love it. As i opted for the FWD too over Quattro, i do notice that quickly pulling out of junction can result in loss of power to the wheelspin. Steering is light - very light compared to the new 2.0 Diesel A4 i drove for 2 days a few weeks ago (a fault with my windscreen wipers needed a part replacing), but i thinkit really is suited to the car. I am 100% you will love the car - i know i do!

 

[savo]

Any reviews of the 2.0 (211 bhp) ?

 

[nikenike]

See the thread below which contains a link to a review of 2.0T FSI ( 211PS )

http://www.a5oc.com/forums/showthread.php/nice-review-a5-5052/index.html?t=5052&highlight=review

 

[dbs2]

How's it going then gnasher ??

 

[Highrisedrifter]

Yes, let us know what your thoughts are regarding your new car, Gnasher!

 

[RGBArgee]

Congratulations, what spec are you getting ?

Cheers

RG

BTW You are spot on with the 3.0Tdi Quattro it is superb.

 

[gnasher]

I picked the car up and, overall, am very pleased with it.

As I do not have a sadistic nature, I have been fairly gentle so far. What I can report on is the following:

This car feels very solid and the quality of the build and materials really is superb. The steering is thankfully heavier than the A4 giving much greater connection to what is actually happening beneath me. The handling is also much improved and alot closer to the 3.0TDI that I tested than I imagined. (Quids in for me then on company car tax, although ultimate grip will obviously be lacking). The ride is also pretty good considering sports suspension and 19" wheels, something that is better than my last car and the current 3 series coupe.

One item of concern is power. My last car, as stated, was the A4 2.0 tfsi 220bhp special edition which had a fantastic engine. I thought that despite the drop in claimed power, it would feel similar, if not better due to the claimed increase in torque. I have to say that this is a little disappointing as I no longer have the instant ability (to be lazy) and just put my foot down on the motorway. This engine needs to be stirred through the gearbox to get it moving. At 80mph, this equates to me changing to 4th from 6th to get a similar response to the old A4 in 6th!

Now I could understand this by change of gearing ratios (it feels like the ratios are much taller) but then I would expect a marked improvement in mpg. This is not the case as I am getting 8-10% less per gallon. I know it's early days so I am hoping (or the company might be hoping) that this will improve.

With the last car, I had to feed it with Super Unleaded, otherwise it felt 'fluffy' and slightly hesitant. I will try 97+, but I don't think that his will give me the differences that I miss .

Finally, I have to say that I have never had a car before that I can't stop looking at!

With regard to ultimate performance, I am going to use the A483 from Newtown to Llandeillo later on this week. Those of you who know the road will be looking forward to my report!

 

[nullz0rz]

Vids Plz!! =)

 

[Deepmeister]

.... My last car, as stated, was the A4 2.0 tfsi 220bhp special edition which had a fantastic engine....

I also had an A4 2.0 TFSI Quattro SLine Special Edition 220Bhp, and have to say that the A5 2.0 TFSI Quattro Sport is a much better drive. Also have the 20inch wheels which affects the way the car drives (feels like stiffer suspension has been fitted).

I use Shell Optimax/VPower (whatever they call it this week) which is supposed to be around 97 RON.

In my case, I first had to "adjust my brain" since the needles started at the 6o'clock position, instead of more typically near the 8o'clock position. So, perceptually, when the needle was almost horizontal, the A4 would be crawling in traffic wheras the A5 was breaking the speed limit in most towns. When the needle was vertical, the A4 was doing around 70mph-ish, whereas the A5 is tempting the boys in blue to remove my license permanently. Until I discovered the large digital speed readout in the centre of the dash, I relied on peripheral vision to note the position of the needles and my assumed speed. Now that I see the speed more accurately, the car behaves as it should behave at the actual speed in place.

Being so quiet, it also distorts the perceptions. I was doing 70 at one time and thought I was doing 30, try explaining that to somebody! The point is that the car may well be behaving correctly, but you may feel it should accelerate better from 30 to 50 for example, except that you are already doing 70. Hard to explain until you have experienced it.

To add to the perceptional changes, enable the gear change display in the MMI (assuming you have the same 6 speed manual). On the centre display, it tells you when you ought to change up. Mine tends to be permanently etched to 2>4 or even 3>5 which means presently in 2 and should change to 4 to be economical, etc. If I followed it, perhaps my fuel economy would surpass the A4 completely, presently it is about the same.

I initially found the car was a "shock to the system", but as I gradually got to grips with all the new features over the last two months of ownership, the changes in how the A4 and A5 behave, noise levels and perceptible speed, she is a dream to drive and by far the best Audi that I have ever owned.

Hang in there, in a months time you will look back and wonder how you could ever doubt your decision... good luck and enjoy the car!

 

[gnasher]

No offence to Deepmeister, but you make it sound like this is my first car!!

I personally have no problem with speed perception, which helps when it comes to the amount of miles I cover annually. The speed however, was not the real issue. My disappointment centred on acceleration. The A5 is definately higher geared than my old A4 which, as I said, is only really an issue on the motorway when I don't feel particularly inclined to stir the gears in order to make progress.

I found the digital speedo about 2 minutes after I left the dealer forecourt. It is an arrangement that I am familiar with as my sportsbike has one. If I 'watch' the dials, it is generally the tacho that has my attention.

Apart from the minor disappointment, the A5 continues to impress me. The trip down the A483 was very enjoyable, with surefooted handling and impressive mid-top range acceleration between the bends (sticking to the limits of course officer!). I didn't even get (many) complaints from the passengers which only goes to underline the quality of the ride and the precision and weighting of the controls! Oh, and one area I agree with Deepmeister is how quiet this car is!!

1900 miles now, average mpg = 32.4. Not bad, not great.

 

[Deepmeister]

No offence to Deepmeister, but you make it sound like this is my first car!!

No offence taken, and certainly not my intention to imply you were an inexperienced driver, just relating my own experiences in case it offers any assistance! Enjoy the car to its fullest extent, I know I enjoy every minute of mine!

 

[gnasher]

Just a small update.

Now at 2600 miles, MPG = 33.2

I did notice something interesting though. Generally, I do not like using Satnavs as I do not like being told where to go and I know much of the country well enough not to need one. Occasionally I do use one however, and the display on mine shows the speed limit on the road you are driving down, compared to the speed at which you are driving. It is this indicated speed that I understand, being provided by GPS, that is a lot more accurate than a cars speedo (so long as you are maintaining a constant speed). With my last car (A4) there was an 'under-read' differential of around 4mph at 80. With the A5 it is only 1mph. In reality this means that when I drive on motorways I am actually driving faster than I used to!